PROCRASTINATE

PROCRASTINATE

“It’s 6 pm and you have just realized that your final project you are been putting off it’s due tomorrow. It’s time to start writing buuut you check your phone, watch videos on youtube, probably you have to make dinner then you will start to writing, but it’s too late, maybe you should try again in the morning”

This is the cycle of procrastination but what is procastinate?

 

It is the act of delaying tasks until the last minute of the deadline “procrastination” — comes from the Latin verb and

procrastinare — to put off  until tomorrow

And Procrastination derived from the ancient Greek word

akrasia — doing something against our better judgment.

it’s not because of laziness as people think and it’s irrational to do something you expect to hurt you. 

However, why are we still procrastinating even when we know it's bad for us?

Well, ironically it is because “our brain is trying to protect us”.

When you realize you need to write your project your brain acts  if you were in a danger situation 

The amygdala (it’s the part of the brain that processes fearful and threatening stimuli)starts to produce hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Then the prefrontal cortex, (the part of your brain which helps to think long term and regulate your emotions) calm down the amygdala. As a result you decide to handle the threat avoiding it.

 

Additionally, there are types of procrastination

There is the perfectionist That Puts off tasks out of the fear of not being able to complete a task perfectly

The Crisis-maker that puts off tasks because they like working under pressure

The Overdoer, that takes on too much and struggles with finding time to start and complete tasks

And there are a lot of others ways to procrastinate.

In the latest years headlines like this have come to life:

Fighting Procrastination among Loan Officers in Colombia

“Microcredit banks may be able to operate more efficiently if their loan officers spread their workload evenly over time, resulting in a more stable cash flow for the bank—but loan officers, like many people, have a tendency to procrastinate.”

We hear a lot of times in our country, a friend or somebody in our families say “i’ll do it tomorrow” or “i need to start this resume” one week before the deadline.

Procrastination is everywhere.

Effects:

When postponing becomes chronic It is to turn your life into a hell. This makes you have high levels of stress and affect your academic performance, financial status, social life, well being, physical and mental health, EVERYTHING

Besides, procrastination can be a result of depression that can lead to self-doubt. When you can't figure out how to tackle a project or feel insecure about your abilities, you might find it easier to put it off.

Procrastination is also pretty common in people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

One reason is that OCD is often linked with perfectionism, which causes fear of making new mistakes. Plus, people with this disorder have a tendency toward indecision, causing them to procrastinate instead of making a decision.

Procrastination itself is not a mental illness. But in some cases, it may be symptom of an underlying mental health condition such as depression, OCD, or others illnesses

How to overcome this??

Well… actually there are many ways to solve this problem. Traditionally, people think procrastinators need to cultivate discipline and practice strict time management but today many researchers feel it's exactly the opposite. Be too hard on yourself can add more bad emotions into the task and make it more threatness

We need to reduce this negative emotions some others methods are

Make a to-do list This will help keep you on track, consider placing a due date next to each item

Make it harder to procrastinate eliminate potential distractions

Identify and address your fears consider what advice you would give to a friend to have perspective

Start with your best or worst task your easiest or hardest oneTake baby steps Break down the items on your list into small and manageable steps so that your tasks don’t seem so overwhelming

In conclusion, it can be difficult to be responsible for our lives and we want to escape from reality, but if we try  hard enough we will stop procrastinating and do the things we have to do.

So stop procrastinating reading this and go to work on your goal right now...