Page 81 - Keys To Community College Success

workplace may prevent others from doing their work, sabotage a project, or even lose
a promotion or a job because of it.
If procrastination can cause such major issues, why do it? One reason people
procrastinate is to avoid the truth about what they can achieve. “As long as you pro-
crastinate, you never have to confront the real limits of your ability, whatever those
limits are,” say procrastination experts Jane B. Burka and Lenora Yuen, authors of
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Procrastination: Why You Do It and What to Do About It. A fixed mindset is another
factor, because it naturally leads to procrastination. A person with a fixed mindset
thinks, “I can’t do it, so what’s the point of trying?”
Here are some strategies that can help you avoid procrastination and its negative
effects.
■ Analyze the effects. What reward will remain out of reach if you continue to put
off a task? Chances are you will benefit more in the long term by facing the task
head-on.
■ Set reasonable goals. Because unreasonable goals can immobilize, take manageable
risks. If you concentrate on achieving one small step at a time, the task becomes
less burdensome.
■ Get started whether you “feel like it” or not. Break the paralysis of doing nothing by
doing something—anything. Most people, once they start, find it easier to continue.
■ Ask for help. Once you identify what’s holding you up, find someone to help
you face the task. Another person may come up with an innovative method to
get you moving again.
■ Don’t expect perfection. People learn by approaching mistakes with a growth
mindset. Richard Sheridan, President of Menlo Innovations, fosters a culture of
exploration by telling his employees to “make mistakes faster.” 6
■ Acknowledge progress. When you accomplish a task, celebrate with whatever feels
like fun to you.

Set Effective Limits
Many people find it challenging to resist the pull of relaxing and fun activities such as
video games, YouTube surfing, and socializing virtually or in person. However, the fun
stuff can run away with your time, preventing you from taking care of responsibilities Values, Goals, and Time
and ultimately causing serious problems. Because technology is so much a part of
modern life, it can seem risky to limit your exposure to it. However, controlling when
and for how long you interface with technology will earn you the reward of its bene-
fits minus the suffering from its drawbacks.
There is a saying that goes, “The river needs banks to flow.”
Within those banks—the reasonable limits that you set on
activities that tend to eat up time—you can be the thriving,
healthy river, flowing toward the goals that are most important
to you. Without the banks, and without the limits, you (the
river) can spill out all over, losing the power to head in any
single direction.
How can you set limits that will empower you and provide
balance? Consider the following:

■ Know what distracts you. Be honest with yourself about
what draws your attention and drains your time—chatting
or texting on your cell phone, watching reality TV, visiting
Facebook, managing your Twitter account, and so on.
■ Set boundaries. Determine when, and for how long, you can
perform these activities without jeopardizing your studies.
Then schedule them with built-in boundaries: “I will spend

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