Before we can learn how to stop procrastinating, we must first understand why we start procrastinating. Having a full understanding of our habits allows us to know what we need to precisely work on.
According to a survey (see Appendix) I conducted to determine the writing habits of college students, over 80% of students said they procrastinate on their writing assignments.
The reasons they stated for their procrastination include:
Additionally, when asked about how long before the due date they start their writing assignments, the majority said they start less than a week before.
Figure 1: Survey of 16 UC Davis students on how long they typically start their writing assignments.
Image description: 6.3% of students start 0-24 hours before the due date, 12.5% of students start 1 day before, 43.8% of students start 2-3 days before, 6.3% of students start 4-6 days before, and 31.3% of students start 1 week before the due date.
Personally, most of the classes I have taken assign writing assignments at least 2 weeks ahead of time. Unfortunately, like the other students in the survey, I start my writing assignments less than a week before the due date.
In an article about “understanding and overcoming procrastination,” the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning at Princeton University suggests that students procrastinate because they “work best under pressure” (Voge). They like to feel the “rush” of pushing the deadline, which I believe is what motivates them to finish their task more efficiently.
Another reason for procrastination suggested by the McGraw Center is that students “avoid doing work to avoid [their] abilities being judged” (Voge). I wholeheartedly agree with this statement because the pressure I receive from myself to get all A’s causes me to procrastinate until I think I am ready and focused enough to produce A-quality work. However, this procrastination has caused me more harm than good as it leaves me feeling more stressed than I started with. I also never quite produce the A-quality work I desire since my now-limited time forces me to rush to finish my assignment on time.
Additionally, in an article about giving writing advice to procrastinators, the Center for Academic and Personal Development at Harvard University suggests that people believe “[they] have to read more before [they] can start writing” (Reindl). I can relate to this because I feel as though I need to know the most I can about my topic before I can start writing about it. I have this need to have everything planned out before even starting, which takes up a lot of time away from actually writing.
The Center at Harvard also points out that writing can be “painful” to do (Reindl). It is a “long” and “slow” process that discourages many to continue or even begin writing. Personally, I often do not enjoy writing essays or lab reports because they take up so much of my time and I do not think they are interesting. I do them mainly because I am told to, which causes me to leave them off for a while and do easier assignments first.
Finally, the writing center at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that we procrastinate because “it works” (“Procrastination”). According to the survey, every student gets A’s and B’s on their writing assignments, even though a majority of them admitted to procrastination. Since many students can pull off good grades even with procrastination, no wonder many of them continue to do it. However, this does not mean procrastination is necessarily the best thing to do as the assignment they turned in was likely not of their best or because they likely felt anxious when trying to rush their writing assignment to meet the deadline.