Procrastination: The Vicious Cycle Essay
Procrastination: The Vicious Cycle
Instructions:
TIME MANAGEMENT AND HIGHER-LEVEL THINKING
Assignment Overview
Procrastination: The Vicious Cycle
Delayla has a major paper due at the end of the term. It’s now past midterm and she still hasn’t started to work on it. She keeps telling herself, “I should have started sooner,” but she continues to postpone her work and is becoming increasingly anxious and guilty. To relieve her growing anxiety and guilt, Delayla starts doing other tasks instead, such as cleaning her house and returning e-mails. This makes her feel a little better because these tasks keep her busy, take her mind off the term paper, and give her the feeling that at least she’s getting something accomplished. Time continues to pass; the deadline for the paper grows dangerously close. Delayla now finds herself in the position of having lots of work to do and little time in which to do it.
Adapted from Procrastination: Why You Do It, and What to Do About It (Burka & Yuen, 2008).
Case Assignment
Reflection Questions
What do you expect Delayla will do at this point? Why?
What grade do you think she’ll end up receiving on her paper?
Other than simply starting sooner, what else could Delayla (and other procrastinators like her) do to break the cycle of procrastination?
Can you relate to this student’s predicament, or do you know other students who often find themselves in this predicament?
Assignment Expectations
Write a paper to answer the reflection questions. Each answer should be 2 to 3 paragraphs. When you have finished, upload the document to the Case 2 dropbox.
Solution
Procrastination: The Vicious Cycle
Question 1
This case clearly depicts that Delayla is a procrastinator, she has been postponing her major assignment, and now she is overwhelmed with other tasks. Steel (2007) indicates that the nature of procrastination will predispose an individual to tension and as its striking characteristic of being an irrational behavior of delay might make a person even fail to submit a task. As such, Delayla will assume a self-handicapping behavior as stipulated by Rhodewalt and Vohs, (2005) by working on the assignment as she will rationalize that if she produces poor work, it was due to minimal time which she created for herself.
Additionally, Delayla might end up failing to submit the assignment maybe because she thinks that she will fail on the assignment. As Szalavitz (2003) that procrastinators will tend to have a fear of failure and fail to complete tasks or they will be become “thrill-seeking” and feel relieved when they complete the tasks at its latest deadline. As such, for Delayla, she might fail to submit the assignment, or she might work on the assignment maybe because she is thrilled with pressure.
Question 2
From a personal perspective, I believe that Delayla will end up failing the paper. My conclusions are based on several facts. First, a major term paper entails a lot of research, as such, procrastination might lead to conducting shoddy research which will be consequent to poor grades for an assignment (Steel, 2007).
Additionally, the nature of procrastination can be defined in psychological foundations, in that, an individual will feel the pressure of finish a task (Burka & Yuen, 2008). Even though Delayla’s personality is not defined in the case, she might have anxiety and fear of failing the paper. As such, she will not have a settled mind in completing the assignment. Arguably Barrows, Dunn, and Lloyd, 2013); Vitasari, Wahab, Othman, Herawan, and Sinnadurai (2010) suggests that anxiety can lead to poor academic performance.
Question 3
To break the cycle of procrastination in future, Delayla can use effective time-management strategies in a way that she can convert her vows and intentions, as a procrastinator, to concrete plans. Also, Delayla can make the start of her work as inviting and appealing as possible. This strategy can be done by starting your work in an appealing environment that free of distractions. As such, she will reduce her start-up stress which is a common feature of procrastinators.
Last, as (Burka & Yuen, 2008) suggests that disorganization of work can lead to procrastination. As such, Delayla can efficiently organize her work by diving tasks available into a reasonable time span, per se, a day she can be doing one page of the assignment.
Question 4
I
once procrastinated on my first assignment. I had to complete a ten-page report
in a day. As such, I was not happy with the grade I earned on the paper. Since
then, I have always time planned my tasks be it academic or family.
References
Barrows, J., Dunn, S., & Lloyd, C. A. (2013). Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and College Exam Grades. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 1(3), 204–208. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2013.010310
Burka, J. B., & Yuen, L. M. (2008). Procrastination : why you do it, what to do about it now. Da Capo/Life Long.
Rhodewalt, F., & Vohs, K. D. (2005). Defensive Strategies, Motivation, and the Self: A Self-Regulatory Process View. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 548–565). New York, NY, US: Guilford Publications. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2005-08058-029
Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: a meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65
Szalavitz, M. (2003). Tapping Potential: Stand and Deliver. Psychology Today, 50–54. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200308/stand-and-deliver
Vitasari, P., Wahab, M. N. A., Othman, A., Herawan, T., & Sinnadurai, S. K. (2010). The Relationship between Study Anxiety and Academic Performance among Engineering Students. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 8, 490–497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.067