2. Procedures for Developing and Implementing aTime Management Plan
Procedures
• Establish a time for planning at the beginning
of each week when you will not be interrupted
.
• Enter all fixed activities in your weekly
schedule.
• Identify all the personal and academic tasks
have to complete for the week on the weekly
prioritized task list.
Examples
• Most students use Sunday nights . Ask yourself
“ did I attain my goals last week?
• Fixed activities are those activities over which
you have little or no control (e.g., job, meals,
classes , and etc.)
• “ I need to buy computer paper, complete my
math problem, do my Spanish translation each
day.
3. What is procrastination ?
In short, it is the postponement of tasks. Procrastination is universal and very
common, with university students being perhaps the population most well
known for engaging in this type of behavior.
When it comes to brain function, procrastination is believed to be related to
our executive functioning, the aspect of our brain that is integral to planning,
organizing , strategizing, and managing time and space.
4. Procrastination and Internet
For our generation, internet has replacedTV as a readily available form of
procrastination. How often do you tell yourself, “ I’II just do a quick search for
another reference “ and find yourself spending an hour in fascinating but
irrelevant internet diversions? If so, you may have become one of the millions
of “mouse potatoes” and “cyber-slackers” .
You may rationalize “ just one more website “ as justified because engaging in
a quick detour does not appear to be harmful for the completion of a pressing
task.
5. The internet is the common mediator between the employee and employer.
Why sit under the watchful eye of your supervisor when you can telecommute
from a satellite office that is more convenient ?Though the computer in both
academic and professional settings is intended for higher productivity , it also
contains an enormous amount of temptations (YouTube and online games,
anyone ?)
6. Although there are different reasons for
procrastination , Ferrari, Johnson, McCown
identified two patterns that should be of concern to
college students .
The first pattern is classified as a lack of
conscientiousness and is associated with such
behaviors as poor time management, work
discipline, self control, and responsibility.The
second pattern is classified as avoidance and is
associated with fear of failure and anxiety.
What are the causes of
procrastination ?
7. Fear of failure was discussed in Chapter 2 under Convington’s self-worth theory
.he believes that academic procrastination serves the goal of preserving feelings
of self-worth by avoiding situations in which students might fail.
Closely related to fear of failure is perfectionism. An individual procrastinates to
gain additional time to produce the best product.
Another characteristic in the second pattern of procrastination is anxiety. If
students are anxious, procrastination is seen as a way of avoiding the anxiety
associated with studying or completing the assigned task.
8. What can I do about my tendency to procrastinate ?
• To begin, developing an effective time-management plan is a good first step
• Second, the self talk strategy discussed in chapter 5 also can be effective in dealing
with procrastination.
