Sean DeSilva Capstone

Procrastinating is something that we all do from time to time. Whether it’s everyday, once every so week or on very rare occasions, it gets the best of us sometimes. For my Capstone, I interviewed 40 SLA students and their stance on procrastination. I wanted a good demographic of students, so interviewing 5 male and 5 female from each grade was the best option. I asked them several questions that pertained to their prior background in education, their current work ethic and their current sense of organization.

This has helped me and the interviewees get a better grip on what we’re doing when we’re at school. From my findings, we often procrastinate because… we can afford to postpone things. From small homework assignments to benchmarks or other school assignments… We procrastinate due to the main fact that we can afford to complete it later on. My interviews also often interested me in the psychology procrastination. I read many articles that talked about human tactics when it comes to accomplishing something. For example, I read how we use avoidance to cope with our emotions. Conducting my Capstone has led me to come to many conclusions on work ethic, environment and overall mindsets.



Sample Interviews:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ka2-8SyvVs_FtDftr9G1-6HNjuWKXSQB

Bibliography
  1. Swanson, Ana. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/27/why-you-cant-help-read-this-article-about-procrastination-instead-of-doing-your-job/?utm_term=.04d01e3dcd24.

When I first came across this source, I thought it had an interesting approach to talking about procrastination. However, this source has expressed the idea of why we procrastinate in a very descriptive manner. It talks about the idea of the, “Money Mind,” which I most definitely want to include in my presentation. I believe that so far, this source has been the best in being able to convey new information to me and very interesting ideas. I genuinely felt that this was a fun read.

  1. "Procrastination: A Brief Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating." James Clear. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://jamesclear.com/procrastination.

Reviewing this source, it talks about how we as individuals can stop procrastination. It also gives various ways of working around procrastination. This source has been very in depth, providing us with graphs and amazing analysis. I might use some of the graphs provided here in my own presentation or I might make my own graphs to relate to the findings in my capstone.

  1. "Procrastination" Psychology Today Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/procrastination.

This source has been quite interesting as it talks about setting goals for yourself and taking control of your time. I believe that having goals set for yourself each day is quite important for you to retain your motivation. Since motivation is also a key factor in weather people procrastinate or not. The feeling of accomplishment can also be present once those goals are fulfilled even if they are small goals. This source did talk about things I already knew but it was good to have this source to kind of reinforce my initial ideas.

  1. Jaffe, Eric. "Why Wait? The Science Behind Procrastination." Association for Psychological Science. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-wait-the-science-behind-procrastination.

This article talks about how everyone has procrastinated at least once and there are some that still do. However, not everyone is a procrastinator. There are some people that do so from time to time, others not so much. While some individuals do to it quite often. The article also opens up with a humorous statement. That statement being, “Believe it or not, the Internet did not give rise to procrastination.” I thought it was nice how this article opened up and gave me inspiration to have a humorous opening to my own capstone once I have finalized everything.

  1. Manktelow, James. "How Can I Stop Procrastinating'Overcoming the Habit of Delaying Important Tasks." Management Training and Leadership Training - Online. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm.

This source has been able to convey the idea of being able to recognize yourself. I feel that I should be able to make this point in my presentation. Being able to recognize yourself is the most important thing in progressing as a person. That would be a good idea for me to be able to express in my presentation.

  1. Cherry, Kendra. "The Psychology Behind Why We Wait Until the Last Minute to Do Things." Verywell Mind. Last modified December 24, 2012. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-psychology-of-procrastination-2795944.

This article talks about why we individuals wait until the last minute to do certain tasks. It includes numerical values which I think are important when wanting to express certain ideas. I believe that by using numerical values, it can make ideas a lot more compelling and understandable. I think that it would be beneficial for me to use numerical values to provide clarity to my audience.

  1. "Case Study: Procrastination." SoundCloud. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://soundcloud.com/your-daily-drive/case-study-procrastination.

This soundcloud podcast has been very interesting to observe. It talks about how a grown women procrastinates on certain things which also affects her personal life along with her marriage. I believe that if procrastination is affecting someone's life that much, they should take initiative to prevent it from harming them further. This podcast expresses that.

  1. Jones, Orion. "Procrastination Is a Strong Emotional Coping Mechanism." Big Think. Last modified January 25, 2019. https://bigthink.com/ideafeed/procrastination-is-strong-emotional-coping-mechanism.

Coping with certain things is a natural human tactic. However, this article takes a psychological approach. The article brings up the idea that people use avoidance to cope with their emotions.

9. Locke, Susannah. "Why Your Brain Loves Procrastination." Vox. Last modified April 18, 2016. https://www.vox.com/2014/12/8/7352833/procrastination-psychology-help-stop.

   This article talks about the brain and why it ‘loves’ to procrastinate. I believe that it is the idea of false sense of comfort that allows us to procrastinate. It makes our brains think that we’re in a okay spot. I think that I should incorporate this idea in my capstone, since I can personally relate to this finding.

      10. Pychyl, Tim. "Procrastination A Misplaced Coping Mechanism, Says Psychologists." Denver News, Weather, Sports From CBS Channel 4 – CBS Denver. Last modified December 22, 2016. https://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/12/22/procrastination-study/."Procrastination A Misplaced Coping Mechanism, Says Psychologists." Denver News, Weather, Sports From CBS Channel 4 – CBS Denver. Last modified December 22, 2016.

This source has conveyed the idea of procrastination being a coping mechanism. Another source that talks about the idea of coping with procrastination as it’s in our brains to do so. The title of this article was also quite interesting, since it defines procrastination as a misplaced coping mechanism. Which I can believe can be used in my presentation. Initially I thought that I was going to simply talk about my own personal experience of procrastination and the interviews I’ve conducted. However, after viewing all these resources, I believe that I am able to incorporate a deeper meaning in this capstone.

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