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  • Penalty system for motivation in combating procrastination

    Veranika Vinichenka
    2 replies
    Hello everyone! One way to combat procrastination is by creating a system of rewards and penalties to motivate yourself. Rewards are clear, but what about penalties? How do you feel about this in terms of motivating anyone, including yourself?

    Replies

    Jade Grimwood
    Oooh. Interesting question! What are you thinking in terms of a penalty? What would be an example?
    Nataliya Trotsenko
    Implementing a penalty system to tackle procrastination can be quite effective, particularly for those of us more motivated by avoiding losses than by gaining rewards. For example, a friend of mine practices this: she has a box for money where she deposits each time she misses a deadline. I personally believe that there should be a balance between rewards and penalties, as penalties seem like very short-term motivation to me. P.S. I was sure that I was against this when reading your question, but while writing this post, I came to realize that sometimes I say, "I won't go to the restaurant before I finish this project." Yet, I believe it depends on the perspective you take: "I won't go to the restaurant before I finish this project" - penalties "I will go to the restaurant when I finish this project" - rewards