Procrastination

We are all familiar with procrastination but as we grow into adults, will we continue our habits? A worrisome 15 to 20 percent of adults routinely put off activities that would be better accomplished right away and according to a 2007 meta-analysis by Steel, procrastination plagues a whopping 80 to 95 percent of college students, whose packed academic schedules and frat-party-style distractions put them at particular risk. Research into the reasons people put off projects has led to strategies for helping all of us get and stay on task.

Most of us engage in other activities when we should be, instead, completing what must be done. Then, we complain that we ran out of time. Peter Gollwitzer of New York University and the University of Konstanz in Germany advises creating “implementation intentions,” which specify where and when you will perform a specific behavior. More simply, they advise procrastinators to “just get started.” Remember, the anticipation of the task often is far worse than the task turns out to be.