I'm a chronic procrastinator. It's probably my biggest character flaw. (Well, that, and I'm a scatterbrain and prone to arrogance, but one problem at a time.) It's something I've struggled with for as long as I can remember. I have so many varied interests that I enjoy studying, but I'll put off what I have to do until the last minute. This is most pronounced in my writing. I can churn out a blog post in nothing flat, but when I have a deadline for school, I can't seem to get my creative juices flowing until the last minute.
Many of my professors have spotted the big problem in my writing: I don't show my work enough. There are holes in my papers because I neglect to fill them in. When it comes time to put the words on paper, I skip over stuff because I'm up against a deadline and don't have time to do the subject justice.
I've been trying to figure out why I procrastinate. I genuinely enjoy what I do. I love studying the law and I want to be a law professor. I'm going to have to write articles on a regular basis, and I can't keep leaving things to the last minute. It hit me this morning while driving into work after pulling an all-nighter to get my latest draft done. My draft was pure garbage, but I consoled myself with the knowledge that if only I had had more time, it would have been better. By procrastinating, I absolve myself of the responsibility of producing bad work.
More than anything else, I fear failure. I always have. If I had truly given it my best and it was bad, that would have been devastating to me. But, I sabotage myself by my procrastination. Since it wasn't my best effort (since time didn't permit my best effort), I don't have to face the possibility that my best isn't good enough.
I can't keep doing this. Procrastination is making me miserable and keeping me from living up to my potential. But I don't know how to stop. It's such an ingrained habit - it has become a coping mechanism.
I'm sure procrastination is a common problem, so I'm throwing it out to the wisdom of the crowd. If any of you have made progress in overcoming procrastination, how did you do it?
Procrastination stops today! (Not tomorrow, which is what I would have said before this epiphany.)
1 comment:
I seriously think procrastination is one of the hardest things to throw off, because it never feels like a problem until that critical moment. Here's a couple things I've done to try to help:
1) I try to split papers into smaller amounts. Working on the whole paper almost always seems overwhelming, so as soon as I got the assignment, I would decide that I would work on research for x amount of time, brainstorm/outline for x amount of time, intro, etc. Then I would just force myself to work on the paper for an hour a day (more or less, depending on the assignment) until it was done.
2) I have definitely been known to bribe myself. Not necessarily with things, but with a break. If I could work on my paper for an hour, I would watch TV/read something for fun/bake something. It helped keep me motivated.
3) Make it an object of personal study and prayer. This is always my best advice for trying to overcome something that seems really difficult.
Post a Comment