European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 03, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Lat again it s time to figure out Why _ by Mary Chanson the Milwaukee journal of know people like this they re late for everything and always on _ Therun. _ _ they put off shopping until the fridge is empty avoid dishes until there is not a clean spoon in the House. They file taxes on april 15 even if _ they re getting a refund and they never a sep on time. They re late for appointments dates birthdays trains dinner. _ Why do they do it for different reasons say two experts who make a distinction Between lateness and chronic procrastination. Showing up late for someone else is not the same thing As being late with work says Jane Burka of Berkeley calif., a psychologist and co author of procrastination Why you do it and what to do about it being late for someone else is an interpersonal message an expression of a need for control she says. Lest we had any doubt Burka says the message is you can t control me. Or i m More important than you and my projects Are More important than meeting you on time. These people like to go by their own schedule not someone else a and they abhor being kept  other chronically late people however Are just very unrealistic about time she says. If it takes half an hour to get somewhere with no traffic they la Promise to be there in 30 minutes in the Middle of Rush hour. They Don t take into account the obstacles and delays that Are  " a but if chronic Tard Nesses a Way of sabotaging others chronic procrastination is a More serious form of self sabotage Burka says. It s a Way of interfering with your own Success of not allowing enough time 86 do your Best she says. It looks like a time management problem but it in to Joseph Ferrari a research scientist at Depaul University in Chicago agrees. We All prioritize things we have to do but a True procrastinator just keeps rewriting the list Ferrari the author of Many articles on procrastination and task avoidance has a background in social psychology and a. Longtime interest in what makes people procrastinate. It s related to depression Low self esteem Low self Confidence and a Sas Peter Jaeger very High level of concern for How they Are viewed by others. The procrastinator worries if i do l poorly on this i la show a Lack of ability. Better for others to see a Lack of Effort than a Lack of ability it s a Way of protecting their  chronic procrastination affects both genders and All Ages about 25 percent of adults in this country he says and some7q percent of College students. But the same College student who Waits until the last minute to cram for an exam May never be late for a frat party says Ferrari who refers to this As situational  chronic procrastination affects All aspects of a person s life and is disposition a he says. The person in t just Lazy but having cognitive behavioural or emotional difficulties. Telling a procrastinator just do it is As helpful As telling a depressed person just cheer up counselling can help if procrastination causes serious problems in a person s life such As loss of a Job Ferrari says. But Don t expect extra understanding from a Boss with the same problem. Research indicates that the Boss who procrastinate is harder on employees who puts things off than is the Boss who does t. Scripps Howard news service on the family it is my understanding that we forget 80 percent of everything we learn in three months time and a higher percentage is forgotten As time passes. Why then should we put children through the agony of learning Why is mental exercise needed if the Effort is so inefficient your question reflects the viewpoint of the old progressive education theorists. They wanted the school curriculum to be nothing More than life adjustment they placed a Low priority on intellectual discipline for the reasons you mentioned. Even some College professors have adopted this no Content philosophy reasoning that the material Learned by students today May be obsolete tomorrow so Why ask therr to learn it i strongly disagree with this approach to education. There Are at least five reasons perhaps the most important function of school apart from teaching the Basic literary and mathematical skills is to Foster self discipline and self control. The Good student learns to sit for Long hours follow directions carry out assignments and Channel mental faculties. Homework itself is relatively unnecessary As an educational tool but it is valuable As an instrument of discipline. Learning is important because we Are changed by what we learn even if the facts Are later forgotten. No College graduate could remember everything he Learned in school yet he is a very different person for _ having gone to College. Learning produces alterations in values attitudes and concepts that do not fade in time. Even if the Learned material cannot be recalled the individual knows the facts exist and where he can find them. If we asked a complicated question of an uneducated Man he would Likely give a definite unqualified response. The same question would probably be answered More cautiously by a Man with a doctoral degree he might say Well there Are several ways to look at  he knows the matter is More Complex than it appears even if tie does t have the full answer. We Don t forget 1 00 percent of what we learn. The most important facts take their place in our permanent memory for future use. The human brain is capable of storing 2 billion bits of data in a lifetime education is the process of filling that memory Bank with useful information. Old learning makes new learning easier. Each mental exercise gives us More associative cues with which to link future. Ideas and concepts. 7 i wish there were an easier More efficient process for shaping human minds than the slow sometimes painful experience of education. I m afraid Well have to depend on this old fashioned approach until a learning Pill is developed. Or. James c. Dobson is president of focus on the family an organization dedicated to preserving the Home. Correspondence should be sent to him at focus on the family . Box 444, Colorado Springs Colo. 80903. Saturday september 3,1994 the stars and stripes 15