20% Time Reflection

This semester I worked on a project surrounding a universal problem, procrastination.

I challenged myself because not only is this topic so broad and needs to be really broken down to try to understand and help overcome it, but also because I am a huge procrastinator. This project meant that I had to improve myself and hopefully end up in a successful position where I could help others.

I started by analyzing myself and understanding how big of a role procrastinating takes in my life (turns out it was pretty major). Then I researched about the human brain and the science behind motivation, productivity, laziness, and other characteristics that falls into or short of a procrastinator’s behavior. Finally I tested efficient ways to reduce the procrastination and improve productivity and how to integrate these methods into day to day life.

It was pretty successful, I am much less of a procrastinator now, though I still struggle sometimes. But, not all of the methods were useful, for example after coming up with many methods, only a few really made my day more efficient. What I took from this is that each person is different and can benefit from different ways to achieve their goals and workload in life. I learnt more about human behavior and how the mind can affect and deter someone from what they set out to do, and how powerful, and dangerous it can be.

If I had more time, I would test these methods on others but for now, this project was somewhat of an individual journey where I will share my experience with others in my TED talk. I might continue this challenge and share insight with people who feel procrastinating is a real obstacle in the way of reaching their goals. The 20% time project, now wrapped up, was a great way for me to tackle a bothersome problem I have been putting off (haha) for a long time and I learnt that to prevent procrastination, one must promote productivity, which might be the next step in this challenge.