NOTICE
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PUTTING OFF UNTIL by Jacky Carter The art of procrastination TOMORROW
Julie Carey spends three hours a day avoiding anything that sounds like work. Cleaning. Job hunting. Doing homework. Carey, a Springfield, Mo., senior, says she thinks she has plenty of time to get everything done. Instead of completing her statistics assignment, she opts for sewing, reading or other activities she considers more enjoyable. "Usually even when I'm procrastinating, I'm still doing something productive," Carey says. "It's usually the lesser of two or more evils." But by the end of the night, Carey still has a long list of things to do. "I realize that if I want to get to bed at a decent time, I'd better get crackin."
College students are notorious for procrastinating, whether it's neglecting a paper to take a nap or blowing off
homework to clean the kitchen. But is it really that bad to put off a short answer response for English to catch up with your high school best friend? And in the long run, isn't it more valuable if you get a good night's sleep before a test than cram all that studying into an all-nighter?
Why it happens
Procrastination is a common habit. When Rita Emmett, author of The Procrastinator's Handbook, speaks to audiences, she finds that in large crowds of 200 people or more, fewer than nine people say they don't procrastinate. Emmet thinks statistics aren't available on procrastination because people don't necessarily think of themselves as procrastinators. Instead, people
A lack of organization also contributes to the problem, Domebeck says. "People also procrastinate because they aren't organized enough to know what they are responsible for in their lives," he says.
The reasons for avoiding tasks vary, but for the most part, procrastination is driven by anxiety or worry, says Mark Domebeck, psychologist with centersite.net, a Web site about behavioral health. The amount of work or lack of understanding about a problem or project leads people to think they can't handle the task.
who put something off say they just didn't have time for it.
Another reason for avoiding work is a lack of prioritization. "Partying is fun and all, but when a paper is due, you can party later. The consequence of not
partying is less negative than the consequence of not doing the paper,"Dombeck says.
How it happens
While text messaging, instant messaging and Web sites like MySpace and facebook.com help students keep in touch with friends, they also suck away time and energy from more productive activities. The single greatest factor preventing students from getting things done is instant messaging, says Jeff Davidson, author of 60-Second Procrastinator. "E-mail can take a few minutes to arrive in your inbox. IMs pop up instantaneously, like creepy ghosts in a fun house," he says.
Misconceptions
You may feel like your lack of
productivity is out of your control. But these experts agree that it's not in your genes. The most common misunderstanding is that procrastinators can't help it, says Rick Brenner, a teamwork and conflict consultant for ChacoCanyon.com in Boston. "Dealing with your problems is a choice," he says."The choice is to be somewhat unhappy now in exchange for being very happy later. It's pretty obvious to me which one works better. I like happy endings."
Good,bad or ugly
While procrastination, for the most part, is harmful, there are some exceptions. Procrastination can be good, says Rita Emmett. "Positive procrastination" is OK if something is broken or if dealing with the situation will cause
more harm than good, Emmett says. Her family has a rule that if an appliance breaks, they leave it alone for a day or two and usually it fixes itself.
Sometimes it's helpful to purposefully postpone things. Brenner refers to this as delay and deferment strategies. If you fill your car with gas and then go to a friend's house, your gas tank is no longer full. But do you need to refill it on your way home? Probably not. Brenner says you strategically delay refilling your car until you actually need the gas.
Another take is that it's not helpful to classify behavior as good or bad, says Margaret Paul, co-founder of the Inner Bonding healing process, a six-step program that addresses people's false fears and beliefs. A more-productive way of looking at it is whether behavior serves a person well or not. Procrastination is never in a person's best interest, Paul says.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/JARED GAE
Move past procrastination
Making lists can help students organize their lives. Jessica Lally, Olathe senior, stays on task by putting everything in her planner. She also prioritizes tasks to avoid stressing out. If she doesn't have time to clean her house for a couple days, she'll make sure to finish her homework so that she'll have time.
Paul says that for students to overcome procrastination, they need to realize that it's OK to fail. Procrastination often results from students fearing they can't do something, if they're afraid of failure, they'll delay starting something.
The next time you find yourself looking at your roommate's cousin's facebook. com profile or justifying watching an infomercial instead of writing a paper, reevaluate your homework habits. Planning your day or making lists are easy ways to organize your life. And by figuring out what you have to do and getting started, you'll end up with more time to do the things you enjoy.
Matt Ahrens, Des Peres,
Mo., sophomore, browses
facebook.com and chats
online instead of studying.
10.05.2006 JAYPLAY <07