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Writer's pictureKaelen Hepworth

Coping with Stress. The Plague of Academic Procrastination and Avoidance.

Updated: Mar 24


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Daily life is stressful, we each experience stress differently and manage it in our own ways. Some people are able to manage stress well, and use it as a way to fuel themselves, however what happens when people are struggling to manage their stress using adaptive and beneficial methods.


People will often turn to maladaptive coping strategies to help manage this stress. These strategies (e.g. procrastination, & avoidance) in the short term are effective but overtime cause the stress to build up and become more overwhelming.


Procrastination and maladaptive coping eventually lead to significantly increased stress, and poor emotional regulation. But how does this effect people in the personal, academic and workplace lives?

Have you ever procrastinated?

  • Yes, Often

  • Sometimes

  • Never

 

Maladaptive Coping and Academics

Maladaptive coping is a complicated issue which stems from an inability to adaptively cope with academic stressors. Most students experience this and feel overwhelmed with their academic studies. Significant research has begun to address academic procrastination and other maladaptive coping mechanisms as they are causing students to retain less information and perform poorly overall.


The research on maladaptive coping generally agrees that procrastination, and avoidance are significant issues to performing well academically. However students are all quite different and will each cope adaptively or maladaptively in their own ways. The main question becomes why is it that some students seem to be unbothered by stress and find ways to adaptively cope with it to improve their academic performance, and other students find themselves trailing behind struggling with their procrastination and avoidance issues.


Researchers are still mixed however I am of the viewpoint that one of the strongest factors in understanding why some students are better at coping than others is trait emotional intelligence (Trait EI). Trait EI is the ability to express, appraise, regulate and utilize emotional information when thinking or acting. This skill allows people to better understand their emotions and select better strategies for overcoming their stressors.


Trait Emotional Intelligence is a significantly beneficial tool, however how does this help students who do not already have this skill? There are many ways this knowledge can be developed and is beneficial beneficial. Primarily students are able to learn and improve their emotional intelligence skills, which in turn helps them to better regulate their emotions and perform better academically overall.


Despite the benefits of Trait Emotional Intelligence their are other ways to reduce maladaptive coping, if this is an issue you or a loved one is struggling with, I highly recommend reviewing our recommended next steps and reaching out to us by email or using our contact form.

 

Maladaptive Coping and the Workplace

Maladaptive coping in workplaces although different from academic procrastination is quite similar in nature. When people maladaptive cope, through avoidance and procrastination, it is for the same reasons as why people procrastinate in academics.


It is important however to note that coping is only required when their are high levels of stress in the workplace, if someone is not feeling stressed their is no need to stress and therefore less likelihood to procrastinate. This is why it is vital as an employee to work in a workplace which does not consistently overwhelm you, and as a manager why it is important to foster an environment where workers are not overwhelmed and stressed.


Creating this balance can be difficult and it requires the collaboration between upper, middle and lower management, as well as the help of employees. Each area has a strong role to play to foster a good working environment which does not result in levels of stress which cause maladaptive coping. Here I want to highlight the importance of recognizing that you have the power to change your world and how you view it by regulating yourself. It is vital to understand that in situations there is a larger picture to recognize, you must be able to identify the difference between the intent and the impact of a decision, so that you can recognize why it is occurring.


It is important to identify that even in the best environment some people may struggle to regulate their emotions, this may not be the result of the workplace and could be related to outside personal life struggles, or simply the personality of the individual. Further to this we as people must recognize that different areas of our life are not independent, we use emotions as a filter to understand our life, and they play a large impact in the interpretation of a behaviour. Keeping this in mind can make it easier to recognize the intent of an action vs the impact and helps take the power back internal. As there are many reasons why people may struggle their are multiple supports which may be required to help reduce workplace procrastination for either the company itself or the persons struggling with this issue.


At Path Positive we have the skills to assess and perform an Industrial Organizational (I/O) intervention which can help to foster the best environment for employees and managers. We also offer supports for those who are struggling with procrastination themselves. Please always feel welcome to reach out to us with any questions and we are always happy to support you, by helping to provide you with the tools to manage your emotions yourself.

 

Maladaptive Coping at Home

Academics and the workplace can both be highly stressful. When discussing maladaptive coping it these areas we generally refer to the issues maladaptive coping on well being, learning and performance. In these areas maladaptive coping has a direct impact causing the work the be procrastinated or avoided.


It is important to recognize that academics and the workplace are not the only areas maladaptive coping effects. Maladaptive coping can apply with tasks at home, where you may be feeling overwhelmed causing you to procrastinate and avoid home tasks that may be important. But this follows a very similar narrative to academics and the workplace, instead we must discuss how maladaptive coping in academic and the workplace cause issues at home.


When at home there are many issues which may plague us from our days, we may be highly stressed out in academics or at work, causing us to underperform. These issues do not stop at school or the workplace, they continue to follow us home. When we are having these issues we are highly stressed and poorly managing it, this may cause us to lash out at our loved ones and make choices we may later regret.


To overcome stress there must be ways to better cope with the stressors, by venting to our partners and our familes, we are letting them know how we are feeling at work and in school, and how this may be causing stress. In times of high stress it may be beneficial to begin seeing a therapist as they provide a safe space to discus your frustrations, they are also able to provide you with the tools to help manage your emotions yourself.

 

Our Recommended Next Steps

We highly recommend coming in for a session at Path Positive where we can help to assist you in building the tools to manage and regulate your choices and emotions. We also recommend reaching out to us and looking into the programs we are beginning to offer which help to build an emotional toolbox to resolve feelings of being overwhelmed. Through our help we hope to help you regain control over your life and reduce your maladaptive coping methods. We hope to not only help you perform better academically or at the workplace, but also to help reduce stress at home and improve relationships with yourself, your patner and your family.

 

Research on procrastination and coping are constantly changing and researchers continue to find new ways to help manage maladaptive coping and help people to utilize more adaptive coping. Just this year I conducted research which helps show that trait emotional intelligence helps students to select better coping styles. As the research continues to advance procrastination and maladaptive coping interventions will become more mainstream and easy to access.


As always, Elizabeth and I are happy to help you at Path Positive, with our goal to help you work to become the person you wish to be, improving yourself today to reach a better tommorow.


Thank you for reading, as always please feel free to reach out to me or Elizabeth with any questions.



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