Procrastination can be detrimental in many ways for college students
Ceilidh Adams
Opinion Editor
We all know the feeling. You have a project, a paper, an exam to study for, or even just a little bit of homework to do. You’ll do it later, you tell yourself. You have time, it won’t take you that long, and besides, you deserve a break.
Later comes and goes, and then all of a sudden, after a wonderful Netflix marathon or cleaning your room, doing your laundry and practically finding doing everything else besides what you have to do, you find yourself quickly running out of time.
Pulling an all-nighter for that exam or project or homework you have to do is never any fun, but procrastination can be such a tempting thing as well.
As mentioned, procrastination is also not a rare occurrence amongst college students. In fact, according to Larisa Karr on thebluebanner.net, “According to the American Psychological Association, between 80 and 95 percent of college students procrastinate on their schoolwork.”
Procrastination occurs for many different reasons. For me personally, it occurs as a result of a lack of motivation. For others, it might occur because of laziness, a lack of focus, tiredness, or a fear of failure. Sometimes all it takes is for you to get started on something, but getting started is the hardest thing in the world to do.
Learning to find that balance between having some free time but also not rushing to complete assignments on time is key. Yes, there will be times where you can allow yourself to have a break and watch that amazing show on Netflix or clean your room or do just about anything else but what you have to do.
Constant procrastination, however, can make your life even more stressful, because in the end, if you are not taking some time to break down those big assignments or exams into smaller pieces, trying to cram all of that information into your brain the night before can cause you to do worse on that exam, and your grades will reflect this.
Distractions (hello, Facebook, Youtube, Netflix, Twitter, Snapchat) contribute to procrastination significantly. This is mostly because these things cause instant happiness and excitement, whereas completing that ten-page paper on Macbeth might just not be the most exciting thing in the world in comparison.
Just start. Give yourself rewards and breaks along the way when you are completing these assignments.
Work with a friend when studying or completing that assignment. Friends can always make those boring tasks more exciting.
Jam out to your favorite song, take a tip from the Nike logo, and just do it. By getting started, you can get yourself to that finish line before you know it.
“You may delay, but time will not”-Benjamin Franklin
Ceilidh Adams is the Opinion Editor for The Comment. Email her at c3adams@student.bridgew.edu.
