Putting Off the Inevitable (FEATURE STORY)

The school year has just started and you’re feeling great about your classes. You are mentally prepared to overcome any obstacle or problem that comes your way, feeling refreshed and restored after a long and relaxing summer. Professors begin to hand out assignments for the coming school year and you quickly scan to see what major papers and projects you will need to complete. 

A thirty page paper due in two months. Three presentations to be given in the month of November. One research proposal due at the end of the semester. Two case studies due in one month. And a business proposal plan due the week of finals.

You got this.

But then, as the days become shorter and the nights become longer – signaling that winter is near – you realize that you don’t, in fact, ‘got this’. That thirty page paper is due in three days; your presentations are next week, and that research proposal and business plan that you thought would be fine putting off, is due in a little less than a month. And all of this, has yet to be started.

Welcome to the life of the average procrastinator.

According to Mindtools, procrastination is the process of “putting things off that you should be focusing on right now, usually in favor of doing something that is more enjoyable or that you’re more comfortable doing.” It happens to most of us to some degree, but for some it can be very disruptive. 

Kadin Dever, a student at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, is a prime example of the average procrastinator. “I always tell myself that I’m going to get my homework done ahead of time. But then the due date is here and I haven’t started any of it. I think it’s because I always find something I would rather be doing at the current moment and keep telling myself that I will have time ‘later’ to get it done. But then later is here. And it’s too late.” Kadin admits that he knows his procrastination is a major problem in his life but hasn’t done anything to change it.

According to Harvard professors Todd Rogers and Max Baserman, procrastination tends to revolve around our current self rather than our future self. “We have a tendency to care too much about our present selves and not enough about our future selves. We like to enjoy immediate benefits in the present, especially if the costs of our choices don’t become apparent until far in the future.”

Brandon Neuser, also a student at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, considers himself the king of procrastination. “I usually won’t start any of my homework or projects until the last possible second. It’s not that I don’t want to work on them, it’s just that something more interesting comes up anytime I say I’m going to work on my homework or projects.”  

There are, however, several ways to manage your procrastination habits. Mindtools says that the first step is to first identify why you procrastinate. Once you realize the reasoning behind it, you can begin to form habits that will help you get over your procrastinating ways. These habits include: identifying any unpleasant consequences of NOT doing the task; keeping a to do list so that you don’t forget your tasks or get disorganized; set yourself time-bound goals and even breaking the project in sets of smaller, more manageable tasks.

Cody Fisher, an intern at Schreiber Foods, thinks that procrastination does not only happen in school but as well as the workplace. “I’ve got so many projects to work on at my job, and a year ago, I would have definitely waited until the last second to do them. But I have really been trying hard to kick this habit, and have been making lists and deadlines for myself, well ahead of time in terms of when the project is due.” 

While procrastination can be an everyday occurrence for some, it is important to remember the preventative steps to take in order to break the habits. Following these steps will help you in managing the multiple tasks you may have and force you to not wait until the last minute to start working on that thirty page paper.