Procrastination and Time Management Skills

Procrastination refers to the act of needlessly delaying a task until the point of some discomfort, which is a behavior problem that many adults experience on a regular basis (Ferrari, Johnson, & McCown, 1995). Procrastinators may let pleasurable activities get in the way of high-priority tasks. They may socialize instead of studying, or watch television instead of researching and writing that paper that's due next week. Most people who procrastinate do it to escape tasks that are unpleasant, difficult, or boring. For example, you may start cleaning out your closet to put off studying for an upcoming exam. People who procrastinate tend to have poor time-management skills. Let's say you have a 10 page term paper due in a month, and you have no idea what you're going to write about or how you'll do the research. You can't imagine how you'll ever finish, so you put off starting.

Psychologists believe that procrastination may be due to a combination of anxiety and false beliefs about productivity. Procrastination is not just an issue of time management or laziness. It's about feeling paralyzed and guilty as you channel surf, knowing you should be reading, or working on that investment strategy. Tim Pychyl, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, conducted a study and found that students with procrastination problems first reported anxiety and guilt because they didn't start their projects but reported more positive emotions once they began their work. Pychyl also found that procrastination is detrimental to physical health. College students who procrastinate have higher levels of drinking, smoking, insomnia, stomach problems, colds, and flu (Szalavitz, 2003).

The idea that time pressure improves performance is the most common myth among procrastinators. "Many procrastinators are convinced that they work better under pressure, or they'll feel better about tackling the work later. But it seems like tomorrow never comes and last-minute work is often poor-quality," according to Joseph Ferrari, associate professor of psychology at Chicago's De Paul University. Also "the main reason people procrastinate is fear," says Neil Fiore, Ph.D., author of The Now Habit. Procrastinators fear they'll fall short because they don't have the talent or skills. "They get overwhelmed and they're afraid they'll look stupid." According to Ferrari, "Procrastinators would rather be seen as lacking in effort than lacking in ability", (Szalavitz, 2003). For example if you flunk a calculus exam, it seems better to blame it on the fact that you only had a half hour to study, than to admit that you could have gotten tutored since the beginning of the semester.

Another reason of procrastination is people who are perfectionist. Procrastinators tend to be perfectionists and they're in overdrive because they're insecure. People who do their best because they want to win don't procrastinate; but those who feel they must be perfect to please others often put things off. Self-control is another issue of procrastination. People who are impulsive may not be able to prioritize intentions, says Pychyl. So, while writing a term paper you break for a snack and see a spill in the refrigerator, which leads to cleaning the whole kitchen. Some view procrastination as thrill-seeking and enjoy the adrenaline "rush". These people find perverse satisfaction when the finish their taxes just minutes before midnight on April 15 and rush to the post office just before it closes. Task-related anxieties also contribute to procrastination. It can be associated with specific situations. "Humans avoid the difficult and boring," says Fiore. Even the least likely individuals to procrastinate, put off taxes and visits to the dentist. Ambiguous directions and vague priorities increase procrastination. The boss who asserts that everything is high priority and due yesterday is more likely to be kept waiting. Supervisors who insist on "prioritizing the Jones project and using the Smith plan as a model" see greater productivity. Lastly, several symptoms of depression feed procrastination. Decision-making is another problem. Because depressed people can't feel much pleasure, all options seem equally bleak, which makes getting started difficult and pointless (Szalavitz, 2003).

Procrastination doesn't start when you become a college student or are in the work force, it starts in childhood. It's normal to occasionally have to remind kids to get themselves ready, feed the pet or do their chores and homework on time. Children are considered procrastinators if they frequently need to be reminded, yet they still don't do what they are supposed to do or finally do it after a nightmare of tears, arguments or some other kind of emotional upheaval. The five year old who dawdles getting ready for school in the morning or the teenager who can't get started on his or her homework are each wrestling, at their own level, with some of the same kinds of issues-being unmotivated, uninterested, feeling overwhelmed, not knowing where to start and, sometimes, delighting in pushing some adult's anger button (Emmett, 2004).

Some causes of procrastination in children are, fear of failure, fear of being judged, criticized or punished, fear of being rejected, of not living up to expectations, always wanting to excel and never wanting to make a mistake. Another cause of procrastination in children is perfectionism. Everything has to be perfectly in place before these children start on anything, or their work is never good enough to be considered finished. Fear of success is also another big cause of children procrastinating. In many schools, if you're smart, you might be thought of as a nerd; if you're a hard worker you may be called the "teacher's pet". Some children fear that if they succeed at something, they will be expected to do it again. There is also the fear of the "unknown" or change. Dawdling before going someplace may be a sign of fear, especially in young children. For example, children may put off packing to go to Grandma's house because they don't know who they'll be able to play with while there or if the uncle that teases them will be there (Emmett, 2004). Lastly, children of authoritarian parents are prone to procrastinate. Pychyl speculates that children with such parents postpone choices because their decisions are usually criticized, or made for them (Szalavitz, 2003).

Most research on procrastination had focused on college students. Researchers have estimated that anywhere from 46% (Solomon & Rothblum, 1984) to 95% (Ellis & Knaus, 1977) of college students regularly procrastinate on academic assignments.