Procrastination

Announcing: Sycamore School Lecture Series

March 1, 2017: featuring Michael Bromley of the A+ Club!  Wednesdays, March 2017, 7pm, Arlington, VAWednesday March 1st 7:30–9 p.m. Understanding and Overcoming ProcrastinationMichael Bromley will discuss strategies to help ourselves and our children overcome the urge to delay. Michael is a high school teacher, historian, published author and founder and president of School4Schools.com LLC & the A+ Club. Location: Arlington Central LibraryWednesday March 15th 7:30-9 p.m.Navigating Technology: How to help children address cyber bullying & manage electronicsBrooke Carroll, Ph.D. will lead an interactive discussion regarding parenting our tech-connected children. Brooke is an Educational Consultant & former Head of School at Seneca Academy; she has over 30 years’ experience in education. Location: Arlington Central LibraryWednesday March 22nd 7:30-9 p.m.Ways to support your anxious childChristina Tripodi Mitchell, Psy.D. is the Founder and Clinical Director of The Child & Family Practice of Washington, DC & is a Clinical Professor of Psychology at The George Washington University. Location: […]

What is procrastination?

“Why don’t you just do it!””You waste so much time playing video games!””Do your homework!”It’s so easy for parents and teachers to get down on students who procrastinate – they’ll drive you nuts because it seems so simple: just do your work!Procrastination is an emotional self-regulation struggle, not a moral deficiency.Procrastinators aren’t “lazy,” “distracted,” or “uncaring.” What they suffer from is a deficiency in emotional self-regulation. What we mean by that is that they are not fully in control of their emotional responses to their academic workflow.So the worst thing we can do to a procrastinator is to call him or her “lazy.” That only reinforces the procrastination.Instead, procrastinators need help to overcome the impulse to put off work that is causing them anxiety. Here’s how it works:Facing an “aversive” or unenjoyable or difficult task causes anxiety.To dismiss that anxiety procrastinators  defer the aversive task to later, which relieves themselves of the anxiety.By choosing to do […]