Procrastination

In chapter 10 we learned about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and incentive value. The section of that lecture that I could easily relate to myself was procrastination. I am and always have been a procrastinator to the fullest extent. I can attribute a great deal of my anxiety and stress to my tendency to procrastinate. Our text defines procrastination as the delay in goal-directed behavior despite knowing that one will be worse off as a result. The General Procrastination Scale measures the trait tendency of an individual to procrastinate with 0 indicating no tendency to procrastinate and 100 indicating an extreme tendency to procrastinate. I completed the questionnaire and received a score of 79. My high score was of no surprise to me since I am well aware of my life long struggles with procrastination. The inability to manage my time efficiently and complete tasks without delay is an inherent part of who I am. I have never finished a paper or project earlier than the day before it was due and as the due date approaches I will justify my delay in goal-directed behavior with the comforting statement, “there’s still lots of time to get it done.” I tell myself this until a day or two before something is due when anxiety and stress consume me and I force myself to complete my work. This is one of my biggest academic flaws and since I have given up hope of changing my terrible ways I instead have decided to rationalize my short comings and look for a logical cause. I like to think that I work best under pressure and if I was not filled with the anxiety and stress of completing things last minute I would not put forth the same effort. I have also hypothesized that my procrastination is motivated by my need to avoid failure. My anxiety and fear of failing actually inhibits my achievement behavior and causes me to procrastinate. For better or worse I have come to accept procrastination as a part of my academic life and I deal with the resulting stress and anxiety as best as possible.