The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Procrastination is acquired without being aware of results

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Wednesday, Jan 05, 2011
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Andhra Pradesh

Procrastination is acquired without being aware of results

Everybody procrastinates. Some do it occasionally. Some do it habitually. At the workplace, procrastination on minor issues, occasionally, is tolerable. But when it becomes a practice and affects the business, your career will suffer the consequences. So procrastination has to be identified and dealt with appropriately at the right time.

There are several reasons behind procrastination. Some of them are- the task is overwhelming, fear of failure, monotony, myth that you do best under pressure, you get easily distracted and your intention to trouble someone. As you delve deeper, anger and hurt feelings, lack of passion, impractical thinking, inability to prioritise tasks and plan a schedule and perfectionism emerge as the causes.

Habitual procrastination is often acquired without you being aware of it. You begin with putting off things that are safe to postpone. Then you take calculated risks. After sometime you realise that you have began taking high risks.

At a later stage, you postpone tasks even though you know that the consequences could be grave. In other words, you become a procrastinator.

Joseph R. Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University in Chicago and author of the book, Still Procrastinating? The No-Regrets Guide to Getting It Done, says that everyone procrastinates but not all are procrastinators. According to him around 20 per cent of population are procrastinators and “a procrastinator is someone who habitually and consistently delays tasks.” This is a stage where it is difficult to correct your behaviour by yourself and need the help of a behavioural expert. So, if you are prone to procrastination, it is better you keep a constant check on yourself to prevent it from getting chronic. Here are some warning signs:

You are mostly rushing in the last moments

Are always working on the urgent not the important

Cannot focus on your work for more than ten minutes

Avoid work when there is something more enjoyable

Spend your time on routine tasks, avoiding challenges

Set too high standards of work

If you notice any of them in you, you can put yourself back on track with the following guidelines:

Acknowledge: Understand that you get more pain from putting off tasks than from performing them. When you postpone doing something, the thought of having to do it sometime haunts you and you cannot enjoy the present. And if you decide not to do it at all, you have to face the consequent unpleasant results.

When you take up the tasks when there is sufficient time, you can avoid mistakes, inferior results and failures. Once you manage to make yourself do things on time, the self-esteem you drive from it will act as the motivation for the next time.

Plan: Set your priorities. Maintain a to-do list. Ensure that your goals are realistic. Complete urgent tasks and then assume the important tasks. Balance the workload. Keep the distractions away. Allot separate time to check mails, attend phone calls and socialise. When dealing with important tasks, tell your colleagues not to disturb you unless there is something that demands your immediate attention. Practise to stay on the task till you complete it.

Learn: Identify your most productive colleagues and spend more time with them. Learn from them how to get more done. Explore ways to make monotonous tasks interesting. Organising your resources can also help you reduce procrastination. Avoid the company of other procrastinators. You can choose your beliefs about yourself, your environment and obligations. So change your perspective such that it is effective to you. Shed your inhibitions.

Procrastination is normal to human behaviour. But it should be kept under control to avoid serious negative effects on your career. So once in a while ascertain that you are not postponing your duties often. And if you discover that you are doing it, take corrective measures immediately.

Nitya Sai Soumya

faqs@cnkonline.com

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