Procrastination!

Ammera Kaing, Lucrecia Levy-Flores,,

Christina Orchanian
May 17, 2004
Holistic Health 382-3
Procrastination…What is it?
 Psychological behavior that allows a
person to postpone or delay a certain
activity or task.
 Source of great stress and anxiety for
many people.
 Time management is not directly related
to procrastination.
 Cycle Timeline
Panic & Stress Set In
Deadline is Set
Time Passes
False Sense of Security

I II III IV

“There are 2 “I have plenty “I will get started soon, “Oh no! The
weeks until the of time.” I only work well under assignment is
assignment is pressure.” due tomorrow! ”
due.”
Negative Effects of Procrastination

 Stress/Anxiety
 Neglecting Your Health
 Irritability/Bad Mood
 Letting Yourself & Others Down
 Not Achieving Your Full Potential
 What do you do when you
procrastinate?
 I raid the refrigerator.
 I read mystery novels & science fiction.
 I start calling up my friends.
 I work on something that’s less important.
 I become obsessed with cleaning my desk.
 I go out jogging.
 I sit and stare.
 I keep doing research.
 I watch TV.
 I read the newspaper.
 I go to sleep.
 I go shopping.
 Four Simple Reasons For
Procrastination
 Difficult The task seems too hard to do
 Time-consuming Free time is unavailable until the
weekend
 Lack of knowledge/skills Don’t want to make a mistake
until you’re sure it’s right
 Fears Everyone will know you made a mistake

Procrastination ...
something you can do right now.
 Four Complex Reasons For
Procrastination
 Perfectionism 1. “If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all”
2. May delay starting a project
3. Creates dissatisfaction & frustration
 Anger/Hostility 1. Withhold best efforts out of spite
2. Getting Even
 Low Frustration Tolerance 1. Feeling overwhelmed
2. Unfairness
 Self-Downing 1. Minimize your skills/abilities
2. Attribute success to luck
3. Cannot accept praise for work accomplished
 Steps to Cure Procrastination
1. Acknowledge that you are postponing a task.
2. List the reasons why you are postponing doing the task.
3. Discuss the reasons and list ways to overcome them.
4. Begin the task immediately!
 Helpful Techniques
 Write down your tasks in a visible place with their due dates
 Make the tasks look easy in your mind
 Have a 5 minute plan: start a task for 5 minutes, eventually
you will want to complete it
 Break the task into components
 Tackle each component separately
 Modify your environment to encourage accomplishing the
task
 Tell your family/friends about your goal; they will motivate
you along the way
 REWARD yourself for a job well done!
 Other tips…
Do’s: Don’ts:
 Change your thoughts  Criticize yourself!
 Engage in physical  Anticipate catastrophe
activity (exercise)
 Focus on faults,
 Give yourself some alone
time (15 – 30 min. inadequacies, things left
without distractions) undone
 Increase alertness by
changing your position or
stretching for a few
minutes (important thing
is movement!)
Choosing a Plan of Action
 Christina chose to…
- set weekly goals & write down tasks
 Ammera chose to…
- break tasks down
 Lucrecia chose to…
- apply un-schedule technique
- learn to say “no”!
 Christina’s Plan of Action
I procrastinate on:
•School assignments
•Work
•House chores

I procrastinate by:
•Watching TV
•Eating snacks
•Talking to my friends
 Christina’s Plan of Action
 I wrote down my weekly tasks in my schedule.
 Each weekly schedule listed specific tasks to be
accomplished.
 I had post-it notes attached to my books and living
space to remind myself of what was to be done.
 I followed the 5 minute rule. I began the task
believing I would work on it for 5 minutes, but
continued it until it was complete.
 Having lots of reminders made procrastinating (for
example, watching tv) seem like a waste of much
needed time.
 I went through my task list on Sunday making sure I
completed them.
 I began the following week with a clean slate.
 Ammera’s Plan of Action
 I procrastinate on studying for exams.
 I chose to break down the assignments I needed to complete to prepare for
exams.
 Next, I estimated the number of days I could spend studying before the
exam.
 I divided the number of pages I had to read by the number of days I had to
study.
 For example, if I had 150 pages to read, and 10 days before the exam, I set
a goal to read 15 pages per day.
 To motivate myself, I made a check off list with the pages I needed to read.
After I completed a page, I checked off the page number. This allowed me
to visualize my accomplishments.
 I rewarded myself my scheduling breaks.
 I would study in an environment conducive to studying, such as the library.
 Lucrecia’s Plan of Action:
“Un-schedule” & Exercising the
“No” Muscle
 Procrastinators’ view of time is quite unrealistic (hope to
find more than there really is!).
 Procrastinators often underestimate/overestimate how
long a task will take.
 Un-schedule is a weekly calendar of all of your
committed activities, not what you “should” do
 Consider all your activities (i.e. work hours; scheduled
meetings and appointments.; classes & social events;
time for regular exercise; time for meals including prep &
clean-up; time for chores & cleaning, laundry &
shopping, etc.)
Lucrecia’s Un-Schedule
Learning to Tell Time…
 Look at your schedule – How do you feel?
 Overwhelmed? Anxious? Depressed?
 Visualize going thru this week & consider what makes
you feel that way.
 Un-schedule shows you the maximum amount of time
you “could” use to work on a project
 Reward yourself after working ½ hour towards your goal
& block off the time on your un-schedule
 Add up the “blocked” time to calculate how much time
you spent working towards your goal that week (self-
monitoring helps procrastinators be more realistic!)
 Learning to say “NO”
Tips to Help You Say No:
 Buy yourself time to think (I’ll get back to you….)
 Shift the focus back to you (This is not about you; I
need to say no for me…)
 Know your priorities and stick to them!
 Keep it simple (don’t give long-winded explanations or
make excuses…)
 Tackle easy situations first (Try it with the telemarketer
on the phone…..)
 What I’ve learned…
 To reduce stress, I need to frequently use the “I’ll get
back to you…” technique and refer to my schedule
before booking social get-togethers (especially during
school semesters!)
 I need to more realistic about time and juggling work,
school and a family (sometimes you can’t do it all!)
 Prioritize – I will set priorities at the beginning of the
week for goal(s) to be accomplished during “free time”
that week instead of trying to “squeeze-in” the time…
 Other Techniques to
Improve Your Timing…
 Practice telling time
 Learn to use little bits of time
 Expect interruptions and disruptions
 Delegate
 Don’t spread yourself too thin
 Identify your prime time
 Enjoy your “free time”
 Stress & Procrastination
 Think back to a time when you felt a great deal
of pressure.
 Recall the circumstances around the incident
and remember how you felt.
 Were there any changes in your behavior or
attitude?
 Were there sensations in your body that were
letting you know that you were feeling
pressured?
 Some Signs of Stress
Physical Signs: Emotional & Behavioral
Signs:
 “knot,” “butterflies” or pain in  Irritability
your stomach  Fatigue, exhaustion
 Cold, clammy hands  Trouble concentrating
 Headache  Increased alcohol or drug use
 Rapid breathing,  Changes in sleep or appetite
hyperventilating  Inability to relax, fidgeting
 Tightness in neck or shoulders  Forgetfulness
or both  Inability to enjoy things that
 Lower back pain once brought you pleasure
 Tendency toward illness (colds,
flu)
 Tension in jaws (grinding or
clamping)
 Exercise in Progressive
Relaxation
 Sit in a comfortable position
 Give yourself some quiet time to begin with (10-15 min.
recommended)
 Close your eyes & breathe evenly
 Tense the selected body area; hold the tension tightly for
5 – 10 seconds
 Relax the area you just tensed for 10 – 15 seconds.
 Let the muscles become soft, heavy, warm and loose.
 Breathe slowly and comfortably.
Benefits of Overcoming
Procrastination
Peace of Mind
Feeling strong
Taking charge of your life
Feeling competent
Experience personal freedom