Solving Problems and Making Decisions - Research Paper Example

Chronic procrastinators are notoriously poor time managers. Research shows that everyone procrastinates at one point or another. Amongst the test subjects, 20% were identified as chronic procrastinators (Ferrari, 2010, p. 35).  A few reasons for procrastination are (Ferrari, 2010, pp. 37-38, 45):1. Trying to be a perfectionist, and hence keep on conducting research and making corrections to the work.2. Low self-esteem3. Fear of failure4. High anxiety levels5. DaydreamingGathering InformationI.

Types of InformationAt the outset, it is imperative to remain focused on the subject matter at hand (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2007, pp. 78-79), which in this case is finding a solution for procrastination. One would gather some basic details of the information through self-experimentation, this would be answers to the question “Why do I procrastinate?” and try to evaluate a solution best suited to one’s specific reason for procrastination. Further primary and secondary information required are:1.

Gathering a list of generic causes of procrastination2. Marking the causes that affect oneself personally3. Looking for a theme or circumstances when one procrastinates4. Check if others are also late while competing for similar tasks in order to ascertain that the problem lies only with oneself5. Looking for some universal methods to stop or prevent it.6. Checking for primary research conducted to check the validity of the methods to stop procrastinating7. Checking if someone within my circle has had problems with procrastination-- if yes, ask how they arrived at a solution.II. Sources of Information1.

Self-help/general books2. Journals3. Internet4. Soliciting help from college counselors and peers5. Self-experimentationDirect sources such as college counselors, oneself, peers, and parents shall be used to obtain primary information. And the library, over-the-counter books, and the Internet would help acquire secondary information. Self-evaluation and experimentations may be required to collect the data for questions such as “why do I procrastinate?”The process used for evaluationThe process to evaluate the information is as follows (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2007, p. 84) (Treffinger, Isaksen, & Stead-Dorval, 2005, pp. 17, 29):1.

The credibility of the authors or sources would have to be assessed.2. Checking if the information is applicable in this particular case3. Confirming the validity of a piece of information by checking if other sources agree with the same4. Looking for studies conducted on the piece of information to check if primary sources agree with the information5. Separating facts from opinions and assumptionsPoints to consider while evaluating information1. Contradictory opinions2. Perspectives of different authors and our own perspective toward the opinions of the authors3.

Credibility of source4. Validity of Information5. Importance of a particular piece of information toward the objective. The higher the importance, the greater the importance bestowed upon the piece of information (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2007, p. 84).Solving the problem using the info gatheredAuthors Donald Treffinger and Scott Isaksen (2005) believe that the best solutions toward a problem can be attained only if the problem has been thoroughly analyzed from the beginning and new ideas have been introduced that provide value addition to established theories (Treffinger, Isaksen, & Stead-Dorval, 2005, pp. 1, 2, 3). Furthermore, the authors provide a model for creative problem-solving:(Treffinger, Isaksen, & Stead-Dorval, 2005, p. 4)The reason for analyzing from the beginning, according to the authors, is the error in judgment within previous tests.

So also taking Treffinger, Isaksen, and Stead-Dorval (2005) under consideration along with Carter et al., after extracting all the facts, the very first task would be to organize the data to glance at the available solutions clearly.The next process will be brainstorming, within which we would think of creative solutions to the problem based on the data available, here we could also consider adding value to the solutions gathered from primary and secondary sources.Within the list of solutions, the pros and cons of each would be marked, and then one must take action (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2007, p. 84).Finally, to keep a track of the progress made, a journal would be maintained.

The solution selected would be changed and a new track would be chosen if the progress is slow.Important things to consider in this process1. Understanding and accepting that curing procrastination is a time-consuming process that would require the use of willpower and patience. 2. Think constructively and out of the box, one must bring something new to the table. This is important for self-esteem, and one would be more likely to follow self-developed creative methods in a better manner.3. Strengths and weaknesses of different solutions must be analyzed and only one step must be taken at a time.