The Inclination Toward the Procrastination Habit in American Teenagers

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“Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today;” Abraham Lincoln, our nation’s 13th President, spoke about procrastinating over a century and a half ago. Did he foreshadow the new procrastination problem infecting our youth today? Maybe, but it’s become an epidemic, spreading across the nation like wildfire. Nevertheless, there’s a difference between those who procrastinate and those who are procrastinators. A non-procrastinator and a procrastinator both have to-do lists with 12 tasks to accomplish; the non-procrastinator finishes tasks one through nine and leaves the rest for another day, but the procrastinator tends to do one or two things before reorganizing the list and procrastinating on the rest (Jaffe). One can argue that procrastinators have symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder causing their lack in concentration, but many teens feel as if they don’t have enough time to finish everything they need to do. Procrastination is not a mental disorder; teenagers simply delay harder projects to do easier assignments, fear being rejected by their peers, and hope for a last minute sense of urgency that will propel them to do better on their endeavors.
Making a list and getting organized is one of the easiest things for teens to do; the hardest part is sitting down and getting the mentally demanding things done (Knaus). Teenagers tend to do their easiest homework first; depending on their personalities, math or writing might come with ease. Teenagers who have low self-control or self-discipline struggle to complete a task they find boring so they start early and get a head start but quickly fall behind when they sidetrack to work on less important assignments (Jaffe). Students complete various effortless jobs and leave the ...

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...to “just do it” is like telling a chronically depressed person to “be happy.”

Works Cited

Ferrari, Joseph, Dr. "Psychology of Procrastination: Why People Put Off Important Tasks Until the Last Minute." American Psychological Association. 5 April 2010. Web. 02 May 2014.
Jaffe, Eric. "Why Wait? The Science Behind Procrastination." Association for Psychological Science RSS. Association for Psychological Science. n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
Knaus, Bill, Dr. "Is It Procrastination or Distraction?" Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, LLC. 4 Nov. 2011. Web. 03 May 2014.
Pickhardt, Carl E. "Procrastination: How Adolescents Encourage Stress." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, LLC. 21 June 2009. Web. 01 May 2014.
Pychyl, Timothy, Dr. "Procrastination, Guilt, Excuses and the Road Less Traveled." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, LLC. 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 02 May 2014.

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