Procrastination is the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline. William James (often referred to as to the ‘Father of American Psychology’) stated that ‘nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task’.
Researchers have found that procrastination is associated with low self-esteem, irrational beliefs, a fear of failure, depression and poor study habits. Students who are not confident in their academic abilities are most likely to procrastinate, followed by those with low levels of self-regulation.
Some researchers classify procrastination in two main types: passive and active procrastinators. Passive procrastinators delay the task because they have trouble making decisions and acting on them. Active procrastinators delay the task purposefully because working under pressure allows them to "feel challenged and motivated"
Procrastinators usually delay starting the ‘right’ things. To combat this, Professor Richard Wiseman talks 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.
Our daily biological clocks, known as our Circadian Rhythm, ensure that we are often at our most alert at about 10am before we suffer a mid-afternoon dip. The harder the tasks are, the more energy and concentration we need to complete them. It therefore makes sense to do the hardest and most important tasks first because trying to start them when you are tired is difficult, often resulting in people putting them off for another day.
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 out and in sight, even if you are not using it, can make you perform 20% worse than if you had put your phone away.
1) . Write a suitable title for the given passage. (2)
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2) How do passive and active procrastinators differ from each other? In which category do you think you as a student fall? Give the reason. (2)
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3) How does The Zierganick effect help a student to complete his assignments? (2) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________
4) What do you think he meant, when William James stated, ‘nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task’? Write your answer in your own words.
5) How can mere presence of a cell phone flourish procrastination? (2)
Answers
Answer:
sorry but it's too long......
Answer:
Procrastination: A hardening of the oughteries.”
Anonymous
“The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up.”
Anonymous
“Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.”
Anonymous
“Procrastination is like masturbation. At first it feels good, but in the end you’re only screwing yourself.”
Anonymous
“Procrastinators: Leaders of Tomorrow.”
Anonymous (but available on a t-shirt)
“The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow.”
Anonymous
“I have not yet begun to procrastinate.”
Anonymous
“You know you’re gettin old when it takes too much effort to procrastinate.”
Anonymous
“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”
Douglas Adams
“We don’t have anything as urgent as mañana in Ireland.”
Stuart Banks
“Anyone can do any amount of work providing it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.”
Robert Benchley
“Procrastination is reading all the quotes on this page when you have a huge report due tomorrow.”
R. T. A. Birektt (wish I thought of this one)
“A perfect method for adding drama to life is to wait until the deadline looms large.”
Alyce P. Cornyn-Selby
“Nothing separates the generations more than music. By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes.”
Bill Cosby (1986, Fatherhood)
“We went to lunch and were talking about procrastination and the waitress overheard us and she said, ‘I have a problem with procrastination, too.’ I said ‘Really?… Get my sandwich.’”
Ellen DeGeneres
“Procrastinate now, don’t put it off.”
Ellen DeGeneres
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today.”
Wayne Dyer
“One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow.”
Vincent T. Foss
“Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some of it for tomorrow.”
Don Herold
“I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”
Jerome K. Jerome (Three Men in a Boat, 1889)
“Procrastination gives you something to look forward to.”
Joan Konner
“I’m going to stop putting things off, starting tomorrow!”
Sam Levenson
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.”
Don Marquis (1927, Certain Maxims of Archy)
“If a thing’s worth doing, its worth doing late.”
Frederick Oliver
“Live, drink, be merry, love the reeling midnight through,
For tomorrow ye may die, but alas we never do.”
Dorothy Parker
“Somebody was using the pencil.”