Last week I posted an article about procrastination. In there I wrote the convential theory. I have my own theory also. It is controversial and I would like to know your thoughts about it! Don’t be afraid to share them in the comments!
What is procrastination?
I have already explained what it is. You defer actions. You wait with something you should do until you are close to the deadline and you will stress out and do whatever you should have done weeks before. Most of the times procrastination is the reason for a grade you didn’t want to get, you wanted better but it just wasn’t possible in those last hours.
Why do we procrastinate?
Is it because we don’t have the time? No. Because we have better things to do? No. Because we are afraid to do what we have to do? No.
We procrastinate because it is fun! Try to remember your last procrastination session. Remember when you had to clean your room and you didn’t do it immediatly, what did you think? Let me guess: ‘Well, that can wait! Let’s get on my computer and read blogs!’ And you laugh. Right? You say to yourself that it can wait, and you feel good. Of course you feel good, you don’t have to do it yet, do things that are more fun! It is like getting out of bed. Your alarm goes and you think ‘Five more minutes!’ and you enjoy the moment you crawl in your blankets!
Procrastination is fun for several reasons.
- The moment itself. As I just said, you do things that are more fun. Instead of doing what you should do you do more enjoyable stuff and you hope the rest will just work out. And you are fine with it!
- You get a satisfied feeling afterwards. After the due date for your paper you are also happy. You did something in two days what took two weeks for others! That is fantastic right? You can finish things in a small amount of time, that isn’t bad. And you will say to yourself that you need procrastination to flourish. When you procrastinate, when you are in stressy situations, you are on your best and the paper wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t procrastinate. (According to you..)
- You tell everyone! Of course, everybody knows that you aren’t even started with learning for the test. Procrastination seems like a shamefull thing, but it isn’t really something to be ashamed of. They started to study really early and you don’t. But you both pass the test. ‘Who is the better student now!’ You may think. But your own satisfied feeling is not the only thing which makes procrastination fun. Your fellow students are amazed also. They are amazed that you passed the test, that you still finished your paper, without starting really early. They have respect for you, whether you expect it or not.
It’s fun, so is it a problem?
Yes, it is still a problem. It seems like fun maybe, and you will still get your diploma, but how? You will never have outstanding grades, always just ‘good enough.’ You will have stress all the time before due dates, which causes hart disease and all. Everytime when you do the things you should be doing on the evening before you say to yourself: ‘I will start earlier next time.’ You miss (fun) things, because you have to work full day and nights on projects you have pushed forward. Does that seems like fun to you? You look like a good student, but you can be so much better when you don’t procrastinate. You can have A’s instead of C’s, you need to be ambitious!
How to solve this problem.
As I said, you have to be ambitious. Don’t be satisfied with a C, go for an A! Motivate yourself to flourish in college and you will see the necessity to stop procrastination and start being a successful student.
Let me know your thoughts on this subject, I am curious how you guys think about my theory!
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Cool post Stefan, I’ll definitely take all your info into consideration.
I agree with most of the information here including papers and chores. If you procrastinate you will always be under stress, which can lead to problems.
However, I don’t consider studying a few days before compared a few weeks before to be procrastination. As for me, If I start studying two weeks in advance the material isn’t as fresh i nmy head. I feel the better solution is to pay attention in class and do all the readings and assignments thorough. Then when you start studying a few days before the test it is basically review. You may have to relearn some stuff, but if you made sure you understand the material before then it wont require as much time.
Basically, another form of procrastination can be putting off the learning the material until it’s time to study two weeks before the test.
Great post. I’ve always had a problem with procrastination and it’s getting worse every year.
Hopefully I can turn the trend around this year.
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