Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of intentionally putting off or not doing something that should be done. Most people deal with some form of procrastination in their lives and this is considered normal. However, delaying essential tasks and putting less important things ahead of them can cause negative consequences. Stress and anxiety are often a direct result of procrastinating as well as a lack of confidence and low self-esteem. Guilt is also associated with procrastination because of the perception of others and the potential disappointment of family and friends based on the lack of success. This character trait causes problems in all age groups and in many areas of life including college students and their achievement of educational goals. Unfortunately for me, procrastinating is a characteristic that affects me as a student and has impacted me greatly. There are many ways to sabotage academic success, but a guaranteed way is through procrastination. Procrastinators self-destruct by making choices that hinder their progress and achievement. This characteristic causes students to look for things to distract them and get them off task. Checking email, texting, and scanning social media like Facebook and Twitter are prime examples of distractions that force students to delay important responsibilities. Procrastinators often lie to themselves. Many are convinced that they will feel better about completing an assignment later or that they will work better under pressure. Students often postpone beginning a project until right before its deadline causing them to not have enough time to review it and complete it correctly. Students often lack confidence and have low self-esteem because of their unsuccessful performance in their classes. Health problems may even arise as a result of the stress that is experienced from not turning in assignments on time and the anticipation of making a failing grade. Since middle school, I have experienced the problems caused from procrastination. This bad characteristic followed me to high school and only became more of a problem when I gained greater independence in college. Procrastination became my worst enemy and caused severe consequences during my first year of college at North Greenville. I waited to begin working on big assignments, like writing papers for my English classes, until the very last minute. Doing this hurt my ability to put together good papers and negatively affected my grades. Procrastinating on daily assignments hurt me the most. Delaying the completion of homework often meant not completing it at all. This set me back in subjects such as math and English because I was not practicing skills learned during class and benefiting from that additional practice. My grade point average dropped and I was unsuccessful in many courses. Procrastinating has brought me to where I am now, which is not where I should be at this point in my college career. I now have to work harder than ever so I can be successful and achieve my goal of attending Clemson University next fall. If I do not want procrastinating to get in the way of me succeeding in life, I need to make a change immediately. If changes are not made, I will never get where I want to be or have the job I desire. Procrastination is a habit and, like all bad habits, can eventually be broken. I need to break this habit before it causes serious consequences that will be difficult to overcome. I have come to realize how this characteristic has negatively impacted my education and I plan to make a fresh start this semester by putting a stop to procrastination. By challenging myself to not let fear hinder me from plunging head first into my assignments, I will begin my work sooner and allow myself time to complete them. I will ask for help and advice when needed and also learn from my mistakes to continually improve. Putting forth more effort and time in subjects that do not come easily for me will increase my success and my confidence in those areas. Time management will also be an area I will develop. I plan to set a time daily for studying. This early afternoon study time will allow me to complete daily homework assignments, review notes from my classes, and begin long term projects while still giving me enough time at night for being with friends and doing the things I enjoy. A calendar will help me organize my due dates and plan for making certain tasks priorities. I know that conquering procrastination will not be easy, but I am proud of making the first step of realizing that it is a problem. With determination and keeping my goals in plain sight, I know that I will improve in this area beginning now and will continue to work on it until it is no longer a characteristic for me as a student.