Dealing with children who postpone work or assignments

It is only natural for parents to feel annoyed when they see their children not doing their schoolwork and prefer to play games .

Sometimes this habit of postponing work is also done when parents tell children to do other things such as tidying up toys or cleaning their plates after eating. If you have this, then how do you deal with it?

Why do children often procrastinate work or assignments?

Many psychologists say, the act of procrastinating on work is actually a way to avoid someone from stress. There are also those who use excuses such as looking for inspiration, so that when working on them later they can produce something better.

However, most children will tend to ignore anything they find unattractive or disliked. They will only do it if there is a deadline or when the task is required to be done. Not only children, adults also often do the same thing.

Another possibility is that the responsibility given is too difficult for children so they don't know where to start. Not to mention that if the child has problems maintaining his focus, the longer he will spend standing still and not starting.

How to deal with children's procrastination habits

Fortunately, habits are not part of traits or characteristics in children that have been formed since childhood. Habits can be changed so that they don't keep happening, including if the child starts putting off work again.

Later, the habit that he carries when he is dealing with his assignments can make his performance at school decrease. So, help your child with the following steps.

1. Give strict rules for children so as not to delay work

Often times, children put off responsibilities that they feel are not important to them. However, not important for children does not mean it is not important for their lives. Try starting to discipline your child by setting strict rules.

For example, you can set the number of hours it takes for the child to do an assignment, perhaps an hour or 90 minutes.

During this time, the child should try to complete his responsibilities. After that, you can give small rewards such as playtime games favorite or watch his favorite movie.

2. Guide children in assignments

As already mentioned, one of the reasons behind procrastinating is a difficult task. Sometimes this reason is accompanied by fear or reluctance to ask questions.

If this is the case, ask the child about the things that are obstacles. If the responsibility is in the form of assignments from school, guide the child on some material that he does not understand.

Meanwhile, if the responsibility is related to domestic duties, give an example to the children how to do it and explain some things that can be done to facilitate their work.

3. Divide the task into small sections

Weekends are usually used as a schedule for cleaning all corners of the house, you also ask for help from children to start tidying up their own room.

Facing a messy room may leave your child confused and overwhelmed with no idea where to start. To overcome this, you can divide the task into several small jobs.

For example, you can ask the child to put the clothes in the closet first. When finished, ask the child to clean up and sort unused items from the study table. Continue slowly until the whole job is done.

4. Teach children in choosing priorities

Help the child to prioritize tasks and set goals to be achieved from these responsibilities. Also assist in estimating how much time they will need and other things they will need to complete their responsibilities.

5. Let the child accept the consequences

Sometimes, letting a child can be a last resort if he still doesn't want to change his habit of postponing work. Don't panic if you find your child is still busy playing or relaxing and doesn't do his work until late at night, let alone doing the child's chores.

Let the child accept the consequences. Indeed, later they will complain of how tired they are to chase after time and sacrifice their rest time just to do assignments. They may also complain about being punished or being scolded by the teacher at their school.

With these unpleasant consequences, children come to understand how procrastinating on work will not make their life easier.

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