Procrastination. Some people have it worse than others, but I think it's fair to say that just about everyone experiences it from time to time.
Procrastination may be the most widespread obstacle that otherwise intelligent and capable students like ourselves face. Overcoming it may be the difference between struggling in class and stressing out or handling your responsibilities and living in harmony with your workload.
But procrastination isn't only an issue in school. It can also interfere in the workplace, interpersonal relationships and your day to day life. Maybe you put off applying for summer work and missed out on an ideal job or internship. Maybe you've avoided going to the gym enough, letting your belly get bigger while your arms get smaller. The situations where procrastination can hinder you are endless.
Let's go through some reasons why people procrastinate. In general, it is human nature to delay or avoid the undesirable while attaining immediate gratification whenever possible. Deviating from this behavior requires discipline and maturity. Making good decisions which involve doing work early and receiving rewards later is not easy.
Another reason people procrastinate is one simple fact -- it's addicting. The night where you forgot about your upcoming test and went out with friends or played video games was a blast. Instead of slaving away at your desk, you were doing what you wanted to do. Next time you're faced with a similar decision, you won't be quick to forget how much fun you had when you put off working.
Where it starts to be a problem is when the addiction to procrastinating takes over. How often have you told yourself that your homework is "stupid" or "not worth doing"? People will find any sort of excuse or distraction to avoid doing real work or convince themselves they have better things to do. You'd know what I mean if you've ever decided to spend two hours cleaning and organizing your room at 3 a.m. when you had a big paper due the next day you had yet to start.
This is how we rationalize our procrastination -- it's how we make ourselves feel less guilty about delaying work. It is all a matter of motivation. If you trick yourself into thinking that procrastinating is alright when it isn't, you'll be putting yourself between a rock and a hard place when it comes time to face the consequences.
The solution, in my opinion, is to be realistic and consider how every action will either benefit or harm you in both the present and future. Sure, making to-do lists and structuring your schedule helps a lot, but it doesn't get at the underlying problems. Besides, for some people (including myself), keeping up with these good habits is unrealistic in the long run; every organizer I've ever had in high school started off well and then ended up with dozens of blank pages.
You see, even things that we consider undesirable might be things we "want" to do. I don't enjoy doing homework, but I do it (most of the time) because it improves my grades which in turn makes my parents happy, lets me feel better about myself and gives me a more competitive résumé when I look for a job. These are all things that I want, and, therefore, I want to do my homework. The benefits of doing your homework almost always outweigh the costs. When we neglect our work, it is almost always because we erroneously convince ourselves it's not worth our time and effort.
I would like to play devil's advocate a bit before I wrap this column up and tell you how procrastination can be a good thing. To me, procrastination is like fire -- it can be a useful tool, but if you aren't careful you'll get burned. Often times, I do my best work and am most productive when I'm under the pressure of a nearing deadline. It provides me with a level of stress that I can manage and which really gets me motivated. The key is procrastinating responsibly and never letting things pile up to the point where you feel (or are) helpless.
I'd love to chat more about this wonderful subject, but I'm afraid I need to submit this column and get some sleep before class tomorrow. Maybe I shouldn't have put it off until the last day...
Daniel's column runs bi-weekly on Wednesdays. He can be reached at mcnally@cavalierdaily.com.
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