1。Why do we procrastinate?

There are many theories purporting to explain why we procrastinate. In this site, we completely avoid this question. We care about How Do We Procrastinate, and, more importantly, how not to.

If you want a reference, the UIUC brochure on procrastination lists common causes of procrastination. For a scientific analysis of this phenomenon, go to the University of Calgary's website at www.procrastinus.com.

We only collect tricks that may or may not help you, and testimonials of stories you can identify with. As you navigate this site, we trust that you will find some ideas worth trying. Maybe these tricks will help you deprocrastinate, and you will never know why you were procrastinating in the first place. But does it really matter?

There is a provision we need to make concerning this approach: Procrastination may be a symptom of a more serious problem, e.g. depression, attention deficit disorder, or a flurry of other mental disorders that can themselves be symptoms of varied physiological problems. Please recognize that there are cases where you may need medical treatment, in particular if procrastination is accompanied by other symptoms.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-6-16 17:11:04编辑过]

http://www.couns.uiuc.edu/Brochures/procras.htm (The following information came from this website.)

Procrastination technically refers to the avoidance of a specific task or work which needs to be accomplished. But this technical explanation doesn't begin to capture the emotions triggered by the word. For most of us, the word "procrastination" reminds us of past experiences where we have felt guilty, lazy, inadequate, anxious, or stupid--or some combination of these. It also implies a value judgment; if you procrastinate, you are bad, and as such, you lack worth as a person.

Procrastination and Its Causes

In order to understand and solve your procrastination problems, you must carefully analyze those situations where your work is not being completed. First, determine whether the cause is poor time management; if so, you will need to learn and develop time management skills. If, however, you know how to manage your time but don't make use of those skills, you may have a more serious problem. Many individuals cite the following reasons for avoiding work:

• LACK OF RELEVANCE. If something is neither relevant nor meaningful to you personally, it may be difficult to get motivated even to begin.
• ACCEPTANCE OF ANOTHER'S GOALS. If a project has been imposed or assigned to you and it is not consistent with your own interests, you may be reluctant to spend the necessary time to see it to conclusion.
• PERFECTIONISM. Having unreachable standards will discourage you from pursuing a task. Remember, perfection is unattainable.
• EVALUATION ANXIETY. Since others' responses to your work are not under your direct control, overvaluing these responses can create the kind of anxiety that will interfere with work getting accomplished.
• AMBIGUITY. If you are uncertain of what is expected of you, it may be difficult to get started.
• FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN. If you are venturing into a new realm or field, you don't have any way of knowing how well you'll do. Such an uncertain outcome may inhibit your desire to begin.
• INABILITY TO HANDLE THE TASK. If through lack of training, skill, or ability you feel that you lack the personal resources to do the job, you may avoid it completely.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-6-16 17:13:35编辑过]

Procrastination Takes Many Forms

Once you have surmounted the emotional block by acknowledging your procrastination (guilt, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy), and after you have analyzed the underlying causes, you need to clearly specify how you procrastinate. Consider the following examples.

1. Do you act as though if you ignore a task, it will go away? The mid-term exam in your chemistry class is not likely to vaporize, no matter how much you ignore it.
2. Do you underestimate the work involved in the task, or overestimate your abilities and resources in relationship to the task? Do you tell yourself that you grasp concepts so easily that you need only spend one hour on the physics problems which would normally take you six?
3. Do you deceive yourself into believing that a mediocre performance or lesser standards are acceptable? For example, if you deceive yourself that a 2.3 GPA will still get you into the medical school of your choice, you may be avoiding the decision to work harder to improve your grade point average and thus may have to alter your career plans. This form of avoidance can prevent your from consciously making choices about important goals in your life.
4. Do you deceive yourself by substituting one worthy activity for another? Suppose you clean the apartment instead of writing your term paper. Valuing a clean apartment is fine but if that value only becomes important when there is a paper due, you are procrastinating.
5. Do you believe that repeated &quotminor" delays are harmless? An example is putting off writing your paper so you can watch five minutes of your favorite television program. If you don't return to writing the paper after five minutes have elapsed, you may stay tuned to the television for the entire evening, with no work being done on the paper.
6. Do you dramatize a commitment to a task rather than actually doing it? An example is taking your books on vacation but never opening them, or perhaps even declining invitations for pleasurable events, but still not pursuing the work at hand nor getting needed relaxation. This way you stay in a constant state of unproductive readiness to work--without ever working.
7. Do you persevere on only one portion of the task? An example is writing and rewriting the introductory paragraph of the paper but not dealing with the body and the conclusion. The introductory paragraph is important, but not at the expense of the entire project.
8. Do you become paralyzed in deciding between alternative choices? An example involves spending so much time deciding between two term paper topics that you don't have sufficient time to write the paper.

What to Do about Procrastination

If you can visualize yourself in one or more of these vignettes, you may be ready to overcome your problems with avoidance or procrastination. The following is a list of additional steps which may help you to deal with your avoidance problems:

• Extract from the above examples those principles which apply to you. Write them down.
• Make honest decisions about your work. If you wish to spend only a minimal amount of effort or time on a particular task, admit it--do not allow guilt feelings to interfere with your realization of this fact. Weigh the consequences of various amounts of investment in a project and find the optimal return for your investment. This step exposes intentional reasons for avoiding work. If you have been unintentionally avoiding work, admit to yourself that you do want to achieve certain goals and accept the responsibilities involved in meeting those goals.
• Work to acquire an adequate understanding of what is necessary to accomplish a task within a given time frame.
• Distinguish between activities which dramatize your sense of commitment and those which will help you accomplish the task. Devote only that amount of time which is appropriate for each part of a task. Develop an overview of the entire project and visualize the steps that are needed to reach completion.

Effective Planning

The larger, more involved, the project, the more difficult it is to plan effectively to carry it out. The following steps may be helpful:

• Segment the task. The entire job may seem impossible, but smaller segments may seem more manageable. Divide the task into small steps.
• Distribute the small steps reasonably within the given time frame. "Reasonably" is the key word; you must allot sufficient time for each step. Do not fool yourself by believing you can do more than is humanly possible.
• Realize that humans periodically need variety and relaxation. Intersperse rewards, relaxation, and gratification for work completed. This will help you feel less resentful of the task and the work that still needs to be done.
• Monitor your progress on the small steps. Watch for the pitfalls discussed earlier. Assess problems when they arise and do something about them quickly. Keep track of the segments and how they fit together to form the whole picture. Reassess time commitments as necessary.
• Be reasonable in your expectations of yourself. Perfectionistic or extremely strict expectations may cause you to rebel or may sabotage your progress.

推荐一本书 The Now Habit

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=nb_ss_b/103-1315303-1868644?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=now+habit

多谢mm！

mm看过吗？有空谈谈感想吧。

我看过一半就觉得自己好差不多啦。。。

关于病因，和你帖子里边列出来的类似。 我印象比较深刻的是作者说拖沓的原因是因为我们心存恐惧。有人害怕做得不完美，有人害怕对未知的事务无法把握，而这种恐惧往往是我自己制造出来的。他举了一个有趣的例子：说如果地上放了一快长木板，够宽，我们可以自如地走过去。但是如果把这块木板架在两座100尺的高楼中间，木板够结识，你还能自如地走过去吗？这楼的高度就是我们无形中对事物添加的要求。我们的期望高了，内心的恐惧也增加了。他还举一个例子，还是这个木板，还是在两座高楼中间， 但是木板的一端有一个哭泣的小女孩，需要你去救她。你会怎么做？恐惧的人依然恐惧，但是如果害怕，站着走不过去，还可以蹲着，或者爬着慢慢地爬过去， 总是会有办法的。

这个例子的印象最深刻。我想这本书的好处是他不会叫我们如何做计划。因为我相信拖沓的人也都有自己的计划，也许还是善于计划的人，只是心理上有些无法克服的因素才会拖沓的。mm，我建议你看看这本书。可以现在public library里面看看有没有。

谢谢mm耐心的解说！马上去查图书馆有没有。

摘录在这里的文章，是查别的资料时看到的，就顺带保存下来了，希望可以帮助到大家。

我自己没有到拖延症那么厉害，但是不highly effective。

恐惧，倒是体会过。有一次要做一个project，很怕做不好，就老拖着，不去看它。

但是，平时，好像没有什么恐惧的，为什么效率还是这么低呢？真的是懒骨头吗？