Maybe I’ll do that after few hours…. Procrastination, something we all are guilty of…
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Writing this article has been on my to-do list for couple of days. I have been researching of a most suitable topic and context specific content for few hours each day. Inevitably, before I started writing during a weekend; I had cooked breakfast, put some washing on, and cleared my table, read couple of articles for inspiration.
By then of course the washing was done and I could procrastinate for a bit longer by hanging it out to dry in the garden and watering my plants while I was there.
We all procrastinate, but what we tend to forget is whether we procrastinate on a chronic pattern of choosing delays, irrespective of the consequences of missing a deadline may it be professional or personal matters. I got around and finished writing the article and delivered on the deadline.
Chronic procrastination may cause mental and well as physical stress leading to long-term stress which if you closely pay attention has occurred due to procrastination.
Do you think Psychology research can help us to procrastinate less and be more productive of the work we do?
Replying on will power for motivation
Loughborough University has found that people often assume willpower is the answer. However, “willpower is one type of motivation, but it’s not the best one”. Instead of relying on will-power ignore the unpleasant aspects of the task; if you consider those as important tasks which would lead you to the final destination you would be able to look into the brighter side of a difficult task.
Look for the positives
What are the positives in the task you have been postponing for no good reason? One way of looking into minimizing procrastination is to look into the reason of you putting off the task; fear of failure might be the answer to above said.
After years of research University of Sheffield has found that the problem of procrastination is not simply one of laziness or poor time management – it involves difficulties in regulating emotions. Temporarily this attitude may help and will make you feel better however, the problem occurs when you are in a vicious cycle of delayed tasks and less time to complete work on deadlines.
This would naturally increase the failure and heightened feeling of anxiousness which would result in getting started with the task more daunting than ever. In order to deal with such emotions, it helps to look into the positives in the task, this may need not be the rewards you would reap in the future, yet something that would make you feel good about the process. Perhaps you will learn something new or hopefully you will be more absorbed and committed than you would imagine once you start the work.
Reduce the effort involve
Try making things as easy as possible for yourself. How many of us dread typing a long, complicated password to login to social media, that itself would be the answer to keep you focused on the task and making it on time for the deadline. Make the atmosphere in such a manner that, only thing made easy is for your focus on the task you have been procrastinating. Choice-architecture, a well-known concept, with some work canteen across the world keeping fruits near the cashier instead of chocolates to encourage the staff to eat healthy, why don’t we use the same concept for ourselves too.
Being kind to yourself if not kinder
This may sound like the last thing you would want to do when you have been procrastinating for a while and as a result ended up with a long list of due tasks. Yet, if has been found that people who procrastinate have lower than average levels of self-compassionate. Those who procrastinate already feel bad about the task they are supposed to complete, adding more negative emotions on top is not going to help.
Would we be harsh on a friend as we often are towards ourselves? You would rather say ‘‘Come on, you’re having a hard week. I understand this is a tough task for you, just take it easy and I’ll be there to support you.’ Perhaps it is time that we show the same level of kindness to ourselves.
All the above facts are revelations made by Psychologists all over the world. I could give you thousand reasons, why it is worth to study Psychology. However, there is one that sums them all up – it’s exciting! Few disciplines go beyond mere professional development and enrich individuals as people, allowing them s to grow and have a much broader vision of reality. Although it’s a challenging subject to study, it is an adventure that is definitely worthwhile.
The Bachelor’s Honours Degree in psychology offered by SLIIT School of Psychology can qualify you to either assist a psychologist in a mental health or correctional centre, become a research assistant, a psychology high school teacher and many more prospective career pathways in the job market.
The Honours degree in Psychology pathway which would equip the students mainly with 10 skills given below; while earning their undergraduate degrees, all of which make them highly desirable as they enter the job market. They can:
Predict and understand the behaviour of individuals and groups;
Understand how to use and interpret data
Evaluate the legitimacy of claims about behaviour
Know how memory and learning function
Have insight into problematic behaviours
Demonstrate the capacity to adapt to change
Understand and operate effectively throughout the channels of an organization
Manage difficult situations and high stress environments
Start and carry out projects with limited information or experience
Show persistence in challenging circumstances
This is a formidable set of skills and you might wonder how the average graduate can carry these out so well. If you understand how the major works, the answer is not quite so mysterious.
Psychology is the science of behaviour, and psychologists learn how to predict, understand, explain, and control behaviour. Though not professional psychologists, undergraduates are taught how to look carefully at behaviour and gain exposure to basic principles such as motivation, learning, thinking, sensation, and perception. The Psychology degree offered by SLIIT School of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences surveys the field and provides students with the background to develop their interest in the field, no matter which specific area in Psychology they want to pursue later in their careers.
The content areas in the undergraduate psychology programme build on these basic scientific skills.
The standards that accredited undergraduate programmes adhere to ensure that students complete requirements that give them exposure to the major substantive areas, from neuroscience to social psychology. Students also learn how to conduct their own independent library research. They can choose from thousands of research articles made available to them via online databases which have become so sophisticated that within a few keystrokes, they can gain access to almost any article on almost any topic.
Through required lab sections, students also learn the basic mechanics of collecting, analysing, and writing up laboratory data.
Students will also learn about the informal and formal workings of organisations through courses in organisational and social psychology, and by becoming involved in the activities of their own schools and communities.
What about the claim that students of Psychology can start and execute projects with limited information or experience?
Most undergraduates have limited information and experience. However, students learn about the tools to cope with this situation because they learn about such organisational skills as time management and self-regulation. They also learn about motivation and managing emotions, which are two factors that contribute to the ability to get a job done even when the task is unclear at the outset.
At SLIIT Psychology teaching facilities include several computer laboratories running specialist software which allows students to design and implement their own psychological research, and analyse and interpret the data they collect.
At Honours level our students can access some of our superb specialist laboratory facilities, affording cutting edge techniques for the analysis of cognition and brain function, including electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and eye-tracking. With such expertise on hand combined with our state of the art research and teaching facilities, the School of Psychology provides students with an exciting, engaging environment in which to study.
The moral of the story is clear. Parents, guidance counselors, teachers, advisors and most importantly students; Call me biased, but it’s hard to imagine a field that is more intriguing and compelling; it’s also hard to imagine a field that gives you more valuable life skills.
-D. Iresha Chamindi, Program Coordinator BSc (Hons) Psychology – Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT