I had a fairly extensive assignment in one of my classes this past week. I tried to make it good. I really did. Plans were made, ideas were brainstormed. I had it all figured out-- then I actually sat down at my desk and immediately began doing every other thing I could possibly do besides the assignment in question, and when I say everything, I mean everything. A reading for a month down the road? Done. The assignment due the next day? Not so much.
Most of the students I know could tell you the exact same story, a few of them down to the same assignment. In my admittedly short life, I don't think I've ever met a high school student actually capable of sitting down ahead of time and finishing something more than two days before the due date. It's something all of us struggle with. Logically, getting something finished ahead of time should be simple. After all, it has to happen anyway, and it's certainly more satisfying sooner than later. Besides that, most of us are familiar with Hamlet, so we're well aware of how truly poorly putting a task off until the last minute can turn out. Maybe we're just lazy. It's possible. We are teenagers. I think it's something different.
The world of young people is increasingly fast-paced. Everything is instantaneously accessible through the internet. Even people are more available through the use of email or any number of messaging services. The barrier between work and play is breaking down. There is no longer an appreciable difference between an assignment to be done in the classroom and one to be done at home because the difference between home and classroom is becoming increasingly blurred. The same people, the same resources, the same assignments are all available at, quite literally, the touch of button-- regardless of where a student stands at any given time.
Even if the work itself isn't particularly difficult, the volume of it is exhausting. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a moment where I wasn't supposed to be doing something. We measure time in due dates. We measure time in the empty space before the next thing happens. We measure time in how many minutes we have to breathe before the next thing absolutely must be done. There's the rub. Student procrastination is a survival mechanism. Maybe someday we'll overcome it, but not before we absolutely must.
