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ProcrastinationThe art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.

—Mary Heaton Vorse

WHAT THIS HANDOUT IS ABOUT

This handout will help you understand why you procrastinate and offer strategies and to

combat this common writer’s ailment.

INTRODUCTION

Everyone procrastinates. We put things off because we don’t want to do them, or because

we have too many other things on our plates. Putting things off—big or small—is part of

being human. If you are reading this handout, however, it is likely that your procrastination

is troubling you. You suspect that you could be a much better writer if only you didn’t put off

writing projects until the last minute. You find that just when you have really gotten going on

a paper, it’s time to turn it in; so, you never really have time to revise or proofread carefully.

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You love the rush of adrenalin you get when you finish a paper ten minutes before it’s due,

but you (and your body) are getting tired of pulling all-nighters. You feel okay about

procrastinating while in college, but you worry that this habit will follow you into your

working life.

You can tell whether or not you need to do something about your procrastination by

examining its consequences. Procrastination can have external consequences (you get a

zero on the paper because you never turned it in) or internal consequences (you feel

anxious much of the time, even when you are doing something that you enjoy). If you put off

washing the dishes, but the dishes don’t bother you, who cares? When your procrastination

leaves you feeling discouraged and overburdened, however, it is time to take action.

Is there hope?

If you think you are a hopeless procrastinator, take heart! No one is beyond help. The fact

that you procrastinate does not mean that you are inherently lazy or inefficient. Your

procrastination is not an untamable beast. It is a habit that has some specific origin, and it is

a habit that you can overcome. This handout will help you begin to understand why you

procrastinate and give you some strategies for turning things around. For most

procrastinators, however, there are no quick fixes. You aren’t going to wake up tomorrow

and never procrastinate again. But you might wake up tomorrow and do one or two simple

things that will help you finish that draft a little earlier or with less stress.

You may not be surprised to learn that procrastinators tend to be self-critical. So, as you

consider your procrastination and struggle to develop different work habits, try to be gentle

with yourself. Punishing yourself every time you realize you have put something off won’t

help you change. Rewarding yourself when you make progress will.

If you don’t care why you procrastinate—you just want to know what to do about it—then

you might as well skip the next section of this handout and go right to the section labeled

“What to do about it.” If you skip to the strategies, however, you may only end up more

frustrated. Taking the time to learn about why you procrastinate may help you avoid the

cycle whereby you swear up and down that you will never procrastinate again, only to find

that the next time you have a paper due, you are up until 3 a.m. trying to complete the first

(and only) draft—without knowing why or how you got there.

WHY WE DO IT

In order to stop putting off your writing assignments, it is important to understand why you

tend to do so in the first place. Some of the reasons that people procrastinate include the

following:

Because we are afraid.

Fear of failure: If you are scared that a particular piece of writing isn’t going to turn out

well, then you may avoid working on it in order to avoid feeling the fear.

Fear of success: Some procrastinators (the author of this handout included) fear that if

they start working at their full capacity, they will turn into workaholics. Since we

procrastinate compulsively, we assume that we will also write compulsively; we envision

ourselves locked in a library carrel, hunched over the computer, barely eating and

sleeping and never seeing friends or going out. The procrastinator who fears success may

also assume that if they work too hard, they will become mean and cold to the people

around them, thus losing their capacity to be friendly and to have fun. Finally, this type of

procrastinator may think that if they stop procrastinating, then they will start writing

better, which will increase other people’s expectations, thus ultimately increasing the

amount of pressure they experience.

Fear of losing autonomy: Some people delay writing projects as a way of maintaining

their independence. When they receive a writing assignment, they procrastinate as a way

of saying, “You can’t make me do this. I am my own person.” Procrastinating helps them

feel more in control of situations (such as college) in which they believe that other people

have authority.

Fear of being alone: Other writers procrastinate because they want to feel constantly

connected to other people. For instance, you may procrastinate until you are in such a

bind that someone has to come and rescue you. Procrastination therefore ensures that

other people will be involved in your life. You may also put off writing because you don’t

want to be alone, and writing is oftentimes a solitary activity. In its worst form,

procrastination itself can become a companion, constantly reminding you of all that you

have to do.

Fear of attachment: Rather than fearing separation, some people procrastinate in order

to create a barrier between themselves and others. They may delay in order to create

chaos in their lives, believing that the chaos will keep other people away.

Whether these fears appear in our conscious or subconscious minds, they paralyze us and

keep us from taking action, until discomfort and anxiety overwhelms us and forces us to

either a) get the piece of writing done or b) give up. (The preceding is a summary of

Chapters 2-4 of Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen’s Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to

Do About It.)

Because we expect ourselves to be perfect.

Procrastination and perfectionism often go hand in hand. Perfectionists tend to procrastinate

because they expect so much of themselves, and they are scared about whether or not they

can meet those high standards. Perfectionists sometimes think that it is better to give a half-

hearted effort and maintain the belief that they could have written a great paper, than to

give a full effort and risk writing a mediocre paper. Procrastinating guarantees failure, but it

helps perfectionists maintain their belief that they could have excelled if they had tried

harder. Another pitfall for perfectionists is that they tend to ignore progress toward a goal.

As long as the writing project is incomplete, they feel as though they aren’t getting

anywhere, rather than recognizing that each paragraph moves them closer to a finished

product.

Because we don’t like our writing.

You may procrastinate on writing because you don’t like to re-read what you have written;

you hate writing a first draft and then being forced to evaluate it, in all its imperfection. By

procrastinating, you ensure that you don’t have time to read over your work, thus avoiding

that uncomfortable moment.

Because we’re too busy.

Practical concerns: jobs, other classes, etc.

Because it works.

Unfortunately, procrastination helps reinforce itself. When we avoid doing something we

dread (like writing) by doing something we enjoy (such as watching TV, hanging out with

friends, etc.), we escape the dreaded task. Given such a choice, it’s no wonder that many of

us choose to procrastinate. When we write a paper at the last minute and still manage to get

a good grade, we feel all the more compelled to procrastinate next time around.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

Now that you know a little bit about why you may have procrastinated in the past, let’s

explore some of the strategies you might use to combat your procrastination tendencies,

now and in the future. Experiment with whichever of these strategies appeals to you; if you

try something and it doesn’t work, try something else! Be patient; improvement will come

with practice.

Take an inventory.

Figuring out exactly when and how you procrastinate can help you stop the behavior. It can

be difficult to tell when you are procrastinating. Think about the clues that tell you that’s

what you’re doing: for example, a nagging voice in your head, a visual image of what you

are avoiding or the consequences of not doing it, physical ailments (stomach tightness,

headaches, muscle tension), inability to concentrate, inability to enjoy what you are doing.

How do you procrastinate?

Try to ignore the task, hoping against hope that it will go away?

Over- or under-estimate the degree of difficulty that the task involves?

Minimize the impact that your performance now may have on your future?

Substitute something important for something really important? (For example, cleaning

instead of writing your paper.)

Let a short break become a long one, or an evening in which you do no work at all? (For

example, claiming that you are going to watch TV for ½ hour, then watching it all night.)

Focus on one part of the task, at the expense of the rest? (For example, keep working on

the introduction, while putting off writing the body and conclusion).

Spend too much time researching or choosing a topic

Once you better understand how you procrastinate, you will be better able to catch yourself

doing it. Too often, we don’t even realize that we are procrastinating—until it’s too late.

Create a productive environment.

If you have made the decision to stop delaying on a particular writing project, it is critical

that you find a place to work where you have at least half a chance of actually getting some

writing done. Your dorm room may not be the place where you are most productive. Ditto

the computer lab. If you have a laptop computer, try going someplace where you can’t

connect to the Internet (e-mail and the Web are the bane of the procrastinator’s existence—

as you probably already know). If you are a procrastinator, then chances are you are already

pretty exasperated; don’t risk frustrating yourself even more by trying to write in an

environment that doesn’t meet your needs.

[CAUTION: The most skilled procrastinators will be tempted to take this suggestion too far,

spending an inordinate amount of time “creating a productive environment” (cleaning, filing,

etc.) and not nearly enough time actually writing. Don’t fall into that trap! While cleaning

and filing are indeed worthy and necessary activities, if you only do this when you have an

approaching writing deadline, then you are procrastinating.]

While you are thinking about where to write, consider also when you will write. When are

you most alert? Is it at 8 a.m., mid-morning, mid-afternoon, early evening, or late at night?

Try to schedule writing time when you know you will be at your best. Don’t worry about

when you “should” be able to write; just focus on when you are able to write.

Challenge your myths.

In order to break the procrastination habit, we need to get past the idea that in order to

write, we must have all the information pertaining to the topic, and we must have optimal

writing conditions. In reality, writers never have all the information, and conditions are never

optimal.

Think of a writing project that you are currently putting off. On one side of a piece of paper,

write down all the reasons for your delay. On the other side, argue (as convincingly as

possible!) against the delay.

Myth #1: “I can’t function in a messy environment. I can’t possibly write this paper until I

have cleaned my apartment.”

Challenge: There are no conditions that are necessary in order for you to write, save two:

1) You must have a writing implement (e.g., a keyboard or a pen) and 2) you must have

someplace for writing to go, such as into a computer or onto a piece of paper. If, when faced

with a writing project, you start piling up prerequisites for all the things you must do before

you can possibly start writing, consider whether you might in fact be making excuses—in

other words, procrastinating.

Myth #2: “I know it’s time for me to start writing, but I just haven’t done enough research

yet. I’ll spend one more night at the library, and then I’ll start writing my paper.”

Challenge: Truth be told, you will never collect all the information you possibly could for

your paper. Better to write a tightly-crafted argument with the information you have NOW,

AT THIS VERY MOMENT, than to keep doing research and risk throwing your paper together

at the last minute.

Myth #3: “I do my best work under pressure.”

Challenge: There are lots of other ways to create pressure for yourself, besides waiting

until the night before the paper is due to start writing it. You can set a time limit for yourself

—for example, “I will write this paragraph in ½ hour”—or you can pretend that the paper is a

timed essay exam. If you do this a week or two before the paper is due, you’ll have a draft in

plenty of time to revise and edit it.

Myth #4: “In order to work on my paper, I must have six uninterrupted hours.”

Challenge: You can and should work on a paper in one hour blocks (or shorter). This will

help you break the writing task down into smaller pieces, thereby making it seem more

manageable. If you know that you can work on one part of the paper for one hour, then it

won’t seem so daunting, and you will be less likely to procrastinate.

Some writers find, however, that they do need longer blocks of time in order to really

produce anything. Therefore, like all of the strategies outlined here, if this one doesn’t work

for you, throw it out and try something else. You might still find, however, that you are more

productive when you plan to write “all morning” rather than “all day.”

Myth #5: “What I write has to be perfect, ” AND/OR “I can’t write anything until I have a

perfect thesis statement/intro.”

Challenge: A first draft (or a second, or a third, or even—egad!—the final product) does not

have to be perfect. When we write an early draft, we need to turn off our internal critic and

just get some words down on the page. The great thing about starting early on a writing

project is that it leaves us plenty of time for revision, editing, and proofreading; so, we can

set ourselves free to just let our writing flow, without worrying about sentence-level

concerns such as grammar, punctuation, and style. You’ll find some other thoughts on

editing in our handouts on proofreading and revision.

Break it down.

The day you get the paper assignment (ideally), or shortly thereafter, break the writing

assignment up into the smallest possible chunks. By doing this, the paper never has a

chance to take on gargantuan proportions in your mind. You can say to yourself, “Right now,

I’m going to write the introduction. That’s all, just the introduction!” And you may be more

likely to sit down and do that, than you will to sit down and “write the paper.”

Get a new attitude.

We shoot ourselves in the foot, to begin with, by telling ourselves how horrible a particular

writing assignment is. Changing our attitude toward the task, when possible, may go a long

way toward keeping us from procrastinating. Tell yourself that the task isn’t so bad or

difficult, that you either know how to do it, or that you can learn how while you’re doing it.

You may find, too, that if you start early on a particular assignment, your attitude never has

a chance to get very negative in the first place! Simply starting to write can often help us

feel more positive about writing.

Ask for help.

Get an anti-procrastination coach. If you are really determined not to procrastinate, then

get help from the supportive people in your life. Tell someone about your writing goal and

timeline, and ask them to help you determine whether or not your plan is realistic. Once

or twice a week, email with a friend, relative, or mentor, in order to report (admit?) on

your progress, and declare your promise for the next week (or few days). If, despite your

very good intentions, you start procrastinating again, do not think, “All is lost!” Instead,

talk to someone about it. They may be able to help you put your slip into perspective and

get back on track.

Get a buddy. See if you can find a friend to work alongside you. They don’t have to be

writing a paper; in fact, they can be playing Solitaire, for all you care. What matters is

that you arrange to meet them at the library (or wherever you have decided to write) at a

particular time and stay there for a specific period of time, thus creating accountability.

Get help with your writing. If you are procrastinating because you think you are a weak

writer, then ask someone (a Writing Center tutor, a current or former professor or

teaching assistant, a friend) to help you improve.

Form a writing group. A writing group is a great way for undergraduate and more

advanced writers alike to create accountability, get feedback, and simply get reminded

that you are not alone in the struggle to produce and to improve your writing. See

our writing group packet at for more information on how to form and sustain a writing

group. Dissertation writers may benefit not only from joining a writing group but also

from reading our handout on the dissertation. This handout was written by a former

Writing Center staff member who eventually completed her dissertation.

Get unblocked.

Sometimes, we procrastinate because we feel stuck on a particular essay or section of an

essay. If this happens, you have several options:

Turn off the screen. Type with a dark screen, so you can’t see what you’ve written, decide

you don’t like it, and delete it immediately. Sometimes procrastination stems from

insecurity about what to say, or whether we have anything to say. The important thing, in

that case, is to get started and KEEP GOING. Turning off the screen may help lessen your

fear and turn off your internal critic. When you turn it back on (or print out what you’ve

written), you may find that you do have something to say, after all.

Write about writing. Take 15 minutes and write a letter to yourself about why you don’t

want to write this. This lets you vent your frustrations and anxieties. Then, Take 15

minutes and write about what you could do to get unstuck. You can also try writing about

what you’re going to write, making an initial assessment of the assignment. You won’t

have the pressure of writing an actually draft, but you will be able to get something down

on paper.

Write the easiest part first. You don’t have to start at the beginning. Whatever section

you can do, do it! If you think that’s wimpy, and you would rather do the hardest part first

so that you can get it out of the way, that’s fine—whatever works for you. If you start

writing and you get stuck, write about why you’re stuck.

Talk it out. Try tape-recording yourself speaking the ideas you want to include in the

paper, and then transcribe the tape.

Make yourself accountable.

Set a writing deadline (other than the paper’s due date) for yourself by making an

appointment at the Writing Center or telling your TA (or a former TA) that you’re going to

give them a draft on such-and-such a date. If you make your Writing Center appointment for

several days before the paper is due, then you may be motivated to have a draft finished, in

order to make the appointment worthwhile.

Leave your work out.

Keeping your work (books, notes, articles, etc.) physically out, in full view, gives you a

reminder that you are in the middle of the paper, or that you need to start. Also, if you write

in more than one shift, it can be helpful to leave off in the middle of a paragraph and leave

your ‘tools’ where they are. When you return to the paper, you’ll be able to “warm up” by

finishing that paragraph. Starting a new section cold may be more difficult.

Work on improving your writing when you don’t have a deadline.

Investigate your writing process. First of all, you may not think you have a thing called a

“writing process.” But you do—everyone does. Describe your writing process in detail.

Ask yourself:

When do I usually start on a paper?

What tools do I need (or think I need) in order to write?

Where do I write?

Do I like quiet or noise when I write?

How long a block of time do I need?

What do I do before I start?

What do I do at the end?

How do I feel at the end (after I have turned it in)?

Then ask yourself:

What do I like about my writing process?

What do I want to change?

Once you can see your writing process, then you can make a decision to change it. But take

it easy with this—only work on one part at a time. Otherwise, you’ll get overwhelmed and

frustrated—and we all know where that leads, straight down the procrastination road.

Evaluate your writing’s strengths and weaknesses.

If you aren’t ready to evaluate your writing process completely (and it’s okay if you aren’t),

then you could try just listing your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. For instance,

perhaps you are great at creating thesis statements, but you have trouble developing

arguments. Or, your papers are very well-organized, but your thesis and argument tend to

fall a little flat. Identifying these issues will help you do two things: 1) When you write, you

can play to your strength; and 2) You can choose one weakness and do something about it

when you DON’T have a deadline.

Now, doing anything when you don’t have a deadline may sound strange to a procrastinator,

but bear with me. Let’s say you’ve decided that your writing is too wordy, and you want to

work on being more concise. So, some time when you don’t have a paper—but you do have

a free hour—you waltz into the Writing Center and tell your tutor, “Hey, I want learn how to

write more clearly.” You confer, and you come away with some simple strategies for

eliminating wordiness.

Here is why this may make a difference the next time you write a paper, regardless of

whether or not you have procrastinated (again!): You print out your draft. It’s 1 a.m. You go

to bed. The next morning, you read over your paper (it’s due at noon). You say to yourself,

“Hmmm, I notice I’m being too wordy.” BUT, rather than concluding, “Oh, well, it’s too late,

there isn’t anything I can do about that,” (as you may have in the past), you can choose to

employ some of what you learned (previously, when you weren’t under the gun) to make

your writing more concise. You edit the paper accordingly. You turn it in.

When your instructor hands the papers back the following week, there are far fewer

instances of “awkward,” “unclear,” etc. in the margins. Voila! You’ve made a positive

change in your writing process!

What does this have to do with procrastination? Well, making one small change in your

writing process creates momentum. You begin to feel more positive about your writing. You

begin to be less intimidated by writing assignments. And—eventually—you start them

earlier, because they just aren’t as big a deal as they used to be.

Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses in your writing gives you a sense of control. Your

writing problems are solvable problems. Working on your writing when you don’t have a

deadline helps you gain insight and momentum. Soon, writing becomes something that,

while you may not look forward to it, you don’t dread quite as much. Thus, you don’t

procrastinate quite as much.

This strategy also accounts for the fact that if you perceive procrastination as having been

successful for you in the past, you aren’t going to give it up right away

Hone your proofreading and editing skills.

If you procrastinate on writing because you don’t like to re-read what you have written, the

good news is this: you can learn specificproofreading, revising, and editing strategies. If you

finish your paper ahead of time, and you re-read it, and you don’t like it, you have options.

Writing a first draft that you don’t like doesn’t mean you’re a terrible writer. Many writers—

in fact, I would venture to say most—hate their first drafts. Neither Leo Tolstoy nor Toni

Morrison produce(d) brilliant prose the first time around. In fact, Morrison (a big fan of

revision) said recently that you don’t have to love your writing just because you wrote it! If

you practice some revision and editing strategies, you may feel more comfortable with the

idea of re-reading your papers. You’ll know that if you find weaknesses in the draft (and you

will), you can do something to improve those areas.

Learn how to tell time.

One of the best ways to combat procrastination is to develop a more realistic understanding

of time. Procrastinators’ views of time tend to be fairly unrealistic. “This paper is only going

to take me about five hours to write,” you think. “Therefore, I don’t need to start on it until

the night before.” What you may be forgetting, however, is that our time is often filled with

more activities than we realize. On the night in question, for instance, let’s say you go to the

gym at 4:45 p.m. You work out (1 hour), take a shower and dress (30 minutes), eat dinner

(45 minutes), and go to a sorority meeting (1 hour). By the time you get back to your dorm

room to begin work on the paper, it is already 8:00 p.m. But now you need to check your

email and return a couple of phone calls. It’s 8:30 p.m. before you finally sit down to write

the paper. If the paper does indeed take five hours to write, you will be up until 1:30 in the

morning—and that doesn’t include the time that you will inevitably spend watching TV.

And, as it turns out, it takes about five hours to write a first draft of the essay. You have

forgotten to allow time for revision, editing, and proofreading. You get the paper done and

turn it in the next morning. But you know it isn’t your best work, and you are pretty tired

from the late night, and so you make yourself a promise: “Next time, I’ll start early!”

Make an unschedule.

The next time you have a writing deadline, try using an un-schedule to outline a realistic

plan for when you will write. An un-schedule is a weekly calendar of all the ways in which

your time is already accounted for. When you make an un-schedule, you consider not only

your timed commitments such as classes and meetings, but also your untimed activities

such as meals, exercise, errands, laundry, time with friends and family, and the like. It is not

a list of what you should do in a given week; rather it is an outline of the time that you will

necessarily spend doing other things besides writing.

Once you have made your un-schedule, take a look at the blank spaces. These represent the

maximum number of hours that you could potentially spend writing. By starting with these

blank spaces as a guide, you will be able to more accurately predict how much time you will

be able to write on any given day. You may be able to see, for instance, that you really don’t

have five hours to spend writing on the night before the paper is due. By planning

accordingly, you will not only get a better night’s sleep, you may also end up with a better

paper!

The un-schedule might also be a good way to get started on a larger writing project, such as

a term paper or an honors thesis. You may think that you have “all semester” to get the

writing done, but if you really sit down and map out how much time you have available to

write on a daily and weekly basis, you will see that you need to get started sooner, rather

than later. In addition, the unschedule may reveal especially busy weeks or months, which

will help you budget time for long-term projects.

Perhaps most importantly, the un-schedule can help you examine how you spend your time.

You may be surprised at how much (or how little) time you spend watching television, and

decide to make a change. It’s especially important that you build time for fun activities into

your un-schedule. Otherwise, you will procrastinate in order to steal time for relaxation.

You can also use the un-schedule to record your progress towards your goal. Each time you

work on your paper, for example, mark it on the un-schedule. One of the most important

things you can do to kick the procrastination habit is to reward yourself when you write

something, even if (especially if) that writing is only a little piece of the whole. Seeing your

success on paper will help reinforce the productive behavior, and you will feel more

motivated to write later in the day or week.

Set a time limit.

Okay, so maybe one of the reasons you procrastinate on writing projects is that you just

plain hate writing! You would rather be at the dentist than sitting in front of your computer

with a blank Microsoft Word document staring you in the face. In that case, it may be helpful

to set limits on how much time you will spend writing before you do something else. While

the notation “Must work on Hemingway essay all weekend” may not inspire you to sit down

and write, “Worked on Hemingway essay for ½ hour” just might. Or, if you tell yourself that

you will write “all weekend,” for instance, the sheer agony of the thought may keep you

from doing any writing at all. If, however, you say that you will write for two hours on

Saturday afternoon, you may actually accomplish something. The important thing here is to

keep your commitment to yourself. Even if, at the end of the two hours, you think you could

keep going, stop. Go outside and enjoy the weather. Your procrastinating self needs to be

able to trust your new non-procrastinating self the next time you say you will only write for a

certain amount of time. If you go overboard this time, then the next time you say, “I’ll write

for two hours and then stop,” the procrastinator within will respond, “Yeah, right! I’m going

rollerblading!”

On the other hand, it may work better for you to trick yourself into working on your paper by

telling yourself you’re only going to write for two hours, but then continuing to work if you’re

feeling inspired. Experiment with both approaches and see which one seems to work best for

you.

Be realistic about how long it takes you to write.

Procrastinators tend to be heroic about time; they estimate that it will take them two hours

to complete a task that would take most people four. Once you have determined that

procrastination is hurting your writing, begin taking notice of how long it actually takes you

to write. Many students have a “page an hour” rule. Perhaps you can write a page in an hour

if you are totally rested, fed, and focused, your roommate isn’t home, and the wind is

blowing just right. But what if the phone rings, what if you are tired, and what if you have to

go to the bathroom? When you estimate how long it will take you to write something, expect

that there will be interruptions along the way.

PARTING THOUGHTS

As you explore why you procrastinate and experiment with strategies for working differently,

don’t expect overnight transformation. You developed the procrastination habit over a long

period of time; you aren’t going to stop magically. But you can change the behavior, bit by

bit. If you stop punishing yourself when you procrastinate and start rewarding yourself for

your small successes, you will eventually develop new writing habits. And you will get a lot

more sleep.

WORKS CONSULTED

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a

comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your

own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a

model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you

are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation

tutorial.

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It. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publ. Co., 1983.

Ellis, Albert, and William J. Overcoming Procrastination. New York: Signet Books, 1977.

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December 2005

The most impressive people I know are all terrible procrastinators. So could it be that procrastination isn't always bad?

Most people who write about procrastination write about how to cure it. But this is, strictly speaking, impossible. There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.

There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination.

That's the "absent-minded professor," who forgets to shave, or eat, or even perhaps look where he's going while he's thinking about some interesting question. His mind is absent from the everyday world because it's hard at work in another.

That's the sense in which the most impressive people I know are all procrastinators. They're type-C procrastinators: they put off working on small stuff to work on big stuff.

What's "small stuff?" Roughly, work that has zero chance of being mentioned in your obituary. It's hard to say at the time what will turn out to be your best work (will it be your magnum opus on Sumerian temple architecture, or the detective thriller you wrote under a pseudonym?), but there's a whole class of tasks you can safely rule out: shaving, doing your laundry, cleaning the house, writing thank-you notes—anything that might be called an errand.

Good procrastination is avoiding errands to do real work.

Good in a sense, at least. The people who want you to do the errands won't think it's good. But you probably have to annoy them if you want to get anything done. The mildest seeming people, if they want to do real work, all have a certain degree of ruthlessness when it comes to avoiding errands.

Some errands, like replying to letters, go away if you ignore them (perhaps taking friends with them). Others, like mowing the lawn, or filing tax returns, only get worse if you put them off. In principle it shouldn't work to put off the second kind of errand. You're going to have to do whatever it is eventually. Why not (as past-due notices are always saying) do it now?

http://www.paulgraham.com/index.html

This long word literally means putting “forward” to “tomorrow”; for it is derived from the

Latin word, eras, “tomorrow”, and prefix pro, “before” or “forward.”

Of course it is sometimes necessary and wise to postpone a decision or an action,

where hasty conclusions would be foolish; but “procrastination” always means putting

things off tomorrow which ought to be done today.

It is the fault of dilatoriness and laziness, that leads us to shirk the doing of present

duties and inclines us to defer them to some future time.

Thus the fault of procrastination is just the opposite of the virtue of punctuality. A

punctual man takes care to do what has to be done exactly at the right time; the dilatory

man never does anything at the right time, but always wants to put it off till tomorrow, or

next week, or next year.

Procrastination, if it is not firmly checked, soon grows into bad habit, which at last

makes the punctual performance of daily duties impossible. It may be due to sheer

laziness, and disinclination to work when work seems inconvenient; or it may be due to

the illusion that there will be plenty of time in the future to do all we have to do.

This is an illusion, because when we think thus we forget that, even if we shall have

more time to-morrow, we shall have more to do then—not only to-morrow’s legitimate

work, but today’s work which we have neglected, as well.

Every day we put off the work we ought to do, we are piling up an accumulation of work

for “to-morrow,” and we shall at last find that the arrears of undone work are too big to

overtake. So, in the end, “lazy folks take most pains.”

“Procrastination,” it is said, “is the thief of time.” We have only a limited amount of time

at our disposal; and every hour we waste in idleness, is “stolen” by that thief,

procrastination, from our stock. Time wasted is time lost.

The lazy man says, “Never do to-day what you can put off till to-morrow.” But the wise

and busy man takes as his motto the old proverb, “Never put off till to-morrow what you

can do today.”

And the man who systematically clears off the work that belongs to each day as it

comes, not only avoids the mental burden of unperformed duties, but is also the only

man who knows true leisure.

For at the end of the day, he can spend what time remains in recreation and enjoyment

with a clear conscience, knowing he is well ahead with his work.

So we should take as our motto, “Do it now!”

Procrastination / reason / problem / postpone

Essay Topic:

A narration on the ability to fight procrastination.

Essay Questions:

Why does procrastination take the best time of the life of any person?

Why do people tend to postpone everything for tomorrow?

What is the most effective way to stop procrastinating?

Thesis Statement:

Procrastination “hides” in almost every aspect of our everyday life and it is so hard to overcome it. I do not think I would be able to realize that I had this problem and cope with it until one situation happened to me.

Procrastination essay

“…Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday”

Unknown author

Introduction: Procrastination takes the best time of the life of any person. There are always hundreds reasons to wait and to postpone something that seems to be extremely unpleasant to do. Procrastination “hides” in almost every aspect of our everyday life and it is so hard to overcome it. I do not think I would be able to realize that I had this problem and cope with it until one situation happened to me. Procrastination takes the best time of the life of any person. There are always hundreds reasons to wait and to postpone something that seems to be extremely unpleasant to do. Procrastination “hides” in almost every aspect of our everyday life and it is so hard to overcome it. I do

not think I would be able to realize that I had this problem and cope with it until one situation happened to me.

So…. I woke up in the morning and realized that I did not do it again. It seemed that I was almost ready to do it but once more something else grabbed my attention.It was a trap with no way out. I felt terrible! I felt pain all the time and there was nothing I could do about it except doing IT. I remembered the words of Scarlet O’Hara: “ I will think about it tomorrow”, and thought that she was not right about that completely. The problem was that I was thinking about it all the time. I brushed my teeth thinking about it, had breakfast thinking about it. I prepared for my classes and was still thinking about it. I thought about it 24/7 and it was getting altogether scary. It got even funny when I thought that the whole thing would have taken only 1/10 of the time I spent thinking about it. I desperately needed to do something, to find a way to cope with it! And again I did nothing… Then I thought: ”If I do it I will buy myself the biggest chocolate I will find in the nearest supermarket”. I smiled imagining how I bite it and feeling how tasty it is. It seemed to be the best reward for me after all. In my imagination I played over and over again the scene of how I will do it until I understood that the best way to complete something was to begin it.I clenched my fists, collected all my will power against the force of the habit to procrastinate. I put on my favorite clothes, nicely brushed my hair, looked at the mirror and said: “I cannot lose that chocolate”. I laughed trying to imagine how I looked at the moment for other people. Crazy? The whole situation converted into a real adventure for me. I sneaked out of the house as a spy feeling like a have a special task to complete and I cannot fail it. I called it “Operation: chocolate” in my head. I walked to the place like I knew a special secret but could not put it into words. I recalled the two weeks I spent thinking about my problem and with every step my walk became more firm and confident. I almost start running because I was afraid to stop and turn back.

Conclusion: I came up to the door, took a deep breath and came in. Eventually, it was not that hard… to enter the dentist’s office and after all to happily run out from it in a hurry to get myself a big chocolate!I converted something I was afraid of into something that became a real adventure. I have no reasons to procrastinate until I have my imagination working. If I need a reward – I can always invent it. I am not Robinson Crusoe and I do not need Friday to remember a special secret – once I begin nothing can stop me!

Iâ€™m what most people might call lazy, lethargic, and a procrastinator. How did it start? The first specific instance that I can remember was in 5th grade math class. I didnâ€™t do my math. My mentality was that school consumed more then half of my waking hours and I wasnâ€™t going to let it take anymore then that. So my assignments were partially completed, from the day before, and handed in unfinished. I knew that my parents and teachers would raise hell itself when I did this but my mind wouldnâ€™t waiver on this. Since I had been able to get through all of grade school without homework why should I have any now? Great reasoning for a 5th grader, but this thinking contained a few flaws.

To start out, there are 3 types of people in the world. The first kind will generally always try their best and be a competitor in life. They treat life as a marathon that needs a steady vigil pace to complete. The second is the person the will try to complete the absolute bear minimum to survive and occasionally misjudges what is needed done. The third and final is the person that absolutely cannot find any reason to try at all and hope for the best to come to them but never actively seek it. This is the lowest form of life that will suckle away your money, forgiveness, and love never sharing it back with you.

To thoroughly understand the three classes of people, a more detailed analysis is needed. The first kind is the ideal person. One, which all parents and communities hope to produce. They are considered the leaders, overachievers,

and well standing citizens. The second class is the C student of life. Theyâ€™re the average person who occasionally does exceptional work but for the most part will be in the shadows of the first class. Procrastination and laziness is most common to occur in this class and becomes extreme when we reach the third class. The 3rd class no longer tries or cares too much about their life

December 2005

The most impressive people I know are all terrible procrastinators. So could it be that procrastination isn't always bad?

Most people who write about procrastination write about how to cure it. But this is, strictly speaking, impossible. There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.

There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination.

That's the "absent-minded professor," who forgets to shave, or eat, or even perhaps look where he's going while he's thinking about some interesting question. His mind is absent from the everyday world because it's hard at work in another.

That's the sense in which the most impressive people I know are all procrastinators. They're type-C procrastinators: they put off working on small stuff to work on big stuff.

What's "small stuff?" Roughly, work that has zero chance of being mentioned in your obituary. It's hard to say at the time what will turn out to be your best work (will it be your magnum opus on Sumerian temple architecture, or the detective thriller you wrote under a pseudonym?), but there's a whole class of tasks you can safely rule out: shaving, doing your laundry, cleaning the house, writing thank-you notes—anything that might be called an errand.

Good procrastination is avoiding errands to do real work.

Good in a sense, at least. The people who want you to do the errands won't think it's good. But you probably have to annoy them if you want to get anything done. The mildest seeming people, if they want to do real work, all have a certain degree of ruthlessness when it comes to avoiding errands.

Some errands, like replying to letters, go away if you ignore them (perhaps taking friends with them). Others, like mowing the lawn, or filing tax returns, only get worse if you put them off. In principle it shouldn't work to put off the second kind of errand. You're going to have to do whatever it is eventually. Why not (as past-due notices are always saying) do it now?

http://www.paulgraham.com/index.html

Structured Procrastination Do less. Think more.

Structured Procrastination: Do Less, Deceive Yourself, And Succeed Long-

Term.

“. . . anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work

he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” — Robert Benchley, in

Chips off the Old Benchley, 1949

I have been intending to write this essay for months. Why am I finally doing

it? Because I finally found some uncommitted time? Wrong. I have papers to

grade, textbook orders to fill out, an NSF proposal to referee, dissertation

drafts to read. I am working on this essay as a way of not doing all of those

things.

This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination, an amazing

strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human

beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good

use they make of time. All procrastinators put off things they have to do.

Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you.

The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing.

Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful

things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they

will reorganize their files when they get around to it. Why does the

procrastinator do these things? Because they are a way of not doing

something more important. If all the procrastinator had left to do was to

sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it. However, the

procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks,

as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.

Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has

to do in a way that exploits this 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.

The most perfect situation for structured procrastination that I ever had was

when my wife and I served as Resident Fellows in Soto House, a Stanford

dormitory. In the evening, faced with papers to grade, lectures to prepare,

committee work to be done, I would leave our cottage next to the dorm and

go over to the lounge and play ping-pong with the residents, or talk over

things with them in their rooms, or just sit there and read the paper. I got a

reputation for being a terrific Resident Fellow, and one of the rare profs on

campus who spent time with undergraduates and got to know them. What a

set up: play ping pong as a way of not doing more important things, and get

a reputation as Mr. Chips.

Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize

their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they

will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the

basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of

motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important,

and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to

become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

At this point you may be asking, “How about the important tasks at the top

of the list, that one never does?” Admittedly, there is a potential problem

here.

The trick is to pick the right sorts of projects for the top of the list. The ideal

sorts of things have two characteristics, First, they seem to have clear

deadlines (but really don’t). Second, they seem awfully important (but really

aren’t). Luckily, life abounds with such tasks. In universities the vast majority

of tasks fall into this category, and I’m sure the same is true for most other

large institutions. Take for example the item right at the top of my list right

now. This is finishing an essay for a volume in the philosophy of language. It

was supposed to be done eleven months ago. I have accomplished an

enormous number of important things as a way of not working on it. A couple

of months ago, bothered by guilt, I wrote a letter to the editor saying how

sorry I was to be so late and expressing my good intentions to get to work.

Writing the letter was, of course, a way of not working on the article. It

turned out that I really wasn’t much further behind schedule than anyone

else. And how important is this article anyway? Not so important that at

some point something that seems more important won’t come along. Then

I’ll get to work on it.

Another example is book order forms. I write this in June. In October, I will

teach a class on Epistemology. The book order forms are already overdue at

the book store. It is easy to take this as an important task with a pressing

deadline (for you non-procrastinators, I will observe that deadlines really

start to press a week or two after they pass.) I get almost daily reminders

from the department secretary, students sometimes ask me what we will be

reading, and the unfilled order form sits right in the middle of my desk, right

under the wrapping from the sandwich I ate last Wednesday. This task is

near the top of my list; it bothers me, and motivates me to do other useful

but superficially less important things. But in fact, the book store is plenty

busy with forms already filed by non-procrastinators. I can get mine in mid-

Summer and things will be fine. I just need to order popular well-known

books from efficient publishers. I will accept some other, apparently more

important, task sometime between now and, say, August 1st. Then my

psyche will feel comfortable about filling out the order forms as a way of not

doing this new task.

The observant reader may feel at this point that structured procrastination

requires a certain amount of self-deception, since one is in effect constantly

perpetrating a pyramid scheme on oneself. Exactly. One needs to be able to

recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal

deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent. This

is not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-

deceptive skills also. And what could be more noble than using one character

flaw to offset the bad effects of another?

Comments

1. Carsten

July 9, 2015 at 7:31 am

How I ended up on this site is beyond me. I started my browser and there it

was. I haven’t been thinking about procrastination for a long time.

I really need to submit a paper in order to get my PhD, the data is there, the

analysis has been done, I just need to write things up. Thus I’m very

productive in matters related to teaching.

However I can’t find anything else important enough to finally start writing

that paper. What to do if things are starting to get really urgent and are

important in itself (like the paper)? The things you mention are not

applicable in my spot and in fact don’t seem important

Am I just lacking self-deceptive skills?

Anyways… great post, cheers

Reply

2. Liz

July 23, 2015 at 2:02 pm

Nice

Reply

3. Karen Vaughn

August 4, 2015 at 1:39 pm

I enjoyed your essay on procrastination. I can see clearly now!

Karen

Reply

4. Alexandru

September 1, 2015 at 12:33 pm

Well it’s good to deceive yourself with some things, but you have to realize

at some point that you have to work pretty hard if you want performance.

Not to stress to much, but to focus on your goal and to do small steps every

day towards it… that’s how you’ll win the war.

Reply

5. Simon Dell


This looks useful. I’ll read it later when I should be doing some housework or

finishing off some work for my client.

Reply

6. Tim


This is so dead on. Thanks for writing.

Reply

7. Jakob Külzer


I’ve been employing a similar scheme like this for a while. It works

reasonably well, even though I should be working on something else right

now. Which makes me wonder, what more important task did you ignore to

write this fantastic essay?

Reply

8. Peter Raffensperger


This is wonderful

Reply

9. Doguhan Uluca


Great read! Without realizing I’ve been doing something like this. But now

there’s a great recipe for it out there, I’ll do it with more intent and hopefully

increase my overall productivity

Reply

10. Andrew Kelley


I enjoyed the essay, although the fancy pants header bar made it difficult to

read on a mobile device.

Reply

11. Rohan


Whattay post!

Reply

12. Zach


Wow, this hit the nail on the head for me. My key to a successful professional

life has been to find one thing which is more unappealing to do than

everything else I need to do. Once I’ve done that, all the other tasks look like

a great diversion from the one task I don’t want to do.

Reply

13. mekpro

September 2, 2015 at 2:12 am

I had read this for 2 minutes and not finished yet because its too early in the

morning. I will start reading through this again when I’m arrived office.

Thanks !

Reply

14. Procrastinator


Written as an escape from another important task? ;D

This was really informative! …

Thanks for the read

Reply

15. Harold Ramus


I started to read your very interesting article that I found via one of my

favorite news aggregators that I like to check between tasks, thank you! I too

suffer from procrastinatory habits. Unfortunately I was unable to finish

reading because a computer task I was waiting on finally completed, then I

started reading another page and then

Reply

16. Paul


Great article. I have found similar coping measures work well. I can fool

myself that I am not doing something for quit a while. Being rather ADHD

helps–I can do a lot of things, and concentrate on none! I can accomplish a

lot as long as I don’t think too hard about it.

Reply

17. Jan Wedekind


I think good procrastination is about reducing the cognitive load. If you are

overwhelmed by a task it can be because of too many unresolved small

things cluttering your mind.

Reply

18. Amit


Enjoyable read!

Reply

19. Kresten Jacobsen


Great article, I’m sure. I’ll read it later…

Reply

20. Dan


This article, for years, is my guiding light in life! It explained clearly and

exactly what I and alike, are, and how we work. I am a big propagator of the

term and method, and whenever I see a lost soul, I send them to read this.

Thank you!

Reply

21. Mrtoad


I’ve noticed this occur in my life but never took real advantage of it. Funny

article. I will definitely start thinking more about how much I need to clean

my attic so that I can get all my other stuff done.

Reply

22. Zaraeda


Dear Sir,

I just finished reading your hilarious and insightful book. Thank you for

getting it written! Your ideas have helped me accept my limitations and feel

better about what I do get done. Right now I’m procrastinating packing my

suitcase for a trip, meanwhile I’ve actually cleaned up a pile of junk in my

backyard which I’ve been putting off for months. That’s amazing to me. I

don’t like the anxiety around the suitcase issue, but it’s fun discovering new

ways to motivate myself. One thing you

didn’t mention is the possibility of brain chemicals playing a part in getting

one moving. I think that’s the case for me sometimes.

Zaraeda

Reply

23. Jorge Grey


Excellent !

Reply

24. Thomas Strike


I added my website to reply to this but there’s nothing there yet, I’ve been

procrastinating. But now I know how to get my blog going.

Thanks much,

Thomas

Reply

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PROCRASTINATION

We've all been plagued by procrastination at one time or another. For some, it's a chronic problem. Others find that it hits only some areas of their lives. The net results, though, are usually the same - wasted time, missed opportunities, poor performance, self-deprecation, or increased stress.

Procrastination is letting the low-priority tasks get in the way of high-priority ones. It's socializing with colleagues when you know that important work project is due soon, watching TV instead of doing your household chores, or talking about superficial things with your partner rather than discussing your relationship concerns.

We all seem to do fine with things we want to do or enjoy doing for fun. But, when we perceive tasks as difficult, inconvenient, or scary, we may shift into our procrastination mode. We have very clever ways of fooling ourselves.

CAUSES

Procrastination is a bad habit. Like other habits, there are two general causes. The first is the "crooked thinking" we employ to justify our behavior. The second source is our behavioral patterns.

A closer look at our crooked thinking reveals three major issues in delaying tactics - perfectionism, inadequacy, and discomfort. Those who believe they must turn in the most exemplary report may wait until all available resources have been reviewed or endlessly rewrite draft after draft. Worry over producing the perfect project prevents them from finishing on time. Feelings of inadequacy can also cause delays. Those who "know for a fact" that they are incompetent often believe they will fail and will avoid the unpleasantness of having their skills put to the test. Fear of discomfort is another way of putting a stop to what needs to be done. Yet, the more we delay, the worse the discomforting problem (like a toothache) becomes.

Our behavioral patterns are the second cause. Getting started on an unpleasant or difficult task may seem impossible. Procrastination is likened to the physics concept of

inertia - a mass at rest tends to stay at rest. Greater forces are required to start change than to sustain change. Another way of viewing it is that avoiding tasks reinforces procrastination, which makes it harder to get things going. A person may be stuck, too, not by the lack of desire, but by not knowing what to do. Here are some things to break the habit. Remember, don't just read them, do them!

If we begin with the notion that procrastination is not the basic "problem" but rather an attempted "cure" for fears, self-doubts, and dislike of work, then it is obvious that most procrastinators will have to focus on the real problems--underlying fears, attitudes and irrational ideas--in order to overcome the procrastinating behavior. After accepting this idea, the next step was to figure out what the "real" underlying problem was for me. I started by asking, "Am I a relaxed or a tense procrastinator?" Tense procrastinators suffer from strong, sometimes mean, internal critics; relaxed procrastinators have bamboozled their self-critic by denying reality. From this point, each procrastinator must deal with his/her own unique emotions, skills, thoughts, and unconscious motives.

Types of procrastinators

It may help to think in terms of two fundamental kinds of procrastinators: one tense and the other relaxed. The tense type often feels both an intense pressure to succeed and a fear of failure; the relaxed type often feels negatively toward his/her work and blows it off--forgets it--by playing. The relaxed type neglected schoolwork but not socializing. This denial-based type of procrastinator avoids as much stress as possible by dismissing his/her work or disregarding more challenging tasks and concentrating on "having fun" or some other distracting activity; if their defense mechanisms work effectively, they actually have what seems like "a happy life" for the moment.

The tense-afraid type of procrastinator is described as feeling overwhelmed by pressures, unrealistic about time, uncertain about goals, dissatisfied with accomplishments, indecisive, blaming of others or circumstances for his/her failures, lacking in confidence and, sometimes, perfectionistic. Thus, the underlying fears are of failing, lacking ability, being imperfect, and falling short of overly demanding goals. This type thinks his/her worth is determined by what he/she does, which reflects his/her level of ability. He/she is afraid of being judged and found wanting. Thus, this kind of procrastinator will get over-stressed and over-worked until he/she escapes the pressure temporarily by trying to relax but any enjoyment gives rise to guilt and more apprehension.

I found that I am the relaxed type of a procrastinator. I let distractions get the better of me. At first I thought that I was the tense and afraid type of procrastinator, but I have proved myself wrong.

REMEDIES

The first method I decided to try was the rational self-talk method. Which meant that those old excuses really don't hold up to rational inspection. I found the so-called "two-

column technique" and thought it should help. First I began writing down all my excuses on one side of a piece of paper. Then I try to start challenging the faulty reasoning behind each of the excuses. Next I wrote down all of my realistic thoughts on the opposite side of each excuse. Here are two examples of my excuses and my realistic thoughts.

EXCUSE #1: I'm not in the mood right now. REALISTIC THOUGHT: Mood doesn't do my work, actions do. If I wait for the right mood, I may never get it done. EXCUSE#2:I'm just lazy. REALISTIC THOUGHT: Labeling myself as lazy only brings me down. My work is really separate from who I am as a person. Getting started is the key to finishing.

In conclusion for my positive list of self-statements (my rational self talk) that was suppose to be self-motivating statements of my repertoire thoughts didn't seem to help me. So I decided to try another.

My second method was to start setting my priorities. I wrote down all the things that were needed to be done in order of their importance. The greater the importance or urgency, the higher their priority. I put "messing around" (distractions) in their proper places - last! I even started at the top of the list and worked my way down.

In conclusion, I was still putting things off. It helped a little, but still it was hard to avoid certain distractions. This method did help me realize that I was just putting thing off. It is not as though I had a low self-esteem about doing things, I was just being lazy.

Then I tried a third method. Praying this method would be the one to stop my procrastinating, I tried partialilizing my tasks. For the big projects that felt overwhelming to me, I tried breaking them down into the smallest and most manageable subparts. You'll get more done if you can do it piece by piece I thought. For example, I made an outline for a written report before I started composing it. I also found that getting organized helped tremendously. Having all your materials ready before you begin a task really does help. I began using a daily schedule and carried it with me all the time. I listed the tasks of the day or week realistically. I then checked off the tasks when I completed them.

My prayers were answered; I found that partializing really does work, especially well with the unpleasant subjects. Most of us can handle duties we dislike as long as they're for a short time and in small increments.

I then reward myself. I found that self-reinforcement has a powerful effect on developing a "do it now" attitude. I pat myself on the back, smiled, and let myself enjoy the completion of even the smallest of tasks. Remember not to minimize your accomplishments.

Most people have to overcome procrastination gradually. Studying, like drinking, is usually in binges. Almost no one has trouble studying (a little) the night before a big

exam. But without the pressure of an exam, many students find it easy to forget studying. I'd suggest breaking big jobs down into manageable tasks and working on "getting started," perhaps by tricking yourself by saying "I'll just do five minutes" and then finding out you don't mind working longer than five minutes. I called this the "five minute plan." The key is to learn the habit of getting started on a task early, i.e. the procrastinator (myself) needs to learn to initiate well in advance studying and preparing for papers and exams. Practice starting studying several times every day. As with exercising, getting in control of starting and making it a routine are the secrets.

Behaviorally, the role of negative reinforcement in procrastination is easy to see, i.e. some behavior or thought enables a person to escape some unpleasant but necessary work. That escape--procrastination--is reinforced. (Besides, the pleasure from playing, partying, and watching TV could easily overwhelm the pleasure from studying.) Each procrastinator develops his/her own unique combination of escape mechanisms, such as emotions (fears, resentment, social needs), thoughts (irrational ideas, cognitive strategies, self-cons), skills and lack of skills, and unconscious motives, perhaps. etc.

Procrastinate

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