You’re a procrastinator and you know it, so just measure it.
We’ve all procrastinated before. We procrastinated to finish assignments, watch lectures, pay bills, or even submit a blog. We’ve all experienced it before; we’re about to do something, then suddenly another thing pops up in our mind and excuses us from doing what we have to do. In fact, I procrastinated to write this. I had a an entire week in spring break to do this blog, yet I chose to “procrastinate” and only do it now. Some may wait till Wednesday (like me), while others might even write it on the day it’s due. In other words, we all differ to what extent we tend to procrastinate.
Professor Clarry Lay, a psychologist of York University in Toronto, pointed out that the first step to reduce procrastinating was to acknowledge it’s presence. To do so, he created a psychological scale that measures procrastination. It can be taken by anyone online here: http://www.yorku.ca/rokada/psyctest/prcrasts.pdf. The scale contains 20 statements that can be rated from 1 to 5; 1 being “extremely uncharacteristic”, and 5 being “extremely characteristic”. Half the statements confirm the presence of procrastination, while the other half deny it. The higher the score you receive, the better-off you are; a lower score means you’re towards the procrastination end of the scale. You can either be labeled as a “procrastinator”, a “mild procrastinator”, or “not a systematic procrastinator”.
According to a group of psychologists, procrastination can be stressful and negatively affect one’s productivity. It was found to be inversely associated with one’s self-regulation, life satisfaction, and time management (Milgram et. al, 1988). If you’re a procrastinator, there is no point of denying it. As Dr. Lay indicated, the first step is to know it, and then work on finding the underlining causes that lead you to do it.
Take this psychological scale that measures your procrastination, and tell me what you get. I am apparently a “mild procrastinator”. I know its not good, but I at least know it, and definitely plan to work on it! Hopefully next time, I’ll submit my next blog much earlier than this!
Ammar Saed Aldien, 260506822
