Every so often, I find myself seated at my desk, overflowing with stress, glaring at an incomplete assignment the night before it is due. As I sit there, I contemplate how I have, once again, landed myself in this stressful situation. More often than not, it is due to my ‘expert procrastination skills.’ I have struggled to understand why I procrastinate when I know it only leads to the undesired consequence of stress. After numerous encounters with this situation I began to question myself, “Why do I procrastinate?” and “What influences my procrastination?”
Last week, Professor McCoy initiated a brief discussion on the lack of blog posts our class has been producing, or not producing, which led me to realize that I have been procrastinating writing blog posts all semester. While walking out of class, I tried to assess the possible reasons for my procrastination, until it finally hit me. I recalled a YouTube video that Professor McCoy had recently displayed to our class on Growth Mindset v. Fixed Mindset. According to the YouTube video, “people in a fixed mindset avoid doing the things that would help them grow.” After re-watching the video, I had come to the conclusion that I have been stranded in a fixed mindset. As I spent more time thinking about the video, I noticed that I had developed this fear of growth and criticism that prevented me from writing more blogs. This newly developed fear had influenced my procrastination and restricted me from growing as a student and as a writer.
Furthermore, since I have come to this realization I have been pushing myself to overcome this fear of growth and criticism by posting more blogs. Therefore, the more blogs I post, the more I am allowing my writing to evolve. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, one of the main purposes of this assignment is to help us grow as writers.
In addition, to posting more blogs I have been pushing myself to think with a growth mindset. In a growth mindset, “people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work.” Therefore, if I put in the “dedication and hard work” I will be able to focus more on the process of improving my growth. Lastly, in order for me to fully possess a growth mindset I must be able to view my “failures as opportunities to improve.” In other words, I must be able to view the criticism and feedback I receive as constructive and a way for me to improve myself as a writer.
References:
Partnership, Great Schools. “Growth Mindset Definition.” The Glossary of Education Reform, 29 Aug. 2013, www.edglossary.org/growth-mindset/.