Blogpost 7: Beat it

Overcoming an obstacle is the greatest step on moving forward and facing your fears. Procrastination is inevitable but overcoming it isn't. Have you found yourself putting off important tasks over and over again? Because you’re not alone, procrastination is in all of us; whoever you are and in whatever tasks you do.

Beating procrastination might be a long process but self-trickery is the thing. You need to trick your body and mind to remember to change in subtle ways not full on 'Here I am! I'm a changed man' kind of way.

Hang in there.

I've read an article named, "Overcoming Procrastination: Manage Your Time. Get It All Done." which was written by MindTools; the key to stop procrastination is realize when you do it and when it happens. Do you have a work pattern that just makes you procrastinate - get rid of it. Putting off  important tasks isn't necessarily procrastination: you just need to learn good prioritization. Work out why you're procrastinating; what's the reason your procrastinating - being bored, tired or even being hungry are simple yet the frequent reasons why people procrastinate.

As said and I quote, "To have a good chance of conquering procrastination, you need to spot straight away that you're doing it. Then, you need to identify why you're procrastinating and taken appropriate steps to overcome the block."

Well what they said was quite true, change begins by knowing what's wrong and facing it with your head held high. You need to look for the things that make you procrastinate and get rid of it by making a note and trick yourself into believing your doing the right thing - which is of course the real deal; you are doing the right thing. We have our times where we procrastinate and I admit that but if you want to stop procrastinating, refrain from putting other things at your desk that may cause you to procrastinate; a clean desk will motivate you and get the job done.

Now who doesn't procrastinate? Because I know that everyone and I mean every one of us procrastinate. I've read an article named, "Overcoming Procrastination: Behaviour Pattern" which was written by Steve Pavlina; behaviour patterns of procrastinators may be triggered in different ways, so you won't always procrastinate for the same reasons but that doesn't mean you wont because it just depends. If you have a valid reason why you're putting off a task aside then you're not really considered procrastinating but if you're simply making an excuse to avoid the task because you don't feel like doing it, then you are procrastinating. The key is knowing and acceptance and that logic applies to most of the things around us.

Steve said and I quote, "Finding your purpose is a powerful way to defeat procrastination problems because you won't procrastinate on what you love to do. You're going the wrong way. Take a different path"

Yep, finding your purpose will actually motivate you into doing and finishing things. Also 'What will it get me' attitude is efficient and inefficient at the same time because sometimes that attitude will lead you to your downfall a.k.a procrastinating. Now For a person who doesn't accept things without a fight means that accepting shit for me isn't easy but it's the most efficient way to bet procrastination. You need to know why and how you're procrastinating so you won't repeat the same mistakes and commit and have the habits again. The key to controlling this destructive habit is to recognize when you start procrastinating and understand why it happens. Look for the answers within yourself because you're the only one that can really help resolve your problems regarding procrastination.

Blogpost 6: Structured Procrastination

Art ... can procrastination be called art? Usually we think of procrastination as a bad habit to kick or a personal flaw that needs to be overcome with will power and some convincing and self-trickery. You probably know what procrastination is, but have you heard about "structured procrastination"? Structured procrastination is an act where you do put off the main tasks aside and don't get those finished but you actually accomplish a lot by procrastinating because you make do of your time with something else.

Structured procrastination is the art of making this negative trait work for you. The process in which a ton of work unrelated to what you're supposed to be doing gets done. It may sound counterintuitive, but you can accomplish a lot by putting things off.

I've read an article named, "Structured Procrastination" written by John Perry; you need to bend your time and knowledge to get things done even though you're procrastinating the big projects. By procrastinating the big projects, you procrastinate it with smaller tasks that needs to be done with a little bit of self-trickery and concentration. Leaving things until the last minute is a way of budgeting your time. You should make sure a task is really necessary before committing yourself to doing it. Most the people who stick their nose in your office to ask how some overdue task is coming, are just procrastinators themselves, tending to your business as a way of not tending to their own.

As John said, "I believe that productivity and "getting a lot done" are overrated, in fact. The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done."

I have to agree with John whole heartedly because for the fact that I also think productivity is overrated. I'm a lazy person by choice and by habits so really getting something done should depend on my mood and what will it get me when I do it. Doing tasks for me is a pain in the arse and doing it depends on how important it is for me; school work is shit that's why it's in the low priority check list for me, catching up on shows, working on some WIPs ( artworks that are Work In Progress ) and insulting rude-ass b*tches on Facebook are much more important. Unless the school work that requires doing is really important, that's what I'll do first. It all just depends.

Now procrastination can be called a form of art; the art of putting things off until tomorrow that is. This led me to finding an article named, "The Art of Procrastination" which was written by Mathilda Mottet; nobody’s perfect, 'Nothing' isn’t really the exact word, because procrastinators always find something more appealing and stupid in most cases than what he or she should actually do and procrastination is the witness of a society ruled by irksome people ignoring the pleasures of life. Every human behaviour occurs for a reason because iy depends on how the person is and what are their habits or views in life.

Mathilda said and I quote, "Our generation is victim of a particular disease that slows millions of people down against their weak wills : procrastination. Procrastination is the art of putting things off until tomorrow, and there is no need to tell you how good I am at that."

I can't tell you how much I agree with her because I too am proud to say that I'm really good at procrastinating. Procrastination has provided me with skills like multitasking and cramming at the last minute and even if those things happen I still get an A* or a first in the things I procrastinate on. It just comes to show that practice actually makes do.

Blogpost 5: The CONSEQUENCES

We procrastinate, all of us do. It's a daily part of our lives and it'll stick with us for the coming years or so. Our children will procrastinate, our grandchildren, our grandchildren's children basically what I'm trying to say is that, procrastination is inevitable but what will it lead to?

Procrastination isn't all that great other than the fact that it'll make us happy for a moment but we need to face the real picture here; the work. When we procrastinate we just put off tasks and it lengthens our work load and decreases our to time to do the task.
 
I read an article named, "The Negative Consequences Of Procrastination" which was written by Bill Anderson, Matthew Long-Middleton and Sydney Llewellyn - Bruce Liese; parenting as these people suggest can even have an impact on the procrastinating habits of children. Because of strict parents sometimes children can not fully develop their sense of independence and self-control. Not just the parents can affect our personality but also our friends for you actually want to fit in and be in the cool crowd as they say and for a fact, people actually get most of their work habits inspired by the people around them be it good or bad; depends on the people you hang out with.

What I look like when Mum won't stop nagging

As stated by Bruce, "Lives can be ruined by procrastination. Certain kinds of procrastination have severely negative consequences if we don't take care of the tasks now." I have to agree with him for procrastination has almost destroyed my life in ways you can't imagine. It got me into trouble with my mum more times than I can count. It's not that it's really bad to procrastinate but too much procrastination may cause you your grades. That's something you want your mum to find out that'll result her to nagging you 'till your ears bleed now do you? I wouldn't want that ever in my life but I still get nagged almost every other day for procrastinating and in my opinion, that's the only bad side to procrastinating.

Another article that I've read was named, "Effects of Procrastination", written by DISQUS; procrastinating results in task being put off until the very last minute because we get some sort of nervous feeling come over our body and as a reflex we try to overcome that feeling by procrastinating but in reality we're just postponing that feeling for later, where we might be prepared and or not.

The article also states that, "If you are not careful, the effects of procrastination can have damaging consequences on your life. It is very unhealthy to continue to put your body through this type of stress, not only is it unhealthy for you, it puts unnecessary strain on your relationships."

I agree with this statement. Firstly procrastination surely has effects that affect our mental and emotional stability. Yeah procrastinating is fun I get it but have you ever felt the feeling of dying? Where you feel you're only minutes away from the due date given and you haven't even started or that you haven't finished the task given. Procrastination makes your blood pump and you get that adrenaline rush at the very last moment before the due date to do your work but that just makes you more stressed than before where you had all that time where you could've finished the work with ease and relaxation.

Let's get this straight, I'm a procrastinator and I actually hate cramming but I'm good at it. It's bad, yeah I know but I still get the job done and what's so bad about that? It just depends on how you take your work priorities and that do you have skill in the project you're procrastinating on.



Blogpost 4: The SIGNS

Well we all do it to some way or another; put off things for tomorrow what we know should be done today. Procrastinators do almost the same things as each other but at heir own pace and their own style. What spikes our feeling for committing procrastination. The environment we are in greatly affects our work momentum even if you don't notice it. This may be in a good way or a bad way it just really depends on the person.

Procrastination is inevitable in a person's daily life and is related to temperament in ways you can't even imagine. Which led me to "7 Symptoms of Procrastination and How to Fight Them" an article written by Ciara Conlon; reasons may vary on the person and that there's the fact that they might not have a vision for their future nor do they have time to think about such feral things that may lead to getting stressed.

As stated by Ciara, "An object in motion tends to stay in motion” — you can start to get rid of procrastination by moving forward."  I can agree with what Ciara said because moving forward will keep you from going into a standstill and it'll keep you going onwards and making a dent on the plates on your shoulders.

Procrastinators have their reasons why they tend to procrastinate and there are actually signs to know if you're going to end up procrastinating in the next minute or so.

• Do you feel sleepy?
• Are you stressed?
• Are you hungry?

Some basic questions that you need to ask yourself first before working on any kind of task so that you can tend to your needs first then do your work so that you'll refrain from procrastinating the minute you start doing work.

Now procrastination may be a result of someone's personality, emotions, behaviour or cognitive components. Which led me to an article named, "ETIOLOGY-THE CAUSES Of PROCRASTINATION" which was written by the Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada), it depends on how the person working will cope with the work given to them. Their behaviour will determine if they'll procrastinate or not adding the substances of distraction and quick attention-span. Now for their emotions, it all comes down to if they feel like working or do they feel like giving up and live like kings for a moment and just forget about work for even just a minute.

Now the article states that and I quote, "Sometimes procrastination can signal profound internal conflicts (Birner 1993). A person can unconsciously delay actions and engage in the unproductive repetition of acts such as elaborate preparation rituals in order to avoid certain symbolized acts. Often the action involves a specific event or person. The act may be threatening to the person's ego. Specifically, the boss or the person who assigns the task reminds the procrastinator of a significant "other" person in their past."

I need to agree with the statement given because a lot of us commit procrastination in order to disobey our authoritative figures because the tasks that are given to us are against our will to do and are just simply boring that you'd rather face punishment than to do the work assigned to you.

The article also says that procrastination can be a risk factor of depression for when you feel too incompetent towards your skills, that you're not good enough to finish the given work. "Procrastination may in fact be the beginning of a more serious disorder and can augment symptoms in vulnerable individuals. Procrastination can also result from neurological damage or deficiencies. However, procrastination is most importantly on it's own, a maladaptive coping syndrome which needs to be treated seriously."

The fact that some researchers and scientists say that procrastination may be a sickness is really weird in my opinion for it's just a coping mechanism where we (the stressed out people) take a break and enjoy life. I guess some of their points are right for some of the procrastinators out there actually take procrastination to the next level where they really don't get anything done what so ever.

Blogpost 3: Types of Procrastinators

How do people procrastinate? What do they do when they put off tasks; what do they exchange their tasks for?

Firstly, every one of us has their own preference on how they procrastinate. Procrastination as I've said is inevitable; it's an infamous phenomenon mainly teenagers and kids at heart are familiar with.

Let's face it there's nothing like the thrill of a due date of a project to get our blood pumping, right? But before anything else, before the pacing, the freaking out and the dreading of what will happen to you; think back to how you procrastinated. We have our own ways of procrastinating, right? But what's YOUR Procrastination Personality?

I read an article named, "The 12 kinds of Procrastinators" by Neha Prakash where she tackled the different kinds of procrastinators where she provided a comic strip by Angela Liao. In this comic strip there are about 12 kinds of procrastinators and I've searched for different articles concerning the "Types of Procrastinators" Quoting Neha Prakash's statement, "Procrastination is nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone does it, but we each have a unique way of pushing off work to maximize time wasted."

Types of Procrastinators

I almost check out all of the Types. I knew there were a lot of types but I didn't know where to characterized myself. Procrastinating is a devious task for other people because it requires great skill and strength to be a procrastinator and still manage to fulfil their obligations and finish their work.

In another article I've read, "Rare New Form of Procrastination Identified", which was written by Jessica Stillman stated that; Rory Vaden of SouthWestern Consulting claims to have discovered a new form of procrastination: Priority Dilution. This form does not concern laziness, apathy or being disengaged (like traditional procrastination) it has the same result of the traditional one where we delay of the day’s most important activities because your attention shifts to less important tasks. 

To know if you're affected by Priority Dilution,make a list of your activities to help you decide whether you're focusing your energy and attention on the right tasks, rather than wasting effort on non essentials. If you answer no to the following three questions about how you spend your workdays, you might be diluting your priorities:

• Was this activity on my primary to-do list when I arrived at work today?
• Is this activity one of the key drivers of achieving success in my position?
• Does this activity require my unique thought process?

As the article states and I quote, "The average procrastinator knows consciously that they are putting off things that they should be doing, this new form of procrastination isn't as self-evident. Priority dilution is a dangerously deceptive saboteur of their goals because it is unconscious."

As an average procrastinator I'm aware of what I'm doing unlike the Priority Dilution type of procrastinators. Personally  I think that Priority Dilution is a dangerous type of procrastination for you really might get into trouble and you don't even know what's going on and that's kind of scary in my opinion. 

The reason you can’t seem to start on work is that you might just don’t give a damn.You keep putting off what’s important to get this or that little thing out of the way, only to be so tired that you end up procrastinating on your main task; finishing your work. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

Yeah we do procrastinate, we put off the work we have now for tomorrow but by procrastinating you just lengthen your work load and shorten your time for the work said. We can't escape the responsibility given to us but we can hide from it 'till we can face the picture and conquer  the work.