Procarastination

Procrastination

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.
—Mary Heaton Vorse
What this handout is about
This handout will help you understand why you procrastinate and offer strategies and to combat this common writer's ailment.
Introduction
Everyone procrastinates. We put things off because we don't want to do them, or because we have toomany other things on our plates. Putting things off—big or small—is part of being human. If you are reading this handout, however, it is likely that your procrastination is troubling you. You suspect that you could be a much better writer if only you didn't put off writing projects until the last minute. You find that just when you have really gotten going on a paper, it's time to turn it in; so,you never really have time to revise or proofread carefully. You love the rush of adrenalin you get when you finish a paper ten minutes before it's due, but you (and your body) are getting tired of pulling all-nighters. You feel okay about procrastinating while in college, but you worry that this habit will follow you into your working life.
You can tell whether or not you need to do somethingabout your procrastination by examining its consequences. Procrastination can have external consequences (you get a zero on the paper because you never turned it in) or internal consequences (you feel anxious much of the time, even when you are doing something that you enjoy). If you put off washing the dishes, but the dishes don't bother you, who cares? When your procrastination leaves you feelingdiscouraged and overburdened, however, it is time to take action.
Is there hope?
If you think you are a hopeless procrastinator, take heart! No one is beyond help. The fact that you procrastinate does not mean that you are inherently lazy or inefficient. Your procrastination is not an untamable beast. It is a habit that has some specific origin, and it is a habit that you can overcome. Thishandout will help you begin to understand why you procrastinate and give you some strategies for turning things around. For most procrastinators, however, there are no quick fixes. You aren't going to wake up tomorrow and never procrastinate again. But you might wake up tomorrow and do one or two simple things that will help you finish that draft a little earlier or with less stress.
You may not besurprised to learn that procrastinators tend to be self-critical. So, as you consider your procrastination and struggle to develop different work habits, try to be gentle with yourself. Punishing yourself every time you realize you have put something off won't help you change. Rewarding yourself when you make progress will.
If you don't care why you procrastinate—you just want to know what to doabout it—then you might as well skip the next section of this handout and go right to the section labeled "What to do about it." If you skip to the strategies, however, you may only end up more frustrated. Taking the time to learn about why you procrastinate may help you avoid the cycle whereby you swear up and down that you will never procrastinate again, only to find that the next time you havea paper due, you are up until 3 a.m. trying to complete the first (and only) draft—without knowing why or how you got there.
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Why we do it
In order to stop putting off your writing assignments, it is important to understand why you tend to do so in the first place. Some of the reasons that people procrastinate include the following:
Because we are afraid.
• Fear of failure: If you arescared that a particular piece of writing isn't going to turn out well, then you may avoid working on it in order to avoid feeling the fear.
• Fear of success: Some procrastinators (the author of this handout included) fear that if they start working at their full capacity, they will turn into workaholics. Since we procrastinate compulsively, we assume that we will also write compulsively; we...