Will power is appetitive, or is it? Procrastination is weakness of will power, and we are awesome at rationalizing it; in wondrously logical ways. It is everywhere, and at one point or another it affects or has affected everyone of us. It is not about time management or planning. It may be so that planning and / or scheduling things may lead us into the misbelief of being in control.
Procrastination is problematic for all kinds of people. Everyone is guilty of it, including I. And feeling that guilt, over, and over again is problematic. From a psychological point of view, helps us give ourselves negative feedback. The more we do it, the more we receive this negative conditioning. It is self conditioning, learned over a period of time. The good news is that we can use this information to recondition ourselves, in a much more productive, and positive way. Positively conditioning ourselves against procrastination will lead us on to goal conquering spiral; making a small progress, it fuels us more than anything or any other motivational tool that we may fall back on to.
Forcing ourselves to do things that need to be done now, now, is the biggest self-motivator that exists. It requires us to exert our strength, and will power. Procrastination is also, in some cases, one of the promoters to other problems like addictions, maxing out those credit cards, and so on. The thing is that doing things that need to be done now, and spending now on things that may gratify you for the duration of now, essentially will make you feel the same. Except the later is followed by guilt, conditional reinforcements, and may very well lead us down the path of wanting to feel good every time we encounter a task or goal that doesn’t make us feel that way, at that point in time. Procrastination thus becomes an habit. It is also a by product of impulsivity; where one thought cannot outrace the other. It may also be a by product of fear, and unrealistic expectations. It may also be a product of us not knowing or understanding our own identities.
Video: Helping Ourselves With Becoming Able To Reach Our Goals
Dr. Tim Pychul gives a wonderful presentation that may very well help us with confronting our procrastinating selves. The presentation in the video was meant for Students who Procrastinate but, it is very valid for anyone who would want to know, and do something about their procrastinating selves.
Have about an hour today, and would like some help with the problem of procrastination? Then watch the video embedded below. Not tomorrow, not today. But now.
Teaching Talk: Helping Students Who Procrastinate (Tim Pychyl)
