How to teach your child to stop procrastinating

Procrastination isn’t just for adults, it’s a defense mechanism against stress and anxiety that often develops in childhood. Procrastination is not a character trait that any parent would wish on their child. However, turning a blind eye to the symptoms of a growing procrastinator is very easy to do.

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Here’s how you can stop procrastination in its tracks before it gets the best of your child!

Recognize the True Reasons for Procrastination

Billy decides not to take out the trash because it’s “too cold.” Annie skips her math homework because she figures she’ll get the answers wrong anyway. It’s easy to shrug off both these children as “lazy kids,” but there’s more to their stories than that.

Billy finds the act of taking out the trash unpleasant. He’s not motivated to do the job. He doesn’t have a problem with laziness, however; he has a problem with motivation.

Annie has trouble with algebra and is sure that she’s going to fail her homework. By skipping the assignment, she can blame her “F” on procrastination rather than an intellectual shortcoming. Annie isn’t lazy; she’s safeguarding her ego from the pain of personal failure.

Procrastination always boils down to self-preservation. The procrastinator doesn’t want to feel stupid, bored, or distressed. Putting off unpleasant tasks is not a symptom of laziness. It’s a symptom of being human!

Establish Accountability

Accountability is a big word and a big concept, especially for little people, but it can help a lot with procrastination. Kids need to understand that they’re responsible for certain things, and they need to feel rewarded when they act the right way.

Here are three ways that you can help your child remember the chores/tasks for which he or she is responsible for:

- Post a list on the fridge.
- Create and write a written contract together.
- Use anti-procrastination apps like Yelling Mom, a reminder app, or Beat Procrastination, a behavior modification app.
- Make a Reward System

Some well-meaning behaviourists will tell you that painful punishment is a vital part of “unlearning” a bad habit. With developing children, however, it’s more important to reward success than to punish failure.

External rewards like money, sweets, and gifts tend to reduce a child’s motivation. Here are three excellent ways to reward a child verbally:

- “Wow! You must feel really good about yourself for getting that math homework done.”
- “I am proud of you for remembering to take out the trash without being asked.”
- “You make me feel so happy when you complete the tasks on your list!”

As a parent, you are also your child’s life coach. You don’t want to see your son or daughter suffer a lifetime of procrastination disasters, so you do everything you can to enhance their personal development.

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