Before we proceed, I am sure you could be a parent or a mentor reading this article. Let us first understand procrastination. It is in each of us and it is a part of human tendency. The underlying reason why we procrastinate the tasks, as we hear from kids saying,
"It has time till next week…so not doing it now"
"Let me shower after an hour or later"
"No…no… I will not do it now, why the hurry"
"So what? let me do it later"
Hmm… the list is on-going and the killing reason of such procrastination is that they are not interested in the tasks, they are not enthusiastic and procure carelessness, avoidance, waiting to get it done by others, sometimes the ignorance too.
Most of them define it to be handled psychologically, yes… that is true but would the self-realization and helping kids realize their potential and providing them a concrete solution would certainly help and it is powerful too.
So, let me present another point that it all depends on the parenting and the skills of the parents to present the task. In simple words, if the child has to do Mathematics, then say do your sums now… instead of complete your homework. The burden of homework sounds huge compared to when you just say complete sums. Well again we expect the fullest from the children but even if the child reaches the above average the child has to be rewarded.
The maturity and the regulations should come from the parents and the monitoring of the parents’ behavior towards the children is far more important than setting to correct the child. If you wish to set out being supportive to overcome procrastination then think of doing the following.
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You should reward the child, not always rewards should also mean punishments and so henceforth, forget the punishments.
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Keep your expectation realistic and do not set expectations based on the peer child.
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Keep changing the strategies based on the age of the child.
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Train kids to handle independently
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Teach them to achieve on their own
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Rescue your child when experiencing failure
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Set yourself as a model
It does not end here as you may have to teach them with much of realization and it is proved the habit of procrastination is nothing to do with gene while it is purely a habit that comes out of practice.
Teach the children to foresee literally the time traveling to future and make them wonder the anxiety experienced for not completing and on the other hand, the happiness cherished on the completion. This will keep them changing to the betterment.
Teach them how to get started and make them realize they need not worry about the complete staircase but only take one step at a time. This will encourage them to initiate and move towards the goals and completions.
The handling of children should be different for different age groups. For older children, few other tips may help. For example teach them to eat the frog first, which means the toughest task to be completed at first. Attach each of their tasks to a goal setting, make them accountable for their performance.
It would also work if you try to make them understand the 2-minutes rule which is the quick task when handled instantly can provide more completions and hence would motivate. Help them in reviewing and target setting which could be an anchor for long-term performance. Let’s eradicate the procrastination and move the new generation brighter and successful.
Subashini Srikumar
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