Procrastination. Something I’m sure we have all fallen victim to at least once throughout our lives. And something that I have struggled with throughout my own life. Whether it is finishing homework, studying for exams, cleaning my room, doing laundry, and even something as simple as making my bed in the morning, I have learned that procrastination is one of my major flaws, especially when I’m in my own home.
When I was younger, it was easy for me to come home from school, make myself a snack, and then sit down to do my homework. But that was in second grade when I had to write my vocabulary words three times each, and multiply simple numbers. As I got older, and the workload steadily increased, I found that instead of getting my work done sooner (like I should have done) I continued to push it off until the last minute. It turns out that I actually do some of my best work when I’m under pressure because I know that I need to get my tasks completed. But it’s not always super fun to be doing work the night before it’s due. Even though I didn’t always enjoy completing my work near the deadline, I never really thought it to be a bad thing.
At the beginning of this semester, I told myself that I was going to change my mindset. Instead of waiting to finish my assignments until a few days before they were due, I was going to work on them steadily throughout the week starting from when they were given to me. It seemed to be working well for me while we were all at school, but as soon as I came home, it was like something flipped a switch and I began to lose the motivation I had to complete my work early. I think it has something to do with the fact that now that I go to college in a different state, I associate being home with relaxation and spending time with my family rather than doing work. It feels like I have had to start the process all over again.
One of the most important things that I have learned from this experience is that no matter how hard I try, I can’t make a change over night. Procrastination is nothing new to me, but learning the best ways to avoid it definitely is. I have to work step by step towards the goals that I set rather than automatically incorporating them into my routine. I wish I could just snap my fingers and have all of my work completed or even the ability to evade procrastination. But that’s just it, maybe that is my problem.
-Sydney Rubin
English 110 Honors Spring 2020 
Sydney,
I could really relate to your post as someone who has also struggled with procrastination when completing work. I think it is a common problem that many people have and is a hard habit to change. I personally struggled with the concepts of productivity and procrastination. I feel like I’ve finally learned to accept that I may not be able to evade procrastination completely, but there are ways to better my work ethic to reduce the ultimate stress caused by immense procrastination. I think we always put ourselves down for procrastinating all the time but I believe that it is a result of living in a world where productivity is always prioritized. We feel as though we need to be getting work done constantly and feel bad when we push off work, but I believe that there are times when taking a break from work is okay. There are times when we will struggle with productivity and there will be times when we feel like we’re behind, but sometimes taking that rest instead of working may be the best motivator for us to work harder later on. While consistently putting off work is not ideal, I do believe that we shouldn’t always feel guilty for procrastinating every now and then.
Thanks for a great read and the many great reads throughout the whole entire semester!
I hope you have a great rest of your semester!
~Joanna 🙂
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If college students had anthem this would most likely be it. Procrastination is our dreaded opponent in the battle to good grades and success. I had an almost identical experience regarding procrastination this semester. I began the semester determined to work on every assignment the moment it was given. I would not wait until the last second to conjure up the motivation to start (and rush through) an assignment. I was surprisingly successful with managing and maintaining this goal, and my grades increased as a perk. But, despite our hopes to remain at UD, coronavirus came and sent us all home, and now I find it almost impossible to find motivation to do any work. It is upsetting that this is the way things have to be, but also reassuring to know others are experiencing the same thing. Doing school from home is challenging, but it is simply an obstacle we must conquer, and again our procrastination habits will be no longer. Stay positive and thanks for a great post!
Bray Fedele
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I can really relate to this, Sydney. I also really struggle with procrastination and I have also told myself that I do my best work under pressure as a means of justifying it. I really wish I had the motivation to actively try to change this like you have; maybe I’ll try to work on that next semester. Overall, this is a very well written post, and I hope you are able to find success in your quest for self-improvement.
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I wish I could say I do not procrastinate I lot, but I am sitting here writing this at 1:45am. It is super hard staying on top of everything especially at home, so I definitely know what you mean. I remember seeing something that says it takes 21 days to form a habit and 66 to form a routine (numbers could be wrong), so most things definitely won’t change overnight. I feel like for most problems, acknowledging you have the problem is the first step towards improvement.
Chris Metzler
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