For a long time I have pondered setting up a Linked-In Group for Lifewide Education but never got round to it even though I know it is in the interests of LWE that I do it. 'Pondering' seems a more comfortable word than 'procrastinating' which according to Wikipedia means the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. Sadly, I think I'm often guilty of this.
According to Freud, the pleasure principle may be responsible for procrastination; humans do not prefer negative emotions, and putting off a stressful task until a further date, is enjoyable. So as someone who seeks out joy that sounds plausible.
The concept that humans work best under pressure provides additional enjoyment and motivation to postponing a task. Some psychologists cite such behaviour as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Other psychologists indicate that anxiety is just as likely to get people to start working early as late and the focus should be impulsiveness. That is, anxiety will cause people to delay only if they are impulsive. Again, if I'm honest I do put things off until I can't put them off any longer and I start to get a bit agitated.
Sadly, my post does not fall into the three criteria for behaviour to be classified as procrastination Schraw, Wadkins, and Olafson namely it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.[4] Similarly, Steel (2007) reviews all previous attempts to define procrastination, indicating it is "to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay."
Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments (I like to think that none of these things applies to the level at which I procrastinate).
These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree (well that's a relief) it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder. Such procrastinators may have difficulty seeking support due to social stigma and the belief that task-aversion is caused by laziness, low willpower or low ambition.
I like to think that a degree of procrastination can be an advantage. It must be the case when you are trying to juggle many balls and keep progressing along many fronts simultaneously. Time spent in doing something that enables you to make a contribution or make progress on one front might be viewed as procrastination from another angle but actually it all contributes to the bigger picture of achievement. And perhaps at the end of the day its the way we maintain our positive emotional spirit. A little digression can help stoke the fires for another tussle with something that is tough and not so enjoyable.
I find procrastination can be overcome with a trigger and this week I was talking to NC about marketing LWE and I felt I couldn't defend not having a Linked-in group so I did it. And what's more we have seven members within 24hrs. Far more than our facebook page!! LIFEWIDE EDUCATION LINKED IN GROUP Now I enter the other reason for procrastination - I know its going to consume my time and energy to make it work!
Schraw, Gregory; Wadkins, Theresa; Olafson, Lori (2007). "Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of academic procrastination". Journal of Educational Psychology 99: 12. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.12.
Wikepedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination#cite_note-3
According to Freud, the pleasure principle may be responsible for procrastination; humans do not prefer negative emotions, and putting off a stressful task until a further date, is enjoyable. So as someone who seeks out joy that sounds plausible.
The concept that humans work best under pressure provides additional enjoyment and motivation to postponing a task. Some psychologists cite such behaviour as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Other psychologists indicate that anxiety is just as likely to get people to start working early as late and the focus should be impulsiveness. That is, anxiety will cause people to delay only if they are impulsive. Again, if I'm honest I do put things off until I can't put them off any longer and I start to get a bit agitated.
Sadly, my post does not fall into the three criteria for behaviour to be classified as procrastination Schraw, Wadkins, and Olafson namely it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.[4] Similarly, Steel (2007) reviews all previous attempts to define procrastination, indicating it is "to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay."
Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments (I like to think that none of these things applies to the level at which I procrastinate).
These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree (well that's a relief) it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder. Such procrastinators may have difficulty seeking support due to social stigma and the belief that task-aversion is caused by laziness, low willpower or low ambition.
I like to think that a degree of procrastination can be an advantage. It must be the case when you are trying to juggle many balls and keep progressing along many fronts simultaneously. Time spent in doing something that enables you to make a contribution or make progress on one front might be viewed as procrastination from another angle but actually it all contributes to the bigger picture of achievement. And perhaps at the end of the day its the way we maintain our positive emotional spirit. A little digression can help stoke the fires for another tussle with something that is tough and not so enjoyable.
I find procrastination can be overcome with a trigger and this week I was talking to NC about marketing LWE and I felt I couldn't defend not having a Linked-in group so I did it. And what's more we have seven members within 24hrs. Far more than our facebook page!! LIFEWIDE EDUCATION LINKED IN GROUP Now I enter the other reason for procrastination - I know its going to consume my time and energy to make it work!
Schraw, Gregory; Wadkins, Theresa; Olafson, Lori (2007). "Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of academic procrastination". Journal of Educational Psychology 99: 12. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.12.
Wikepedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination#cite_note-3
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