H E A LT H
NAME YOUR MONKEY
Dealing with procrastination Words by Rachel Zammit Cutajar
I can do it tomorrow. It’s not that urgent. I’m going to be terrible at it. I don’t think I can do it. What do you tell yourself when you’re putting something off for tomorrow? Procrastination is something that affects everyone. But is it a question of laziness, or is it something more manageable? Cognitive Behavioural Coach, Jonathan Shaw, has in the past has helped people deal with procrastination among productivity killers.
Researchers suggest that procrastination can be particularly pronounced among students. A 2007 meta-analysis published in the Psychological Bulletin found that a whopping 80% to 95% of college students procrastinated on a regular basis. Anyone who has completed a university degree has experienced some
82 - EBM MAGAZINE - No 16
form of extreme procrastination, pulling an all-nighter, or two, close to the dissertation deadline. Whether they had six months to write it, or just three, the bulk of the work seems to occur pretty much around the deadline. Life doesn’t seem to improve much after that, with much work being put off until deadlines loom.
