The behavior defined as procrastination or delaying behavior negatively affects all areas of life, from academic life to business life. According to experts, we procrastinate the most in academic subjects such as exams and homework. Routine tasks, decision-making and compulsive procrastination are other common areas of procrastination behavior. So what should we do to avoid procrastination?
Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center Specialist Clinical Psychologist Elif Kandaz made an evaluation about the procrastination behavior that we frequently encounter in daily life.
Lack of self-control
Stating that procrastination behavior occurs as a result of lack of self-control and regulation performance, Expert Clinical Psychologist Elif Kandaz said:
"Although there are many definitions of procrastination behavior in the psychology literature, we can say that the united point is 'delaying'. With the lack of self-control and regulation performance, it would be correct to define it as delaying access to the necessary goal to be achieved as a result of leaving a priority task for later. In procrastination situations, in general, a task with less importance and priority is done before a task with more importance and priority. In addition, it is known that procrastination behavior has thought and emotional dimensions."
Most common; academic procrastination
Stating that procrastination behavior can be grouped under four main headings, Elif Kandaz said, "The most common type we see is 'academic procrastination', which is known as not doing academic tasks such as finishing homework along with studying for exams or trying to do it at the last minute. Another one is 'procrastination in routine work', which has difficulty in organizing daily tasks and starting and finishing them on time, and 'postponing decision-making', which we can consider as one of the most difficult types, in conflict situations or by being indecisive in the face of more than one option. Finally, it is the type of 'compulsive procrastination' that involves delaying the work that needs to be done along with decision-making."
Why are things that need to be done postponed?
Stating that there may be many different reasons why individuals postpone the work they need to do, Elif Kandaz listed these reasons as follows:
-Dissatisfaction with the work to be done
-Temptiness
- Test anxiety
- Lack of self-monitoring
- Fear of criticism or disapproval
- Learned helplessness
- Perfectionist personality traits
- Fear of failure
Can lead to positive and negative emotions
Stating that procrastination behavior can lead to positive and negative emotions in the person, Expert Clinical Psychologist Elif Kandaz said, "There are studies indicating that procrastination behavior can be beneficial. According to this; It is more logical to do a job that is especially necessary but unpleasant to do, and to do a job that is enjoyable to do, and it can make people feel better. In one study, it was found that procrastinators did not talk about their negative feelings because they avoided an unpleasant task and did more enjoyable activities. For example, some students stated that they were more successful when they were under time pressure, and therefore they exhibited the behavior of procrastinating studying. From this point of view, we can say that although procrastination seems to reveal positive emotions in the short term, spending pleasant time with friends instead of studying for the exam does not always have a positive effect."
Procrastination behavior can make you feel inadequate and guilty
Stating that there are studies showing that procrastination also reveals negative emotions on the person, Elif Kandaz said, "People who procrastinate feel depressed, helpless, sad, angry and disappointed in themselves. When people realize their procrastination behaviors, they experience feelings of inadequacy and guilt, lack of self-acceptance, shame, dishonesty, tension and anxiety."
People with high anxiety may procrastinate more
Expressing that there are studies that say that people consciously decide on procrastination behavior despite its negative effects, Expert Clinical Psychologist Elif Kandaz said the following:
"Based on this, perfectionist personality traits and rational, in other words, non-rational thinking styles are the characteristics that often feed procrastination behavior. The nature of procrastination behavior is to protect one's fragile self-esteem. People with low self-esteem or low self-confidence may put in less effort and abandon tasks more quickly. The individual's inability to start, maintain or even finish a task within a given timeframe has been linked to the accompanying feelings of anxiety and distress. People with high anxiety will procrastinate more because they engage in more avoidance behavior. Another reason may be the belief that the person is inadequate. Individual reasons for attempting something new, the individual's ability and the results of the expectation of success associated with his/her effort affect procrastination behavior. The presence of sufficient motivation and ability reveals self-efficacy and will support the individual in starting and maintaining a job."
Listen to these suggestions
Expert Clinical Psychologist Elif Kandaz listed her recommendations for dealing with procrastination behavior as follows:
- Creating a to-do list and categorizing it as "things to finish today - things to start today - things to do for fun". Under each category, when the list appropriate to that category is made and completed, a check mark should be placed next to the relevant item.
- For the motivation to ensure that a task is completed; listing the advantages and disadvantages of the long and short term results of doing that task at that moment.
-Finding evidence that the thought patterns that cause procrastination are true and not true.
