You have a science test tomorrow you have not studied for, three unfinished projects from different classes that are due in a few days, and two worksheets that have not been started due next period today.
Procrastination seems to take place in a large part in the typical life of high school students. Even when students should be learning from the consequences of procrastination, why do they still end up waiting till the last minute to accomplish every class assignment?
Kaley Peterson, a student at Pleasant Valley explained, “During swimming season I have found that I get really stressed when I come home after nine with a pile of homework still not done. I find that I procrastinate the most when I am trying to avoid this stress and responsibility of coming home to homework.”
Procrastination is more than just the lack of motivation of responsibility, there are many other explanations for why people decide to delay their work. These reasons include the lack of knowledge, negative self thoughts, underestimating time, and fear of failure.
The urge to procrastinate sometimes comes when an assignment is announced and it is unclear on what should be worked on at the moment. This comes up when students are presented with a project that will be due in a few weeks on a subject that students have not mastered yet. They then decide that with their lack of knowledge, the project can be forgotten about until the teacher brings it up again in the future, closer to the deadline. To avoid this situation, students can ask the teacher more about the project and ask questions about the material they do not understand.
People tend to stall with assignments when they think that they will do a horrible job accomplishing it. This can be found with students who feel that they lack the creative skills to complete the project in the way that the the rubric requires. In order to avoid these negative self thoughts, students can ask their friends for additional help or suggestions for the parts of the project that seem to be impossible to accomplish.
Another reason people delay responsibilities is when they are underestimating the time needed to finish the project. They think that they are able to complete it in less time than the deadline extends to them. This tends to be the case when it comes to studying for a test. Students feel that they are able to know the material well enough the morning of the test. Instead of risking a bad grade, students can study for their test a little each day so that the material is fresh in their minds when the test finally comes.
Procrastination also shows up in people’s lives who are focused on the present. These people tend to put off projects because they know that they will have more fun doing something other than school assignments. Samuel Jones, a freshman in high school described that, “When I get home, I want to be doing something fun, rather than doing what I know I need to do from school.” Students that focus on the present must realize that they must also look at the future. Looking toward the future helps students understand their goals and their priorities of the day so that they can have fun later.
Another popular way to get stuck stalling is due to the fear of failure. When students become responsible for their assignments and getting them done correctly, many students fear that their effort will be wasted on failure. When students wait till the last minute to put in the work for the projects they feel reassured, saying that they could have done better if they put more time into the project and therefore did not fail. To overcome this fear, students can start the project early knowing that the first draft will not turn out perfect but can be perfected before the deadline.
