Procrastination
It is very common to procrastinate - to delay and put off a task until a later time. Can you think of the time in the past week where you have put off something you had to do?
What thoughts were going through your mind about the task that you were putting off? Were you worrying over doing the task less than perfectly, or that you might fail at it? Or perhaps you were thinking that it would take too long to complete the task to your perfect standard? Or that you might feel overwhelmed while doing the task because you had to do it perfectly? Or that if you left the task until the last minute then you would have an excuse if it did not turn out well?
You can get a clearer idea about your procrastination by using self-monitoring:
Elise
Elise worries about her performance and compares her work to her classmates, and often feels disappointed in her performance because it isn’t “good enough”. She now finds that she is delaying starting writing essays, putting it off for days on end.
| 1) Perfectionism area and situation |
| Studies: Wednesday evening, thinking about writing the literature essay |
| 2) Record your perfectionist prediction. Ask yourself: “What was going through my mind when I decided to delay this task?” Rate how strongly you believe the thought (0: not at all, 10: completely believe) |
| I will not be able to write the essay to an excellent standard (9/10). |
| 3) Record your behaviour. What did you do? |
| Went through the texts again (for the 5th time) to see if I missed anything, which has the effect of putting me off starting writing Called my friends to see what they have written, which made me feel less confident and wanting to put off writing Delayed writing because I am distracted with arranging my table, cleaning my room. |
| 4) Record your feelings e.g. anxious, sad, angry, ashamed, depressed, scared, embarrassed, irritated, happy, disappointed, excited. Rate your feelings (0: no feeling, 10: strongest feeling) |
|
Anxious (8/10) Ashamed (6/10) |
It's your turn!
Using this as a guide, notice how you tend to put things off, which can show you what you need to change.
| 1) Perfectionism area and situation |
| 2) Record your perfectionist prediction. Ask yourself: “What was going through my mind when I decided to delay this task?” Rate how strongly you believe the thought (0: not at all, 10: completely believe) |
| 3) Record your behaviour. What did you do? |
| 4) Record your feelings e.g. anxious, sad, angry, ashamed, depressed, scared, embarrassed, irritated, happy, disappointed, excited. Rate your feelings (0: no feeling, 10: strongest feeling) |