"I shouldn't procrastinate," I say, as I am writing this article an hour before the deadline...

I don't know if anyone else agrees with me but I have a huge, terrible habit of doing things until right before the deadline because the pressure of a deadline forces me to get things done. But it does not, and should not, have to be this way. Every time I try to cram something in before the deadline, it is always rushed work and not as much thought was put into it as could have been.

And it turns out that this "waiting until the last minute" habit if spread to other activities in your lifestyle, really shows your character. In this post analyzing the psychology behind procrastination, a professor in Psychology at DePaul University in Chicago remarks that most people do procrastinate at some point in their life but it is never a big issue; just a task here or there that is put off for a short time but when it comes to the chronic procrastinator, their lifestyle suffers as a result.

Some reasons for this procrastination are thrown around on the internet. Depression? Afraid that your work is going to be crap anyway so you just delay working on it so you can use procrastination as an excuse for the quality? Rebellion? It is important to first identify this reason before moving on and

So what can we do to combat procrastination?

I attended a talk at my school, the University of Virginia, a few weeks ago where the speaker discussed strategies to overcome procrastination and that is good and all, but what happens when there is absolutely no motivation in sight? Sure, getting that high GPA is definitely good motivation but no matter what, it is hard to break a habit.

In order to break away from this cycle, first, motivation needs to be defined. What drives you? Why are you doing this? Second, what are the steps you need to do in order to complete this task? It helps a lot to consistently write down these things in notebook or planner to keep you on task.

Some methods that were mentioned in the talk was the incentive method where you reward yourself after completing a small portion of a bigger task, such as reading one paragraph of one page in your textbook (if you start small you won't be disappointed right?) Another method was to break a task into chunks and do one small portion per day, but I personally don't have the patience nor self-motivation to do something so logical. Let's just say there is a lot I need to work on.

What I think contributes to this procrastination problem in our society also goes hand-in-hand with the declining ability of people to focus on things for a long period of time. From what I observed, a lot of this seems to have to do with increased use of cellphones and addiction to social media. Frequently checking Insta for new dog pictures eventually makes you keep thinking about it in the back of your head. Why write this paper which is due in a few hours when you can like cute doggo pics on Insta? Perfectly logical....and detrimental to your paper grade.

Although most people agree that waiting until the last minute to get things done is harmful (the stress and rushed work), there is actually an article on Forbes that says otherwise. People tended to lose interest in an event if they were invited far in advance of the actual occurrence of the event as opposed to being invited slightly ahead of the event. This is also backed up by how society goes at a much faster pace now, what with improved technology and shorter wait times. I agree that there are some occasions where the "waiting until the last minute" tactic works well, in this case marketing an event, however, I think it is evident that making a habit of procrastinating is never beneficial.

In the end, I hope everyone can someday (if not already) hone in on a certain goal that will motivate them enough to overcome their procrastination.