Procrastination
by Maureen Cheung (Provisional Psychologist)
October 2018
"Tomorrow", "Not now", “I’ll do it later”. Your child knows they have to do the task eventually. They know it should have been done yesterday, but they are still putting it off anyway. For parents, this can be incredibly frustrating.
by Maureen Cheung (Provisional Psychologist)
October 2018
"Tomorrow", "Not now", “I’ll do it later”. Your child knows they have to do the task eventually. They know it should have been done yesterday, but they are still putting it off anyway. For parents, this can be incredibly frustrating.
Procrastination is the irrational delay of important tasks even when one knows they’ll be in a worse position by putting them off. [1]. While everyone puts off important tasks now and then, for some it can become a habit or even a lifestyle. On average, 80%-95% of University students procrastinate, and almost half of students do so chronically and problematically [2, 3]. The ability to complete tasks on-time is crucial to success. Consequently, procrastinators are more likely to receive lower grades and experience greater anxiety [4]. Apart from education, procrastination has been shown to be detrimental to people’s health, relationships, finances and careers [5, 6].
So how do you help your child with procrastination?
1) Plan a structured homework time Plan a fixed time when your child works best. This sets an understanding and expectation that the period is set apart for homework. It might help to allocate a specific amount of time for each homework task and move on when the time is up. This saves the child from getting stuck and sitting with a problem for hours. 2) Break tasks down into manageable chunks If an assignment is too big to finish in one go, break it into chunks that your child can finish off in one sitting. Five or ten minutes if they're younger, longer if they're older. Smaller subtasks are less intimidating. It also gives your child a sense of accomplishment with ticking off the list of subtasks as they finish them. |
3) Think in days not weeks
Research has shown that people are more likely to act earlier when they think in smaller-grained time matrices (e.g. days rather than weeks). When considering saving up for the future, participants who thought in days planned to start four times earlier than those who thought in years; despite having the same deadline [7]. The future feels more imminent when it is in smaller-grained time matrices.
So, if your child has an assignment due in two weeks, talk about it as being due in 14 days. It may give them a greater sense of urgency to complete it.
4) Declutter your child’s environment
Make sure your child’s study environment is decluttered and that your child only has access to the things they need to complete the task. Internet, mobile phones and the television are often sources of distraction, so keep them away from the work area. Children might be surprised by how much less time their homework takes when they are concentrating.
5) Reward Reward Reward!
When a child has completed a task, reward them before starting another task with a snack, free play, outside time or special time with mum or dad. It gives them something to look forward to when doing a task.
1. Klingsieck, K.B., Procrastination: When Good Things Don't Come to Those Who Wait. European Psychologist, 2013. 18(1): p. 24-34.
2. Solomon, L.J. and E.D. Rothblum, Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1984. 31(4): p. 503-509.
3. Steel, P., The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure. Psychological Bulletin, 2007. 133(1): p. 65-94.
4. Steel, P., T. Brothen, and C. Wambach, Procrastination and personality, performance, and mood. Personality and Individual 3211Differences, 2001. 30(1): p. 95-106.
5. Steel, P. and K.B. Klingsieck, Procrastination, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition). 2015, Elsevier: Oxford. p. 73-78.
6. Tice, D.M. and R.F. Baumeister, Longitudinal Study of Procrastination, Performance, Stress, and Health: The Costs and Benefits of Dawdling. Psychological Science, 1997. 8(6): p. 454-458.
7. Neil A. Lewis, J. and D. Oyserman, When Does the Future Begin? Time Metrics Matter, Connecting Present and Future Selves. Psychological Science, 2015. 26(6): p. 816-825.
Research has shown that people are more likely to act earlier when they think in smaller-grained time matrices (e.g. days rather than weeks). When considering saving up for the future, participants who thought in days planned to start four times earlier than those who thought in years; despite having the same deadline [7]. The future feels more imminent when it is in smaller-grained time matrices.
So, if your child has an assignment due in two weeks, talk about it as being due in 14 days. It may give them a greater sense of urgency to complete it.
4) Declutter your child’s environment
Make sure your child’s study environment is decluttered and that your child only has access to the things they need to complete the task. Internet, mobile phones and the television are often sources of distraction, so keep them away from the work area. Children might be surprised by how much less time their homework takes when they are concentrating.
5) Reward Reward Reward!
When a child has completed a task, reward them before starting another task with a snack, free play, outside time or special time with mum or dad. It gives them something to look forward to when doing a task.
1. Klingsieck, K.B., Procrastination: When Good Things Don't Come to Those Who Wait. European Psychologist, 2013. 18(1): p. 24-34.
2. Solomon, L.J. and E.D. Rothblum, Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1984. 31(4): p. 503-509.
3. Steel, P., The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure. Psychological Bulletin, 2007. 133(1): p. 65-94.
4. Steel, P., T. Brothen, and C. Wambach, Procrastination and personality, performance, and mood. Personality and Individual 3211Differences, 2001. 30(1): p. 95-106.
5. Steel, P. and K.B. Klingsieck, Procrastination, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition). 2015, Elsevier: Oxford. p. 73-78.
6. Tice, D.M. and R.F. Baumeister, Longitudinal Study of Procrastination, Performance, Stress, and Health: The Costs and Benefits of Dawdling. Psychological Science, 1997. 8(6): p. 454-458.
7. Neil A. Lewis, J. and D. Oyserman, When Does the Future Begin? Time Metrics Matter, Connecting Present and Future Selves. Psychological Science, 2015. 26(6): p. 816-825.