What do the following words mean to you: "I'll do it tomorrow"? If you are a procrastinator they will mean a great deal. If you are not they may mean nothing. So which are you? Are you the type of person that allows due dates to creep up and tap you on the shoulder? Or do you get your work done nice and early to eliminate all worry and panic? (Congratulations if you do!)
The good news is you probably do have a brain after all! What a relief. The big problem is, however, that while the words "I'll do it tomorrow" may comfort you and give you a sense of relief that everything be will be OK or a hope about what tomorrow may bring, they are also the bane of your entire existence! They torture you. They tease you. They make you think that when you wake up in the morning you will be super-motivated and super-pumped to tackle a task that yesterday seemed completely impossible. But not today! Today (being tomorrow) you know all the answers and have all the confidence in the world and all the obstacles that stopped you from starting the task yesterday are now gone aren't they? Well aren't they? Unfortunately the answer is no, because nothing at all has changed! Everything is the same. Except that today is the day! Things are going to happen! Angels are going to fly! The earth is going to shake! OK well maybe not, but you are going to do some work you have been putting off anyway.
Why Can't I Just Stop?
Believe it or not procrastination has a purpose and creates something that people actually enjoy (for reasons way too deep to discuss today - drama! Procrastination creates panic. It creates a sense of urgency. It creates excitement and adventure. Someone asked me to do something but I'm not doing it, what will happen to me? Let's find out after this commercial break.
We're not here to tell you that these excuses are necessarily complete untruths but if these phrases are familiar to you then you might just be a serial procrastinator. You probably tend to spend a lot of time convincing yourself of these lies and ultimately you will most likely believe them to be totally true. The major problem with this approach is that it will ultimately bring no long-term satisfaction to you at all. In the short term you are off the hook but the list of tasks you need to complete gets very long and you start feeling very unhappy. Sound familiar? If you do tell yourself these things, stop it immediately! You are just lying to yourself. Stop the lies and accept the truth. Find the real reason for your procrastination.
Get Ahead Of The Game
On objective reflection, this is a horrible approach to anything in life, particularly your studies. Worse still, you will get found out if you try to continue this behavior after high school because University and College (and life in general) takes no prisoners when it comes to last-minute work. Do it at your own risk - you will (no doubt about it) pay the price. Believe me, we know. We've been there. Learn from us. So, what can you do about it?
When you next notice that you are procrastinating ask yourself the following questions: 1. Am I bored, or do I really want some drama and excitement in my life? 2. If so, what can I do about it? Can I do something differently to create excitement? 3. What about procrastination is desirable to me? 4. Is there any way I can create the same desirable outcome without procrastinating? The more you challenge yourself the sooner you will be able to overcome procrastination get to work!
The good news is you probably do have a brain after all! What a relief. The big problem is, however, that while the words "I'll do it tomorrow" may comfort you and give you a sense of relief that everything be will be OK or a hope about what tomorrow may bring, they are also the bane of your entire existence! They torture you. They tease you. They make you think that when you wake up in the morning you will be super-motivated and super-pumped to tackle a task that yesterday seemed completely impossible. But not today! Today (being tomorrow) you know all the answers and have all the confidence in the world and all the obstacles that stopped you from starting the task yesterday are now gone aren't they? Well aren't they? Unfortunately the answer is no, because nothing at all has changed! Everything is the same. Except that today is the day! Things are going to happen! Angels are going to fly! The earth is going to shake! OK well maybe not, but you are going to do some work you have been putting off anyway.
Why Can't I Just Stop?
Believe it or not procrastination has a purpose and creates something that people actually enjoy (for reasons way too deep to discuss today - drama! Procrastination creates panic. It creates a sense of urgency. It creates excitement and adventure. Someone asked me to do something but I'm not doing it, what will happen to me? Let's find out after this commercial break.
We're not here to tell you that these excuses are necessarily complete untruths but if these phrases are familiar to you then you might just be a serial procrastinator. You probably tend to spend a lot of time convincing yourself of these lies and ultimately you will most likely believe them to be totally true. The major problem with this approach is that it will ultimately bring no long-term satisfaction to you at all. In the short term you are off the hook but the list of tasks you need to complete gets very long and you start feeling very unhappy. Sound familiar? If you do tell yourself these things, stop it immediately! You are just lying to yourself. Stop the lies and accept the truth. Find the real reason for your procrastination.
Get Ahead Of The Game
On objective reflection, this is a horrible approach to anything in life, particularly your studies. Worse still, you will get found out if you try to continue this behavior after high school because University and College (and life in general) takes no prisoners when it comes to last-minute work. Do it at your own risk - you will (no doubt about it) pay the price. Believe me, we know. We've been there. Learn from us. So, what can you do about it?
When you next notice that you are procrastinating ask yourself the following questions: 1. Am I bored, or do I really want some drama and excitement in my life? 2. If so, what can I do about it? Can I do something differently to create excitement? 3. What about procrastination is desirable to me? 4. Is there any way I can create the same desirable outcome without procrastinating? The more you challenge yourself the sooner you will be able to overcome procrastination get to work!
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