Simple suggestions to increase productivity and reduce nagging!

by M. Ranard, M.Ed.
750 words

If you live with a tween or teen, it’s likely you have a procrastinator under the roof and an equally likely chance you are now an expert at nagging. Does this sound like you?

“You can’t wait until the night before the math test to cram!”


“If you don’t start rehearsing that speech on Anne Frank, you’ll choke!”


“Get going on that required reading on the Executive branch!”

A Nasty Habit

Procrastination may be as much a part of our humanness as eating and sleeping, but adolescent kids seem especially vulnerable. In The Procrastinating Child: A Handbook for Adults to Help Children Stop Putting Things Off, Rita Emmett explains procrastination is simply a bad habit we can correct. We fall prey to the behavior when we feel overwhelmed, become distracted or feel helpless.

Here’s the rub about their procrastinating and our nagging—are we actually practicing what we preach? Or are we guilty of putting off housework, bill paying, and turning in the report before deadline?

Perfectionism: Procrastination’s BFF

Your adolescent child may seem lazy when she is actually overwhelmed. Sometimes the feeling is a result of perfectionism as it goes hand in hand with procrastination. If your child is fearful of failing an exam or a particular task, such anxiety may cause her to stall. She may feel stuck and unable to become mentally mobilized. The bad habit may continue into adulthood, jeopardizing future successes.

A consistent fear of failure can lead to a pattern of indecisive behavior author Neil Fiore notes as a warning sign in The Now Habit. He also identifies low self-esteem and lack of assertiveness as red flags for procrastinating behavior.


1. Trick your brain.

There is hope. To combat the tendency to put things off, Fiore suggests transforming the thought “I don’t want to” into “I wonder what will come?” Sounds simple, but the attitude adjustment is powerful. In a sense, that subtle shift tricks the brain into a more productive mode.

2. Get comfy with mistakes.

Help your child understand how perfectionism stops him from greater productivity. Kids need to learn it is OK to make mistakes. Explain that “not perfect” is altogether different than “fail.” Plus, a certain comfort level with failure is necessary.

3. Model a healthy response to errors.

One of the best ways to get more comfortable about accepting mistakes is through modeling. Seeing parents acknowledge their own daily errors (and responding with humor and compassion for the missteps) is both a gift and permission for your tween to go for it.

4. Think smaller chunks.

Emmett recommends helping children break overwhelming tasks into smaller chunks. If your child has an upcoming Civil War test and simply cannot get the gears in motion, help her get organized. Look at the task of test preparation as a series of baby steps. Help her make a short list for a plan of attack, such as reread two chapters of the text Monday, study notes Tuesday and Wednesday, and cover vocabulary on Thursday. Ideally, middle school teachers would teach time management, but parents can also help children learn time-management strategies.

5. Set expectations for homework completion.

Parents can influence their tween’s productivity by setting firm rules at home, offering rewards, and making lists. Do not put off making these rules. The basic rule of “no TV until your homework is done” is an obvious place to begin to curb the procrastination. Screen time may be suspended or offered as rewards for successful time management.

6. Make lists like a bandit.

Make lists for everything so there can be no excuses. Adolescents are especially prone to selective memory even when rules are clearly articulated. Notes are more effective than nagging for gentle reminders of chores, appointments and expectations. Throw in some fun messages, too: “Megan Fox called. She said good luck on the simplifying fractions test!”

7. Remove the STING from feeling overwhelmed.

A great strategy from Emmett’s book:

*Select one task you’ve been putting off.
*Time yourself and take one hour to accomplish the task.
*Ignore everything around you, such as the phone and other tasks
*No breaks. One hour is realistic for a middle school student.
*Give yourself a reward once the task is complete.


M. Ranard is the queen mother of two princes of procrastination. She has a master’s in counseling, a freelance writing career, and blogs at hellolovelychild.blogspot.com and hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com.

Resources:

Emmett, Rita. 2002. The Procrastinating Child: A Handbook for Adults to Help Children Stop Putting Things Off. Walker and Company.

Fiore, Neil. 2007. The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play. Tarcher.