Stopping to Take Notes Makes It Harder to Remember the Details of Something You've Read.

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Procrastination isn't only a homo trouble. Newton'south First Law of Motion says that a trunk at rest volition stay at remainder until compelled to do otherwise. Dare we say it? The entire universe procrastinates.

But simply because procrastination is universal doesn't hateful it's a adept idea. And too often, nosotros notice ourselves procrastinating when we know we shouldn't. Nosotros complain, "I should really be working," as we stalk our sophomore twelvemonth homecoming engagement on Facebook, stand in front of the open fridge for the fourth fourth dimension in an hour, or realize we're watching banjo lessons on YouTube when we don't own a banjo.

Procrastination can too go across piece of work, affecting other important parts of our lives. Non getting that irritating symptom checked out leaves an unknown illness untreated. Avoiding a difficult conversation but prolongs the disharmonize. And delaying an important life decision, similar breaking up, making a serious commitment, going back to school, or finally changing career paths, tin lead to running in identify for years.

In the end, we kick ourselves. We regret the time wasted as deadlines approach, time runs out, and opportunity slips through our fingers.

Why do nosotros do this to ourselves? The solution seems so simple: Just do it already. But reality is far more complicated, and to brand matters worse, procrastination is in our very genes. The tendency to procrastinate runs in families, and is linked on the genetic level to impulsivity, creating a catch-all of difficulty regulating our own behavior. To top information technology all off, a study in the periodical Psychological Science notes that procrastination is, unfortunately, a lifelong trait.

Then what does that mean for us procrastinators? Are nosotros doomed to a lifetime of whiling abroad hours of absently watching 80s music videos on YouTube?

Fortunately, no. But like the inhibited among us can practice loosening up, and those prone to worry can acquire to let become, those of us who procrastinate can observe our own strategies to help us focus and resist our impulses.

Procrastination has many faces. Sometimes information technology's just choosing pleasure over field of study. Sometimes it's an attempt to avoid something negative. And sometimes it's getting paralyzed by overwhelming expectations. Therefore, here are five different reasons why nosotros procrastinate, plus a customized approach for each:

1. The chore isn't urgent.

Whether it's a crying baby, a pinging phone, or a borderline on the calendar, nosotros tend to pay attention to what's correct in front of us.

But it's a lot harder to prioritize things that aren't urgent. From organizing the basement to saving for retirement, we all have things we never get around to. As a event, tasks large and minor sit down neglected at the bottom of the to-do list for months, if non years.

Solution: Consider the big picture.

This annoying tendency actually has some evolutionary significance. Humans are wired to consider the needs of the present much more strongly than the needs of the futurity, a phenomenon called temporal discounting. And this makes perfect sense: The present is in our face, so naturally we pay information technology more attention.

• What Is Procrastination?
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The remedy, according to a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, is to accept on a broader perspective rather than nit-picking the details. Look at everyday tasks through the lens of a bigger picture.

For example, if you've been wanting to go back to school, but just never seem to get effectually to it, take a step back. What would this mean for your life? What are your values and goals around your education? What'south the large picture? Taking on a new perspective can jump-get-go the procedure of taking action.

One time you've decided to take action, it'south time to battle a new kind of procrastination, which is...

2. Nosotros don't know how to get-go or what comes next.

Also often, we find ourselves procrastinating, because we're not sure what to do first. We feel overwhelmed, confused, or disorganized. We put off getting started, because nosotros're not sure what the start stride is.

Procrastination Essential Reads

This kind of procrastination is less an avoidance of the task, and more an abstention of negative emotion. No i likes to feel incompetent or clueless, and then who tin can arraign the states for turning our attention to Netflix or even cleaning the bath instead. Indeed, when we put off the task at hand by doing other tasks, it'due south chosen productive procrastination. And anyone who's e'er organized the files on their desktop or shopped online for an upcoming outcome instead of doing work knows what I mean. At least finding the perfect outfit in advance makes us feel prepared.

Solution: Build confusion into the task.

The central is to acknowledge that it'south totally normal to feel overwhelmed or stupid when you're only starting out, especially if y'all've never washed the chore before.

Therefore, build defoliation into the task. Make "figure out steps" the first step. Add "scream into your pillow" to the summit of your to-do list, if that gets y'all moving.

Alternatively, some people demand an outside political party to help them think, so spitball with a friend or talk it out with your coworker to come with where to get-go.

Remember, it'due south okay for the beginning of the job to include a lot of pivots, practice-overs, and plain former messing up. It only feels lousy if you think it shouldn't exist happening.

3. We're afraid of failure.

A nuance of perfectionism isn't all bad. Later all, high standards pb to high-level work. Bruno Mars, Serena Williams, and Beyonce are all cocky-proclaimed perfectionists. But sometimes loftier standards accept the opposite result. We blow off our projects, convinced there'southward no way we tin run into the standards we fix for ourselves.

Solution: Untangle operation and self-worth.

Perfectionism and procrastination are linked, just information technology's not necessarily the sky-high standards that slow y'all down, merely the sky-high standards mixed with a belief that your performance is tied to your self-worth. That combination tin grind you to a halt.

Always remember the crucial deviation between who you are and what yous accomplish. There's so much more than to your worth than your accomplishments—your identity, family, passions, experiences, travels, friends, politics, taste, noesis, challenges you've overcome, and, about importantly, how you treat other people.

4. Some of us work better under pressure level.

Nosotros all knew (or perhaps were) that kid in high school or college who could crevice open the textbook for the starting time time a few days before the final exam and still do better than those of us who planned ahead.

Solution: Know thyself.

Turns out those kids were planning ahead, but in a unlike manner. There are 2 types of procrastination: passive and active. Passive procrastination is what we typically recall of every bit procrastination: getting distracted by videos of Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg making brownies to the detriment of our performance.

Active procrastination is more than strategic—those of us who work amend under force per unit area and prefer the adrenaline blitz and intense focus that comes with a close deadline might choose to first afterward.

And, it turns out, the choice pays off. A 2022 study past iii Swiss researchers found that passive procrastination negatively affects students' GPAs, but active procrastinators' grades turn out just fine. The lesson hither is know thyself. If the loftier-pressure intensity of all-nighters works for yous, go ahead and brand that pot of java and crack open the textbook at midnight.

5. We just don't want to do our work.

What we're supposed to exist doing is boring. It's difficult. It's 3 p.chiliad. on a beautiful Friday, and we'd rather be doing anything else.

At that place are some things no one wants to do—taxes, calling customer service, getting off the couch to become to bed—I hateful, why exercise we have to be horizontal in a different identify? What to do in this case?

Solution: Measure and recoup.

A study in the European Periodical of Personality might have found a solution. It showed that many college students who procrastinated did so simply because in that location were fun alternatives. In their minds, they weren't blowing off their work—they fully intended to study. Just non right now.

And just similar the active procrastinators from the previous written report, these procrastinators also knew themselves well. The study found that they compensated for their tendency to procrastinate by intending to written report more and before than non-procrastinators. In other words, they allotted for time wasted from the kickoff. And in the end? They actually studied more than non-procrastinators—non a lot more, but however.

To summarize: if yous desire to end procrastinating, await at the big picture, know it'southward okay to exist dazed and confused at the beginning, remember your worth goes beyond your achievements, and, most of all, know thyself. Work with your tendency to procrastinate as information technology is, not equally you wish it to exist. So get on that—right after you lot lookout that video on how to escape quicksand.

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Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-be-yourself/201808/5-ways-finally-stop-procrastinating

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