will hurt time management, cause inevitable conflict, and inhibit progress. Without clarity and organization you will not know the when, how, what and why of your task and anxiety and self-doubt will build up
ly focusing on the task at hand, this will cause poor judgment and can cause you to burn out
mind and have you focus more on what others think than actually achieving your goal, this shows that your own fear and insecurities are reflecting themselves into your work, an impending downfall
with other tasks. Perfectionism will also keep yourself and others and an unreasonably high standard, stemmed from a constant need to impress yourself and others
Introduction
Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, you never quit reach your goals as efficiently as you want to? Maybe you get too busy or lose interest, but the problem can usually trace back to some kind of procrastination. Procrastination can stop you from starting big projects, or even finishing them when you’re so close to being done. There are many different reasons we procrastinate, but today I’m going to look at the four main problems causing procrastination for teenagers, and different approaches on how to solve them. Enjoy!
#1
Lack of Clarity
“You can’t hit a target you cannot see, and you cannot see a target you do not have.”
– Zig Ziglar
Problem: No sense of direction
Solution: Layout your method of action
The first and most obvious issue of having a lack of clarity, is that it leaves you with no sense of direction. This makes a seemingly straightforward task very difficult to start. I’d compare this with having to clean a very messy room and not quit knowing what to pick up first, where to put it, and so forth. Not knowing where to start will inevitably cause you to not know where to end, clarity will provide a clean and reliable start to finish by breaking up your goals into smaller bits.
Having a lack of clarity can also lead to conflict in the long run if you decide to jump in without taking important measures of organization. It may lead to confusion and conflict in the midst of your reaching your goals, which is something we always want to avoid. If nothing is laid out for you, it can also cause self-doubt, anxiety, and you might forget about the entire project as a whole to avoid feeling this way.
SOLUTION: Write out, in great detail, what your project is. Your materials, your estimated amount of time, the ultimate goal and smaller goals to complete along the way. I know for me using a bullet list to organize what I need to do for the day is helpful. Break apart your responsibility into 3-4 segments. Personally I like to set my goals around the amount of days I have to complete it before the deadline.
Summary Suggestions:
- Sort out what needs to be done first in order to complete the rest, everything should fall in
- Organize your work by days, it will help reach deadlines
- Before starting, create an outline or web chart of when, how and why you want to reach this goal
#2 
Romanticization
Problem: Motivated by unrealistic ideals
Solution: Approach the task as it is, not as you wish it was
Although romanticization in small portions is nothing to be worried about, using it as a source of motivation can cause problems in the long run. Ultimately, romanticization will cause you to pay more attention to your surroundings than your actual work, slowing progress. It creates a world of idealism, when you really need to be focusing on realistic measures of discipline. Another issue I have with romanticization is that it is a very temporary solution to unmotivated feelings, this could cause a serious burn out, abandoning the responsibility all together. This connects to procrastination because you spend so much time thinking about the beauty of your surroundings or your task(making your space pretty, daydreaming about reaching your goals, scrolling on Pinterest for 2 hours) but never actually “locking in” and having the necessary focus.
I know for me I would always romanticize studying, it would help get started but soon I’d lose my motivation and not work anymore, stunting my progress and causing me to procrastinate finishing it because I was too focused on looking at my goals through another person’s lens. It caused me to be unrealistic and made me act like I was someone else. The truth is, the best way to tackle a big goal is with complete authenticity of the real world
Summary Suggestions
- Try to limit your time on Pinterest(impossible challenge). Although I love Pinterest and post my own pictures, I find it easy to get lost in the beauty of it all and start to romanticize, Instead of being inspired to study like I originally planned. Remember: a little is okay, but don’t live in it
- Focus on what is in front of you and not what you imagine it to be. You are a great resource to your own work, focus on whats ahead and what is real and you will have more tangible goals with better result
#3 
Fear of Failure
Problem: Insecurities reflected into responsibilities
Solution: Approach work with external and internal confidence
Fear of failure will only keep you on a path of failure. This may be prompted by anxiety, low self-esteem or feeling overwhelmed. However, the root of this problem starts with our own insecurities keeping us from achieving the goals we set for ourselves, that we can achieve, but we tell ourselves the opposite. Worse yet, we think of all the people we might disappoint, or the wasted efforts we spent. Thinking like this will keep you from making realistic goals, and may lead you to believe you are only working to impress other people. Instead, don’t work to impress, work to achieve.
Fear of failure stems from many things but I know as teenagers we have a lot of burdens that we carry when we try to reach our personal goals. Pressure from parents, getting into college, getting good marks, fitting in- its all ingrained into our mind. However there is a solution.
I would start by not looking at anything as a failure. “You either win or learn” as Nelson Madela said. You will never have wasted your efforts even if you don’t reach the intended goal, if you focus on gaining what is good from the situation you will always have gained something important. Lastly, walk in confidence and you’re already more likely to succeed. I love the quote “do your best, and God will handle the rest”. We have to walk in confidence of our gifted abilities and find peace in every feat we face.
Summary Suggestions
- Meditate
- Work hard, even if you are not confident
- Really believe in what you’re after(passion)
#4 
Perfectionism
Problem: Wasting time on perfection
Solution: Set realistic standards
Perfectionism will cause incompletion. Now I’m not saying there is nothing wrong with cleaning up the details and making sure the result of your hard work was worth it, but at the same time we need to make sure we are focusing on what’s important and that the idealism does not actually impact our progress in a negative manner. Perfectionism will keep you from taking more creative liberties, taking risks, all which can be beneficial for exploring what works best for you.
Perfectionism can stem from trying to keep yourself and everyone around you happy, however if you are a hard worker who puts in effort, they already are! As I said before, You need to focus on what’s important instead of what will make it perfect. The truth is, perfection doesn’t exist. This means you will always be left unsatisfied. After a while, this will build up and you will have lower-self esteem and higher insecurity levels. This will impact your other projects because you won’t feel motivated to keep up with your unrealistically high standards. Lastly, perfectionism can also cause you to become highly judgmental of others if you criticize yourself so harshly . You will intrinsically want to critique others, and hold them to your own standard.
My advice here is to give yourself a break. Understand that perfectionism is not an ally, and can damage your work and responsibilities by spending too much time on the details you completely miss the big picture.
Summary Suggestions
- Remind yourself you only live once, this is for the people who really struggle giving themselves a break, you can be satisfied with your creation without it being perfect
- Focus on not judging others harshly
- Ask yourself: Am I doing this for optimal long term results? Or to satisfy my immediate need for perfection?
Conclusion
Reaching your goals does not have to be hard as long as you understand your strengths and what might get in the way of your success. Procrastination is no joke, and the more we realize that and learn from it, the better off we will be at reaching all of our ambitions. Perfectionism, lack of clarity, fear of failure and romanticization are all problems, but they can be fixed with your drive and your passion to succeed.