Is Procrastination Getting You Down? You may be surprised, but you’re not alone.

You may think you are a pretty good procrastinator, but the truth is that most of us are pretty good at it. It’s part of being human (Surowiecki, 2010; Andreou & White, 2010). This problem has been recognized since antiquity (apparently even Aristole had a name for it: Akrasia, see https://jamesclear.com/procrastination) (Clear, n.d.)! When we procrastinate, we put off a task that probably should be done sooner rather than later. Why do we do it? Well, for all sorts of reasons, but usually it has something to do with the fact that we don’t want to do that thing we need to do. Maybe we are worried we won’t do it well or it’s really hard. Maybe we just don’t like the work, or maybe we don’t know how to begin. It might be that we underestimate how long it will take to complete. Whatever the reason, we are putting off now pain for future pain. The thing is, future pain will be just as painful and maybe more painful, than current pain.

What helps people manage procrastination? That is a tough question in part because there isn’t a solution that always works, and no solution works all the time. That said, there are some strategies that work well for many people such as:

• Setting up accountability – either externally (get an accountability buddy) or internally (make a plan)
• Overestimating how much time it’s going to take to complete a task - In general, we are very good at underestimating how much time something is going to take to finish. A good rule of thumb is to add about 25% to how much time you think a task is going to take (Andreou & White, 2010).
• Set up chutes and ladders in your life. Chutes make it easier to complete tasks you want and need to complete and ladders make it harder to do the wrong thing. Here are some examples:
  • make a plan to meet a friend in the library (chute),
  • make a schedule and share it with someone to help hold you accountable (chute)
  • turn your phone off and put it away (ladder)
  • use an internet blocker for websites other that the ones you need to access (ladder)
  • put your phone on the other side of the room from your bed so you have to get up to turn off the alarm in the morning (chute)

Many people do well when they have accountability support (Rubin, 2017). The Learning Center is here to help. Working with students on time management, specifically procrastination, is one of our specialties. If you think you could use accountability support to help you get organized, build your motivation and stay on track, please contact The Learning Center today to make an appointment with one of our Academic Success Coaches and learn about our other resources (learning@rochester.edu). We are located in Dewey Hall on River Campus, 1-154.

Citations:

• Andreou, C., & White, M. D. (Eds.). (2010). The thief of time: Philosophical essays on procrastination. Oxford University Press.
• Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones. Penguin.
• Clear, J. (n.d.). Procrastination: A Scientific Guide on How to Stop Procrastination. James Clear. https://jamesclear.com/procrastination
• Rubin, G. (2017). The Four Tendencies: The indispensable personality profiles that reveal how to make your life better (and other people's lives better, too). Harmony.
• Surowiecki, J. (2010, Oct 4). Later: What does procrastination tell us about ourselves? The New Yorker Magazine.