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Ember Sanborn

Procrastination and How to Avoid It

By Ember Sanborn


Artwork by Tim Lahan, of The Atlantic


Procrastination is an avoidable and preventable foe; nevertheless, it causes sloppily completed assignments, unhealthy sleep schedules, and unnecessary stress. 


 One statistic from ScienceDirect states that “higher levels of procrastination were significantly associated with greater social jet lag…shorter mean weekly sleep duration…and shorter weeknight sleep duration.” This shows how procrastination has many unintended negative consequences. A main accomplice of procrastination is a lack of motivation. While students greatly desire to succeed academically, the countless distractions of the world such as social media, Netflix, and friends may appear as the more appealing route. Furthermore, procrastination is often a self-protection strategy, as it protects us from the possibility of failure; if you never start a task, there is no possibility of failing at it. As students are surrounded by pressure such as parents with impossible expectations, college applications, or desires for exceptionality avoidance can be a way – however ineffective – of handling an assignment. 


While gaining and maintaining healthy motivation can be tricky, it is not impossible. Looking inward towards your goals for your future, such as college, and your ambitions for your future are easily applicable big-picture motivators for students. On the other hand, giving yourself incentives such as watching a favorite TV show before bed or hanging out with friends can also be utilized effectively. By delaying work until the last possible moment, we become our own worst enemy academically, socially, and mentally. Procrastinating causes us to work on unnecessary and unconstructive activities, and the act of doing nothing takes up ever-growing increments of time. The National Library of Medicine states that “procrastination was associated with worse subsequent mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress symptom levels), having disabling pain in the upper extremities, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors (poor sleep quality and physical inactivity), and worse levels of psychosocial health factors (higher loneliness and more economic difficulties).” Avoiding procrastination and distractions may help you live a less stressful, happier life. 


By taking initiative on your assignments, and making a plan for filling them out, you take away procrastination’s power and build a more effective and time-efficient way of completing work. Screens are one of the main contributors to procrastination, and avoiding social media when you ought to be working can greatly decrease the desire to procrastinate. One way of doing so is setting downtimes on your phone to regulate phone use. 


A Stevenson School student, Kate Venema shares her experience with procrastination: “I think it happens because I don't like paying attention or sitting down for a long time. So when I'm at school all day, and then I get home, I don't really want to do my homework.” This is a common experience for many students; luckily, many techniques can be utilized to prevent procrastination. One easily applicable technique to avoid procrastination is the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro technique was created in the 1980s, by the inventor Francesco Cirillo. Cirillo used a Pomodoro timer to break his work periods into different intervals – known as  Pomodoros. He would set a 25-minute timer, followed by a five-minute timer, where he would work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break. The breaks give motivation to work consistently through the 25 minutes to be gratified by the 5-minute reward. Through this process, it is also important to pay attention and be intentional with the types of goals you are setting. Breaking large goals into smaller, more attainable ones can help build momentum and accomplish bigger goals over time. A valuable technique to aid in goal-setting is the SMART technique. SMART is an acronym for setting goals that are: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. 


In conclusion, while procrastination is a valid struggle, it is nevertheless a preventable one. By implementing good time-management techniques and getting enough sleep, procrastination can be completely obsolete in your day-to-day!



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