This week was about procrastination. I can assure every one of you bloggers here, that we are or have been procrastinators at least once in our life. I also admit that I was a procrastinator once in my life and even still do procrastinate time to time. I thought getting the work done on time and studying the test before the exam date and getting ready would exclude me from the procrastinator-category. But, as Dr.Blumin gave a lecture about procrastination this week, I realized that I still have a long way to go to fully escape from my pre-procrastinator habit.
I figured that it wasn't just about my mental mind setting, but also my natural habit that my body remembers and is used to. I can keep reminding myself that I have to finish this assignment in my head, but my body could be doing something else. I began to list the Excuses that I came up with on failing to control my body and the Time Wasters that my body is used to.
When I was done with list of Excuses, I noticed that I was a real good procrastinator that even sometimes deceives myself. For example, I will play video game and tell myself that I am just on a short break from all the stress and hard work. But in reality, I only play video game because it is fun and it is definitely less stressful than working on assignment. When I play video game, an hour feels like 10 minutes, but when I work on a task, an hour feels like 2 hours. Video game can be considered as one of the worst time wasters for me.
Hunger and thirst also seems to be a frequent excuse for me now that I think of it. Whenever I work, I will always get hungry or thirsty. Frankly, I am not really hungry or thirsty. I probably ate and drink not even an hour ago. But, I want to make up an excuse so that I can spend some time on anything other than studying. The 10 minutes I take to go to the vending machine can turn into 1 hour when I meet a friend on the way. The 5 minutes I take to order food can amplify as another hour when the food comes and I take time to eat and digest. It is just all simple excuse to procrastinate.
As I started to believe that I was a procrastinator, I was able to confirm that fact when I listed my Time Wasters. I am pretty sure that most people have this has a Time Waster as well. Yes, it is Facebook. This is 21st century, where technology is advanced enough for everything including college assignments, to be worked on computers. This could be a good thing and a bad thing. For me, I think it is really bad. Whenever, I turn on computer, whether it is for a academic purpose or something else, I always turn on Facebook no matter what. It was not even 10 minutes ago when I just had Facebook on as I am writing this blog post. I turned it off immediately after listing down the Time Wasters and saw how much damage Facebook can do to me while on task. Instead of doing Facebook, I can finish the online quiz for MAT121 much faster. Even for this blog post which is for CLS 105, the speed of writing has increased so much after turning off Facebook. And when I quit texting, I just cannot begin to imagine how much faster I will write for CFS 388 major essay that is coming up soon. I figured that it is much more efficient and effective to turn off all these Time Wasters and finish the work quicker then enjoy Facebook and the other Time Wasters.
Now I finally understand what forces me into becoming a procrastinator. I also understand that habit is the scariest and most unnoticeable thing. My habit has put me into a life of procrastinator. From now on, Time Wasters are going off and I am going to exert all my concentration on assignments. I will be able to do those Time Wasters as soon as I am done with all the work. This can work as my motivation as well. "Work first, Play later"
Both strategies are similar to each other but works well when used together. They are similar in a way that both strategies help identify the time wasters and distractions that make you avoid the tasks you need to do. It also help you to see the problems and visualize those factors for you to see and really feel it. I used time waster as my strategy and it served me very well for the two courses I've applied to it. I like how time waster is easy to make but effective at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYeah Jerry, that first picture gave me some impressions about procrastination. I used the same two strategies as you did and I see that facebook is a common factor in making us procrastinate. The strategies let me figure out what my major problems are and how they force me from not starting my work. These computer related nonhelpful tasks make us become lazy but at the same time, we do not really need them when we work. They can motivate us to actually work and get our tasks done much quicker. These time wasting activities much not be thought of when working because they will slow down the process of our work. Hope we can set them aside for when we actually finish off our works.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I have seen by reading your blog, I have figured out that you are a huge procrastinator since you have so many excuses for different courses like me. I am a huge procrastinator myself, and by using this method, I have discovered all the problems that caused me to procrastinate. I have identified all the reasons and found a resolution. It seems like you have done the same so its really good to see that people like us will prevent procrastination from now on. Overall good job Jerry.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really like a cartoon picture on the top, haha. I agree with the fact that a lot of us go to library not to really study, but if we go to library with other people, it is usually to socialize while studying - mostly just socializing with books in our hands. Also, the phone gets you distracted easily from text messaging to talking to someone; we would constantly be off track because of the phone. We should work to find a way to get concentrated with our work without being distracted by many things. Overall, good job!
ReplyDeleteI hope I don't end up like the old man in your first picture. Just by imagining it, ... TERRIBLE! The Time Waster is really a popular strategy, and, yes~, it is a great strategy to recognize what kind of things are keeping you away from studying. I guess that everyone is saying that the COMPUTER is the most distraction that keeps them from studying. Personally, I can't stand it. I can't imagine a life without my computer... But I guess I have to try to get away from my computer while I'm studying.
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