As I sit at my desk attempting to start this very paper, I hit a wall; I have no idea what I want to write about. It’s not that I can’t think of a reason although that is what I tell myself. I haven’t even tried to, so I just sit here staring at my blank screen. “Well, maybe I can do it over the weekend I have Sunday free, yes, that will work out perfectly,” I think to myself. “What harm could it do, after all it’s just one day, not that big of a deal.” Then I thought back to not even two weeks prior, I had a lab report due in chemistry; I had been sitting at home on a Sunday night and had every intention of doing my report but then, as soon as I got my computer out, I lost all motivation to type it. Before, writing my lab-report had sounded like a great idea, you know, to get ahead and all but now all, I wondered was, “do I have time later this week, and what game is on?”
When Monday rolled around and the Friday deadline one step closer I got home from a difficult practice, sat down, ate, and realized, “I have practice tomorrow morning. I’m tired. I’m going to bed. It can wait. Then came Tuesday and Wednesday all with the same story. By the time it was Thursday night I hadn’t even looked at the lab results, I decided I finally had to type it. When I looked at the blank document in front of me, I had no idea what to write about. The lab was over a week ago and I really didn’t remember it all that well. Finally, I started to write. It got progressively easier as I went on. In about an hour I was done. As I read through the calculations I would have to complete, I noticed there would also need to be graphs with this report but I was tired so I figure, there’s always the morning and went to bed.
I worked on the report every spare se...
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... cures. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/studevgt/onlinsts/time/procrastination.htm
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Procrastination may be responsible for late assignments, cramming revision for tests and social anxiety, all of which can often result in a poorer performance than the person is actually capable of achieving (Lee 2005; Lay & Schouwenburg 1993). So what is the reason for procrastination? Well, there are many explanations. Some researchers see procrastination as a personality trait (Lay 1986).The interest of procrastination is usually revolved around students and academia. Research has shown the importance of understanding procrastination in an academic setting, for instance academic procrastination is experienced by approximately 80%-95% of college students (Ellis & Knaus 1977). Studies show that at least 50% of undergraduate students frequently procrastinate (Hedin 2012). And 65% of students want to stop procrastinating (Solomon & Rothblum 1984). Even though many researchers focus on the destructive impacts that procrastination can have on a person’s life, for some procrastination is not always a negative behaviour. Research shows that individuals who procrastinate try to justify their behaviour and fall back on phrases such as, “I do my best work under pressure”
In his humorous and animated speech, “Inside the mind of a procrastinator,” Tim Urban emphasizes the realities of procrastination and the consequences that come with
“Active procrastinators are people who make intentional decisions to procrastinate,” (Choi & Morgan) this type of procrastinator is often satisfied with his or her work after it is completed. On the other hand, these procrastinators may well not escape the dangers and costs of academic procrastination regardless of their knowledgeable decision to delay said work, which may possibly range from negative outcomes in tests to drop outs; with wasted time, impaired progress, missed deadlines, missed openings and poor grades falling in between. Academic performance is often greatly affected by procrastination, for instance, Phycology Professors at Florida State University, Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister propose that if one starts the assignment late, even if the one believes he might have enough time, the procrastinators’ performance will worsen, either because of unexpected complications or by one of the various obstructions that occur on a day-to-day basis. One thing frequently leads to another, with a poor quality assignment, one may envision lower grades, staying behind the rest of the class and a lower GPA, which might affect ones’ opportunities later on. Not only is procrastination often caused by anxiety but procrastination also builds up anxiety. Constant
“I need to stop procrastinating, I’ll start tomorrow!” Most of us have uttered these words at least once in our academic life, if not daily. Procrastination is habitual, it is gauged that 95% of college students in America procrastinate, 50% of which who claim to do it half the time and 38% who do it on occasion (koestner, Senecal, & Vallerand, 1995). Procrastination can be defined as prolonging a task and/or delaying it for periods of time knowing it’s in need of attention. Negative implications associated with this can include a decline in quality work and overall learning experience, with an increase in stressful urgency (Goroshit & Hen, 2014). Based on the above information it can be concluded that procrastination in college students is
The typical college course requires the successful completion of challenging assignments, such as exams, term papers, and presentations. With deadlines looming for these assignments, some students will begin their work right away, while others will wait until the last minute to get started. While research evidence does not support the utility of last-minute strategies, such as cramming for exams, students may nonetheless engage in these behaviors as a result of procrastination (Schraw, Wadkins, & Olafson, 2007; Senecal, Koestner, & Vallerand, 1995). For active procrastinators, their act could lead to positive outcomes, such as high grades,
I stared at the blinking cursor, unbelieving at what I had just done. I was indeed done; done with a paper I agonized over for 6 hours. The paper was due in a scant 4 hours and I had all week to do it. The radio had stopped working because my brother got on the Internet and thus cut off my connection. That was the least of my problems working on this paper. I got it done, though. My life changed with one trip of a teacher to the chalkboard and one phrase, narrative essay. God, I hate narrative essays.
Internal discomfort can be from irritation, nervousness, anxiety, or regret. There is also external discomfort such as failure in academics, the loss of opportunities, stress in relationships, or increase of health risks (Rabin et al., 2011). The difference between procrastinators and non-procrastinators is that one group of students are more goal-oriented than another. College students who delay completing tasks also do not make use of internal and external signals to control when to start, maintain, and end goal-directed actions (Rabin et al., 2011). There are many ways to minimize the effects of procrastination among these individuals. If students do not learn the proper way in concentrating and paying attention, their performance in their academics and work are destined to fail. This paper will be discussing the negative and positive effects of procrastination and how it relates to self-control and emotional well-being among college
Klassen, Robert, Lindsey Krawchuk, and Sukaina Rajani. "Academic procrastination of undergraduates: Low self-efficacy to self-regulate predicts higher levels of procrastination." Contemporary Educational Psychology. 33.4 (2008): 915-931. Web. 6 Nov. 2011. .
The blinking computer cursor on an otherwise empty screen was the college version of the blank white page of my earlier years, before technology had taken us so far. But for me it was, in many ways, the same old problem. With early drafts of a paper rarely required, I came time and time again to a point where a significant portion of my grade rested on what was essentially a single night’s work. I usually left myself no option but to write in one long session on a computer - there weren’t enough hours remaining to compose a version on paper to be typed up afterward. And time and again, my method, such as it was, worked for me. I not only survived but prospered. But I sometimes wondered, and still wonder: this works, but am I progressing? Has my writing grown? Should it be possible to turn out an “A” paper in a night? What standards are being used to judge these papers? Do my desperate all-night writing sessions somehow, in ways I don’t understand, help me improve? How did I learn to write at a level that has helped me succeed up to this point?
...rs tend to overestimate the degree of unpleasantness of a task” (Lay, 46). Procrastination is a problem that when left unchecked can cause serious problems in every aspect of a person’s life. The solution for students can be as easy as sticking to a goal or as hard as denying themselves a prize when they missed the deadline on a project. The type of solution a person uses depends on what works best for that student, but a schedule to help stay goal positioned never hurt.
The definition of procrastination according to Solomon & Rothblum is the determined delay of the start or completion of a task (1984). Procrastinators will also differ from those who do not procrastinate in numerous ways. An example would be that procrastinators often fear failure, strive for perfection, may be slightly pessimistic and more anxious, which may become worse when they realize they are procrastinating (McCown & Johnson, 1991) or when deadlines are approaching (Tice & Baumeister, 1997). The personal and realistic problems that result from dysfunctional procrastination are predominantly acute in academics, as the inclination to put off school-related tasks often result in challenging levels of stress (Solomon & Rothblum 1984), on the whole the end of the academic semester would be the peak (Tice & Baumeister, 1997).
A. H. C. Chu and J. N. Choi, psychologists, distinguished two types of protracting, they discovered that active procrastination has attainable characteristics that lead to positive personal outcomes (Choi and Moran). These positive personal outcomes are a result of waiting at its finest. People with these adequate dilatory skills have probably learned from their deficient habits in the past that may help everyone know that the view of holding off can change. Writing this essay has changed my view on procrastination slightly, as I can see how it can be good for you. With my siblings, free time is limited. So taking time to do something more entertaining helps me take a break from stressful work. Then when I get back to it I feel more confident that I can focus and finish it. That’s an example of active procrastination for me. Frank Partnoy shows historical views on procrastination, in an article about his book, such as how “The Greeks and Romans generally regarded procrastination highly. The wisest leaders embraced procrastination and would basically sit around and think and not do anything unless they absolutely had to” (Gambino 2012). Those Romans and Greeks were able to enjoy their time of relaxation, using procrastination as a healthy tool rather than a bad habit. Even wise leaders used it! What an amazing realization that we get procrastination from
Procrastination is a tendency to postpone, put off, delay, reschedule, take a rain check on, put on ice, hold off, or to defer what is necessary to reach a particular goal.(Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition. Philip Lief Group 2009.) While attending College some students find it hard to juggle work, family, and friends. Leading most students down a dangerous path to procrastination; that negative impact affect students from their physical health, mental health, and social health.
After spending three hours perusing the internet on articles about procrastination and time management, with two of those hours spent looking at planners, apps, and other various materials that theoretically will help me stop procrastinating, I suppose it is time to actually start writing my paper about procrastinating. I’ve fallen into the learned habit that I work best under pressure; however, the process of procrastination is always laced with acute anxiety and hassle, even if I ultimately finish the assignment on time. I am on a journey to find out why people procrastinate and hopefully find attainable solutions to the problem of procrastination, but first I must go outside and play in the snow.