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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-8, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Page 714 Procrastination – Killer of Future Dreams Avjeet Kaur Abstract: Procrastination is delaying of work i.e. “Putting off work to tomorrow and then day after tomorrow.”It’s a negative behavior which is generally been observed in today’s generation. This is a root cause of failure in life. When the practice of delaying things becomes a habit it is known as chronic procrastination. Time scheduling is important aspect of procrastination. Motivating oneself and taking challenging projects is crucial. Literature Review In general we have seen some who often delay things saying that “we will do it late on”. This is not a natural phenomenon. These people have a peculiar habit called Procrastination. Procrastination is delaying off things till the last minute which acts as a negative factor in growth of personal and professional life. Procrastination can be simply defined as to put off the work till tomorrow and then day after tomorrow. For eg: delaying off homework till the last day of vacation or submission of project work till the last minute. This acts as a root cause off failure in life. We should not let it rule our life. The most important factor of procrastination can be carelessness or laziness. The recent studies suggests that people who are in habit of procrastinating have higher level of stress and lower level of well – being. It is a complete failure of self – regulation and time management as well. In general people suffer from chronic procrastination Chronic Procrastination: When procrastination grows to much higher level that it becomes a daily routine habit and is marked as a personality trait, it is said as chronic procrastination. These people cannot get anything done on time that result in serious career struggles, financial problems, and a low quality of life. Putting off an important task for a short time because you’re feeling tired is not procrastination, as long as you don’t delay starting the task for more than a day or so, and also this is not a regular habit. If you have a genuine reason for rescheduling something important, then it is not procrastinating. But if you’re simply “making an excuse” because you really don’t want to do it, then you are definitely procrastinating. CAUSES OF PROCRASTINATION 1. Stress: Working under stressful situations is difficult and if the employees are asked to prove their efficiency under stressful situations, it is extremely unfair on the part of employee. Also in some situations procrastination helps to reduce the level of stress. For eg: If a student is studying hard for the exam since morning till evening and still he is left with some syllabi and leaving that he goes out for dinner quoting that this part I will cover once I will be back that does not means he is procrastinating but he has gone out to rejuvenate himself . By this way he has reduce the level of exam stress. 2. Deficit Skills – Lack of skills (art of doing work) is one of the most important factor of procrastination. If one lack skills to complete a particular task it is the obvious reason of procrastination. Rather adopting the approach of not doing the task just because of lack of skills one should always focus on learning something new every day and taking more challenging projects so as to learn more and more. 3. Lack of interest and motivation – Self motivation and how far the individual is interested in completed a particular task are the crucial factors in determining how far the individual will procrastinate the task.One should always try to develop interest in the work assigned and learn something new out of it. 4. Fear of Failure- Fear of failure is the biggest guilt feeling that everybody has in its mind. Some people don’t even try because of this feeling. Generally people forget that by making mistakes only everybody learns. Giving a start is difficult and gaining confidence on oneself to start something which is all together new is even more difficult than anything else. In dealing with this kind of

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Page 1: Procrastination – Killer of Future Dreams · Procrastination – Killer of Future Dreams . ... cannot get anything done on time that result in ... types, self-efficacy, and academic

Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-8, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Page 714

Procrastination – Killer of Future Dreams

Avjeet Kaur

Abstract: Procrastination is delaying of work i.e. “Putting off work to tomorrow and then day after tomorrow.”It’s a negative behavior which is generally been observed in today’s generation. This is a root cause of failure in life. When the practice of delaying things becomes a habit it is known as chronic procrastination. Time scheduling is important aspect of procrastination. Motivating oneself and taking challenging projects is crucial. Literature Review

In general we have seen some who often delay things saying that “we will do it late on”. This is not a natural phenomenon. These people have a peculiar habit called Procrastination.

Procrastination is delaying off things till the last minute which acts as a negative factor in growth of personal and professional life. Procrastination can be simply defined as to put off the work till tomorrow and then day after tomorrow.

For eg: delaying off homework till the last day of vacation or submission of project work till the last minute. This acts as a root cause off failure in life. We should not let it rule our life.

The most important factor of procrastination can be carelessness or laziness.

The recent studies suggests that people who are in habit of procrastinating have higher level of stress and lower level of well – being. It is a complete failure of self – regulation and time management as well.

In general people suffer from chronic procrastination

Chronic Procrastination: When procrastination grows to much higher level that it becomes a daily routine habit and is marked as a personality trait, it is said as chronic procrastination. These people cannot get anything done on time that result in serious career struggles, financial problems, and a low quality of life.

Putting off an important task for a short time because you’re feeling tired is not procrastination, as long as you don’t delay starting the task for more than a day or so, and also this is not a regular

habit. If you have a genuine reason for rescheduling something important, then it is not procrastinating. But if you’re simply “making an excuse” because you really don’t want to do it, then you are definitely procrastinating.

CAUSES OF PROCRASTINATION

1. Stress: Working under stressful situations is difficult and if the employees are asked to prove their efficiency under stressful situations, it is extremely unfair on the part of employee. Also in some situations procrastination helps to reduce the level of stress. For eg: If a student is studying hard for the exam since morning till evening and still he is left with some syllabi and leaving that he goes out for dinner quoting that this part I will cover once I will be back that does not means he is procrastinating but he has gone out to rejuvenate himself . By this way he has reduce the level of exam stress.

2. Deficit Skills – Lack of skills (art of doing work) is one of the most important factor of procrastination. If one lack skills to complete a particular task it is the obvious reason of procrastination. Rather adopting the approach of not doing the task just because of lack of skills one should always focus on learning something new every day and taking more challenging projects so as to learn more and more.

3. Lack of interest and motivation – Self motivation and how far the individual is interested in completed a particular task are the crucial factors in determining how far the individual will procrastinate the task.One should always try to develop interest in the work assigned and learn something new out of it.

4. Fear of Failure- Fear of failure is the biggest guilt feeling that everybody has in its mind. Some people don’t even try because of this feeling. Generally people forget that by making mistakes only everybody learns. Giving a start is difficult and gaining confidence on oneself to start something which is all together new is even more difficult than anything else. In dealing with this kind of

Page 2: Procrastination – Killer of Future Dreams · Procrastination – Killer of Future Dreams . ... cannot get anything done on time that result in ... types, self-efficacy, and academic

Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-8, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Page 715

situation friends and counselors really help.

5. Feeling of helplessness - Feeling of helplessness is related from where to start and also in terms of resources when the time is less to complete a particular task. It is simple break down the activities as far as possible. Take that complex task and break it down to its bare essential components and then tackle each one of those components one at a time.

6. Lack of focus and fatigue - Distractions are everywhere. We must ignore them as far as possible. One must minimize distractions by isolating oneself. Disconnecting the Internet and switching off the cell phone is recommended as far as possible. Check e-mail and voicemail at set intervals instead of randomly every few minutes. Find a quiet space where one can concentrate on the task at hand. And only take breaks as a reward for completing the smaller sub-tasks. Also, it’s difficult to focus when one is fatigued (tired). So this can be cure by taking enough sleep, eating healthy and exercising regularly.

How to Overcome Procrastination

Following are the remedies to deal with and control procrastination:

1. Recognizing that one is Procrastinating - Answering the question Are You a Procrastinator? i.e in other words self test.

Indicators of Procrastinating

• Doing work all day with low priority tasks from to do List.

• Reading e-mails several times without starting work on them or deciding what you’re going to do with them.

• Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to speak to a friend.

• Leaving an item on your To Do list for a long time, even though you know it's important.

• Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do

• Waiting for the “right mood” or the “right time” to do an important task at hand.

2. WHY You are Procrastinating- One reason can be finding a particular job too boring specially administrative jobs. The best way of dealing with these situations is doing them quickly, so that one can focus on the more enjoyable aspects of the job.

Another reason can be poor decision-making skills. One is not able to decide what to do first and when, you enjoy doing more pleasant things first because they are important from your point of view but not from other’s point of view. For eg: A school going child would always enjoy going to cricket academy classes rather than Abacus classes.

3. Adopting Anti-Procrastination Strategies - Procrastination is a behavior which needs to be worked on by adopting an approach “Me- My self”. If one determines to improve his own weaknesses no doctor can work better than that.

These points will help motivate one to overcome procrastination:

• Reward your own -self - Rewarding yourself on completing a particular task on time with a big chocolate really helps. Celebrate your achievement. And notice how good it feels in finishing things on time.

• Ask someone else to keep a check up on you. Peer pressure works - This is the principle behind slimming and other self-help groups, and it is widely recognized as a highly effective approach.

• Identify the consequences of not doing the task on time.

• Time costs - Employers are paying to do the things that they think are important on time according to them , you're not delivering the value for money if you're not doing those things.

• Everyday prepare a list “what First”. Procrastination is not a behavior that everybody has but it is an uncommon personality trait that is found in very few people as it is more related to psychological mindset of a person. For eg: A person will postpone a health medical checkup despite knowing the fact that consequences of delaying it can lead to severe health problems further or 60% of general public tend to take the minimum prescribed medication prescribed by a doctor knowing the fact that the problem can relapse.

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Page 716

Therefore, it is a psychological mind set of a person who is facing the particular situation. Whereas 20% population general behavior is to for yearly regular health check up. Very well said by Denis Waitley, “Time is an equal opportunity for employee and employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.” No matter how much time you have wasted till date, make effective use of tomorrow’s time. In the opinion of the writer Procrastination has good and bad effects both. As long as we avoid doing start up of things we utilize that time by covering different stages of planning to avoid future failure of the project. We conduct sample testing of the project: Pilot study of the project. “As in Greek and Roman procrastination is reverse the term what we understand .The wisest manager is the one who sits and thinks before acting and not doing anything unless it is extremely urgent” As said by Frank Partnoy “ Book wait”

In the words of Partnoy “Procrastination is the act of managing and delaying” further this can lead to better results and success. Some of the leaders of managerial are of the same view.”

In the words of Partnoy there is a term called “active procrastination” which later on was said as “structured procrastination.”

Active procrastination or structured procrastination is good where as Unstructructured or passive procrastination is laziness.

Active Procrastination is always considered good as active Procrastinators are talented; they delay the work not just because they don’t know how to do the work but according to them they can delay the work .

References:

• Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological, Review, 84, 191–215.

• Chu, A.H.C. and J.N. Choi. 2005. Rethinking procrastination: Positive effects of "active" procrastination behavior on attitudes and performance. Journal of Social Psychology 14: 245-264.

• Conti, R. (2000). Competing demands and complimentary motives: Procrastination on intrinsically and extrinsically motivated summer projects. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 47–59.

• Ferrari, J. R., Parker, J. T., & Ware, C. B. (1992). Academic procrastination: Personality correlates with Myers-Briggs types, self-efficacy, and academic locus of control. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 7, 595–602.

• A task-avoidance strategy in a laboratory setting. Journal of Research in Psychology, 34, 73–83.