Lesson: How to Stop Procrastinating

Conversation

Answer the following questions. You might be asked to write them down or answer them out-loud.

1. What's the meaning of procrastination?
2. Why do people procrastinate?
3. What kinds of things do you put off doing?
4. When is it good to procrastinate?
5. When is it really bad to procrastinate?
6. Do you become impatient when you have to wait in a long line?
7. What distracts you the most when you have to do things?
8. What kinds of things do people often forget?
9. What can procrastinators do to change their lives?
10. Do you think that Facebook is one of the biggest reasons for procrastination? Is there anything else?

Vocabulary

Look at the vocabulary below. Take time to explore the links for their definitions in English and their translations to Portuguese. When you are done, make a sentence with each word. Ask your teacher if you should write them down or say them out loud.

• d | t - suppose
• d | t - due
• d | t - stinky
• d | t - pile
• d | t - lecture
• d | t - procrastination
• d | t - wrangle
• d | t - deadline
• d | t - bite
• d | t - reward
• d | t - manageable
• d | t - daunting
• d | t - goblins
• d | t - release
• d | t - snappy
• d | t - require
• d | t - maneuver
• d | t - crew
• d | t - mast
• d | t - hamper
• d | t - though

Video

Watch the following video but DON'T read the transcript yet.

After watching the video do this listening exercise.

Reading practice

Read the following transcript then do the associated reading comprehension exercise.

Transcript:

Alright, let's be honest: Is there something else you're supposed to be doing right now? Give a paper due in ten hours. Is there a stinky pile of laundry slowly inching its way across your bedroom floor? You should be doing those things but instead you're here listening to me lecture you on YouTube. Wait, wait, wait, wait, don’t go away just yet. The next five minutes will be the most productive bit of procrastination you have done all day. And you're not the only one procrastinating. Thanks to a suggestion by one of our viewers, today's episode of Wellcast is going to bring you a three-step program to wrangle your monster of procrastination into submission. About twenty percent of the population identifies themselves as chronic procrastinators. People who constantly put off the things that they really need to do. And that is because procrastination is about lying to yourself. You know telling yourself "Uh, I'll have plenty of time to finish that paper tomorrow", when you know you are way behind.
In a recent study, two groups of university studies were assigned to write three papers in three weeks. Group A was given the opportunity to turn in all three papers in at any point during those three weeks. Group B on the other hand had strict weekly deadlines for each paper. Ultimately, the ones who did the best on the papers were the ones that given the strict deadlines. Group A, the students who had to pick their own deadlines, they did pretty poorly. Clearly, humans are not the best at regulating themselves. So, when it comes to procrastination, you have to trick yourself into getting the job done. And this brings us to our Wellcast three-step method for stopping procrastination. Please pause and print out your worksheet at watchwellcast.com. Ok, are you ready?

Step 1: Eat an elephant. Hey, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Look what I'm saying is: you need time to digest or you're gonna make yourself sick. Reward yourself for getting through parts of the project rather than waiting to reward yourself after the whole thing is over. Ok, procrastinator: Think about that one project that you really need to get done. But calm down, instead of letting it overwhelm you, organize that project into small bite size, manageable segments. Think about what needs to get done and write down what you're going to be doing to tackle this project, hour by hour. And make it specific by breaking down this giant project into small tasks. This elephant will become a lot less daunting.

Step 2: Pick off the itsy-bitsy goblins, instead of going for the whole dragon. The hardest part about starting any project is always starting the project. A good way to get around this is to start a project off with the task you like the best. Listen: When you do something that you like, your brain releases dopamines which makes you happy. Maybe it's decorating the cover of a report or, writing a snappy intro into an otherwise incredibly boring paper.

Step 3: Ignore the Siren's songs! Seriously. This step is straight out of Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey". In The Odyssey our protagonist Ulysses is trying to get home. Unfortunately this requires maneuvering through a strait water were sailor are often lured onto the rocks by creatures called Sirens. Instead of giving up, Ulysses instructs his crew to tie him to the mast of his ship and for all of them to plug their ears. No matter how much he yells and screams to head towards the beautiful Sirens, the sailors must keep on track. We're not saying that you need actually to tie yourself up to anything. But you should plan to clear any distractions that will hamper your ability to procrastinate later. For example, if you're a sucker for Facebook or online video games, have your parents or your roommates change the internet password to keep you on track for studying. The less temptations you give into or have the ability to give in to, the better will be at acing that exam.

Ok kiddoes, let's recap! The best way to get around procrastination is to trick yourself into doing the work. It's true though. We recommend that you do this in one of three ways. Number one: breaking your tasks into segments. In other words you got have to eat that elephant. Number two: Start with the most enjoyable part of the project. Go through those itsy-bitsy goblins. And number three: Avoid that Siren's song. Clear out those distractions so you can get the job done. Have these tips helped? Leave us a message below or email us at watchwellcast.com

Writing practice

Write a couple of paragraphs about a situation that you've gone through procrastinating a task you had and because of it you've missed the deadline. Which excuses did you give to yourself? Make sure to use words you learned from the text and try to make it as long as you can.

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