According to Dictionary.com, procrastination has the following definition: to defer action; "delay; to put off until another day or time; defer; delay." Procrastination can seize any aspect of your life, leaving us all to fall under this trap. In fact, I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t procrastinate writing this article, oh the irony.
I don’t know about you, but there is no place I’d rather be on a Thursday night than frantically typing a 4-7 page research paper until 3AM in the basement of DuBois, just hours before the assignment is due. Procrastination can lead to feelings of stress, guilt, and inadequacy. So why do we continue to push off assignments until the last minute?
It’s the FOMO (fear of missing out) that keeps us waiting until the last possible second to complete our responsibilities. Now that the weather is nice, darty’s and laying out on the Southwest beach sound a lot more inviting than locking myself in my dorm to complete a history essay. It's hard to hear my friend's plans for the evening knowing I have a hot date with my Calculus homework.
Psychologists say that procrastination reflects our chronic struggle with self-control as well as our inability to accurately predict how we’ll feel the next day. I guess I have zero self-control, according to this thought, however, personally, how I will feel tomorrow never affects my decision to continually push off my responsibilities.
Another study was done observing college students and their procrastination levels revealed that procrastinators say that they "perform better under pressure." Dammit, guess I can’t use that as my excuse anymore. There is something about the pressure of the clock ticking that allows me to focus on the assignment I am doing. When I say that it is near to impossible for me to start an assignment early I'm not lying. Mentally, I allow myself to drift off and find myself being easily distract with my surroundings. Yes, I just checked my Instagram feed two minutes ago but maybe, just maybe if I look again there will be some new posts for me to waste more time looking at.
I continue to impress myself when I succeed with the time crunches I put myself through. But the madness must stop. I know that pressing the "next episode" button on Netflix requires minimal effort, but maybe if I dedicate a small portion of my time to beginning an assignment earlier than the day before it is due I can reward myself with that next Netflix episode, and save myself a lot of gray hairs from all the stress.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have fun, but maybe a better balance of studying and partying will leave you a lot less stressed. So make the effort today to be more on top of your schoolwork…. or maybe just start tomorrow.
