Introduction
Everyone procrastinates. We put things off because we don’t wish to accomplish them, or because we have too many other things on our plates. Putting things off—big or small—is part of being human. It is likely that your procrastination is troubling you if you are reading this handout, however. You suspect you could be a better writer if perhaps you didn’t put off writing projects before the last second. You will find that simply when you’ve got really gotten going on a paper, it is time for you to turn it in; so, you won’t ever genuinely have time and energy to carefully revise or proofread. You love the rush of adrenaline you obtain when you finish a paper 10 minutes you(and your body) are getting tired of pulling all-nighters before it’s due, but. You feel okay about procrastinating while in college, you worry that this habit shall follow you into the working life.
It is possible to tell whether or otherwise not you have to do something about your procrastination by examining its consequences. Procrastination can have external consequences (you get a zero regarding the paper as you never turned it in) or internal consequences (you feel anxious most of the time, even when you are doing something that you enjoy). In the event that you put off washing the bathroom, but the dishes don’t concern you, who cares? Whenever your procrastination leaves you feeling discouraged and overburdened, however, it is the right time to do something.
Is there hope?
You are a hopeless procrastinator, take heart if you think! No one is beyond help. The fact that you procrastinate does not always mean that you’re inherently lazy or inefficient. Your procrastination is not an beast that is untamable. It really is a habit that features some specific origin, and it is a practice that you can overcome. This handout will allow you to commence to understand just why you procrastinate and give you some techniques for turning things around. For many procrastinators, however, there are not any fixes that are quick. You aren’t going to wake up and never procrastinate again tomorrow. You might get up tomorrow and do one or two simple items that shall help you finish that draft only a little earlier or with less stress.
You may not be surprised to find out that procrastinators are generally self-critical. So, while you consider carefully your procrastination and battle to develop work that is different, act as i need someone to write my paper gentle with yourself. Punishing yourself every time you understand you have got put something off won’t help you change. Rewarding yourself whenever you make progress shall.
About it. if you don’t care why you procrastinate—you just want to know very well what to do about it—then you may as well miss out the next area of this handout and go right to the section labeled “What to do” You may only end up more frustrated if you skip to the strategies, however. Finding the time to learn about why you procrastinate may help you prevent the cycle whereby you swear up and down you have a paper due, you are up until 3 a.m that you will never procrastinate again, only to find that the next time. attempting to complete the very first (and only) draft—without knowing why or how you got there.
Why it is done by us
In order to stop putting off your writing assignments, it’s important to understand why you have a tendency to do so into the first place. A number of the reasons that folks procrastinate include the annotated following:
Because our company is afraid
- Fear of failure: if you should be scared that a certain written piece isn’t likely to turn out well, you might avoid taking care of it to avoid feeling driving a car.
- Fear of success: Some procrastinators (the author with this handout included) fear that when they start working at their full capacity, they are going to develop into workaholics. That we will also write compulsively; we envision ourselves locked in a library carrel, hunched over the computer, barely eating and sleeping and never seeing friends or going out since we procrastinate compulsively, we assume. The procrastinator who fears success might also assume that if they work too hard, they’re going to become mean and cold to the people around them, thus losing their ability to be friendly and also to have a great time. Finally, this kind of procrastinator may genuinely believe that then they will start writing better, which will increase other people’s expectations, thus ultimately increasing the amount of pressure they experience if they stop procrastinating.
- Concern about losing autonomy: some social people delay writing projects as a means of maintaining their independence. When they receive a writing assignment, they procrastinate as an easy way of saying, “You can’t make me try this. I am my own person.” Procrastinating helps them feel more accountable for situations (such as college) by which they believe that other folks have authority.
- Concern with being alone: Other writers procrastinate since they want to feel constantly linked to other people. By way of example, you may procrastinate before you are in such a bind that someone has got to come and rescue you. Procrastination therefore helps to ensure that other individuals should be involved in your lifetime. You may put off writing because you don’t wish to be alone, and writing is oftentimes a activity that is solitary. In its form that is worst, procrastination itself could become a companion, constantly reminding you of most that you must do.
- Anxiety about attachment: in the place of fearing separation, some people procrastinate in order to create a barrier between themselves yet others. They may delay so that you can create chaos within their lives, believing that the chaos will keep other individuals away.
Whether these fears appear in our conscious or subconscious minds, they paralyze us and keep us from following through, until discomfort and anxiety us to either a) get the piece of writing done or b) give up overwhelms us and forces. (The preceding is a directory of Chapters 2-4 of Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen’s Procrastination: Why You Do It, how to proceed about this.)
Ourselves to be perfect because we expect
Procrastination and perfectionism often go hand in hand. Perfectionists tend to procrastinate themselves, and they are scared about whether or not they can meet those high standards because they expect so much of. Perfectionists sometimes think that they could have written a great paper, than to give a full effort and risk writing a mediocre paper that it is better to give a half-hearted effort and maintain the belief. Procrastinating guarantees failure, but it helps perfectionists maintain their belief if they had tried harder that they could have excelled. Another pitfall for perfectionists is the fact that they tend to ignore progress toward a goal. As long as the writing project is incomplete, they feel as them closer to a finished product though they aren’t getting anywhere, rather than recognizing that each paragraph moves.
Because we don’t like our writing
You may possibly procrastinate on writing in all its imperfection because you don’t like to re-read what you have written; you hate writing a first draft and then being forced to evaluate it. By procrastinating, you ensure that you don’t have time and energy to read over your projects, thus avoiding that moment that is uncomfortable.