WORLD POT

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

In the modern world, such a phenomenon as "procrastination" (from the Latin Pro - instead of, and crastinus - tomorrow), is probably familiar to everyone. Is it time to get down to business? Of course, of course, just read the newspaper, drink coffee, smoke, wipe the crumbs off the table and call my friend about the weekend. And then I will do my routine - as soon as possible. Is it evening already? It's okay, tomorrow morning - to work! Each of us periodically postpones something “for later”. But in the lives of some people, this habit is so deeply rooted that they generally stop doing things on time (according to various studies, such people are from 30% to 45% of all humanity!). Of course, this greatly interferes and complicates life - both for these people and those around them. And it is extremely difficult to fight this, because the fight also requires actions and volitional efforts, and with them, procrastinating just have problems. What is procrastination, where does it come from, and can you do something about it? The term appeared not so long ago, in 1992, but the psychological phenomenon itself has existed for much longer. Let us recall the same Oblomov from the novel by I. A. Goncharova - that's who could give a real master class on procrastination! In fact, procrastination means doing less important things - instead of more important, or more enjoyable - instead of less enjoyable. This leads to the fact that most cases are constantly postponed until a later time, sometimes at the last minute before their due date, and some are never done at all. Psychologists identify several mechanisms for the development of procrastination: 1. Reducing anxiety. Usually, it is just unfinished business and processes that cause nervous excitement and tension associated with an unconscious desire to complete them. But the need to start something can be disturbing in itself, and then, in order to avoid an unpleasant feeling, a person postpones and postpones the beginning of the action. 2. Avoiding discomfort. The desire to reduce the amount of unpleasant things in life is characteristic of all healthy people. At the same time, sometimes this pattern becomes dominant for absolutely any task: people agree only to those things that bring pleasure, and postpone all the rest. 3. Impulsivity. Lack of control over impulses can lead to the fact that it is easy to listen to your own inner voice, over and over again offering reprieve from cases, even if not doing them will lead to sanctions and fines. 4. Poorly developed volitional qualities. This mechanism remains controversial, since a procrastinator can redo a huge number of cases, postponing one or two of the most unpleasant ones. Of course, there are those who have difficulty even getting out of bed and brushing their teeth, but this is still rare. 5. Traits of character and personality. Perfectionism, low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, difficulty concentrating, learned helplessness, difficult relationships with time, and poor planning are all stumbling blocks to getting things done on time. 6. Serious psychological problems. Unfortunately, this is a common basis for procrastination - deep processes, childhood traumas or negative past experiences prevent people from living fully, including doing the right things on time.

Western researchers have identified three criteria that are typical for procrastination: this counterproductiveness, futility and irrationality. Some procrastinators spend two to three times more on procrastination than on actual business, and receive a lot of negative feedback from those who are regularly let down. This leads to constant stress, guilt and shame, as well as severe loss of performance and productivity. Such consequences, in turn, stimulate further postponement, and a kind of "vicious circle of procrastination" is obtained. What to do? Are there any ways to somehow break this circle? Methods for dealing with procrastination fall into two broad groups: emotional and preventative. Emotional ways are aimed at reducing stress and finding pleasure in postponed activities; prevention methods include setting life goals and looking for the deepest causes of procrastination (such as fatalism, depression, lack of focus on the future, etc.). The most effective ways from both groups are listed below: 1. Get feedback. Fritzsche et al. In 2008 found that procrastinators who receive feedback on their work from peers, supervisors, and supervisors, on average, spend less time procrastinating than those on their own. 2. Vitamins containing stimulating substances. Vitrum performance, Dynamisan, Gerimaks Energy, Alphabet Energy and others. They will help compensate for the lack of physical strength, vitamin deficiency, and "get" natural physiological stimulants. 3. Creation of an effective procrastination wheel. It has long been an open secret that a procrastinator can be very productive in trying to "run away" from the most unwanted cause. This property of the psyche can be used: create a list of all the things that you usually put off, and mark two or three of the most nasty. Constantly keeping them in mind, you can gradually redo all the other things, and then find an even more unpleasant task, and postpone it, conscientiously doing what was just the “leader of the list”. 4. Time management. Two weeks of timing of all processes and tasks will help not only to understand what the most time is spent on, but also to overestimate a lot. It is advisable not to rush to change something right away, but first accumulate enough data. Time management theorists and practitioners (Gleb Arkhangelsky and others) have come up with several rules, the implementation of which reduces the time for procrastination. For example, all tasks that take less than 3 minutes to complete should be done as soon as the thought of them comes to mind. 5. Psychotherapy. Working with your fears, expectations and goals can lead to good results in reducing procrastination. For example, you may be surprised to find that you are procrastinating due to fear of becoming very successful, or you are using procrastination as a form of protest against things imposed on you, and as a desire to demonstrate independence. Thus, procrastination is not such an invincible beast. You can choose the techniques and methods of struggle that suit you personally, and everything will gradually change. And work is not a wolf - it will not run away into the forest! Author: Ekaterina Sigitova