Procrastination in the Veterinary Sector
Procrastination in the Veterinary Sector
Procrastination is the act of delaying a task, preventing you from following through on what you set out to do. This can affect your time management and create unnecessary stress.
Causes
It is important to understand why people procrastinate in their work. The most common reasons are a fear of failure, disliking the task, stress and imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is defined as an individual doubting their skills, downplaying success and feeling like a fraud. This is a very common phenomenon; a study by the International Journal of Behavioural Science estimated that around 70% of people have experienced it at some point in their lives. It is not a mental health condition but rather a psychological reaction to Imposter syndrome often leads to experiencing more anxiety, avoiding doing new things, feeling isolated, overworking, focusing on perceived shortcomings, reduced job satisfaction and procrastination. An individual experiencing imposter syndrome may procrastinate due to a fear of failure.
Solutions
There are a series of steps you can take to solving your problems with procrastination. The first would be figuring out the reason why you procrastinate. If you realise you procrastinate because you suffer from imposter syndrome, you need to acknowledge that many people also suffer from this and view your successes from an outside perspective to appreciate your skills and achievements.
Jane Davidson, an RVN with over 10 years of experience in educational development, has created Cards Against Procrastination to help veterinary professionals turn procrastination into productivity. She said that “not all procrastination is bad, we're often just trying to do the right thing at the wrong time.”
