I have been meaning to write this for about three days, but I have always found good reasons to do something else.  Such procrastination can be a barrier to learning development and progress clutters our mind, hanging over us as a cloud and detracting from our happiness.

Psychologists have been trying to figure out the science behind procrastination for over 100 years.  William James stated that ‘nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task’.  I not only see it in my own work, but in classrooms and the Creative Centre.  Sometimes the bareness of a blank piece of paper at the start of assignment can be an obstacle in itself.  We need to help our children overcome procrastination as part of our work to develop their study skills, but it is also helpful to understand why some pupils are more likely to procrastinate than others and what we how we can support them overcome this impediment.

Procrastination is exceedingly common, but psychologists have found that procrastination is associated with some students more than others.  Students who are not confident in their academic abilities are  most likely to procrastinate, followed by those with low levels of self-regulation. This seems to me to be to be entirely logical, as we (a) put off things that we do not feel we are good at and (b) are more likely to procrastinate if we can’t manage distractions.  Those with low self-esteem  also appear likely to procrastinate.  One possible reason for this is because  procrastinating can be a self-protective strategy, providing a handy excuse to hide behind (i.e. ‘I only failed because I didn’t try’). Those with a  rebellious streak might be more likely to procrastinate, too, as they are may perceive externally imposed deadlines as a form control, lack of choice or imposed authority and therefore do their best to avoid them. Furthermore, those who procrastinate are more likely to feel stressed, which may contribute to lower performance, particularly in exams.

So, what might we do to help and what strategies might we seek to develop in our young people?

• Do the task for just a few minutes – not only do procrastinators spend longer distracting themselves doing the ‘wrong things’ but they also postpone starting the ‘right’ things. To combat this,  Professor Richard Wiseman writes about The Zierganick effect, which describes how once you start something, your brain remains alert until you finish it. Starting a task is often the hardest part. If you can persuade someone just to start it for a few minutes, the brain’s desire to see it through to completion should then take over. 25 minutes’ work seems to be enough to get us hooked.
• Manage the environment –  If you can see temptations, you are more likely to be distracted by them, and therefore procrastinate. For example,  a recent study  found that having your phone in sight, even if you are not using it, can make you perform 20% worse than if you had put your phone away. The authors of this study state that ‘the mere presence of a cell phone may be sufficiently distracting to produce diminished attention’. I know I have to put my phone out of sight and turn of all notifications if I am going to focus on the task in hand – or even what my wife is saying.
• Chunk tasks and set series of short deadlines – Piers Steel notes that ‘it has long been observed that the further away an event is, the less impact it has on people’s decisions.’ Break down the task and give yourself a short deadline for each part.
• Increase confidence and self-belief – One way to increase their confidence is to highlight how others who have been in a similar position have been successful (i.e. ‘modelling’). This can make the task at hand seem achievable and provide a possible template to follow.  It is also very much part of the thinking associated with a Growth Mindset.

Right, I have to get back to some very important work policy work…..but perhaps I will just look in on Year 5 and find out about their day in costume at the SS Great Britain…and then perhaps I will pop along and watch some brilliant acting in the Drama Showcase….or I might order my costume for World Book Day next week….or find a quiet space to practice my skipping.  This overcoming procrastination seems to be harder than I thought!