PROCRASTINATION: A Silent Killer of Students’ Effectiveness

by VICTORIA ADEUSI 

“You may delay, but time will not.” – Benjamin Franklin 

Procrastination is a common factor that is known among students in fact many students are aware of their procrastination level yet they can’t stop procrastinating consistently. 

There are several challenges for students in their academic journey. Procrastination is always seen as the least of these challenges, but it sabotages students’ effectiveness when it is empowered. Yes, procrastination could be empowered but when it is well understood, it can be overcome. Some things lead to procrastination: 

1. Unrealistic plan: as much as a plan is important and helps us maximize our time well, it is of no importance or could even lead to a problem when we set out unrealistic plans. You must remember two things when setting out your plans, i) you are human. ii) you have just 24 hours in a day. Unrealistic goals could frustrate you and cause you to spend your whole 24 hours achieving nothing. Remember, if you spend your day achieving one thing is better than spending your day trying to achieve two things. 

2. Fear of failure: One of the things students procrastinate most is assignments, and this happens most often because many assume they don’t know what to do or how to go about it. You might not always know much about your assignment, but there is always a starting point. We are afraid sometimes because we always focus on the end goal rather than the process. When you are more open to the process, you tend to launch into each task. 

3. Time Management: yes, if you don’t manage your time well, it could lead to procrastination. You shouldn’t spend your time focusing on too many tasks as a student, this could lead you to be overwhelmed which in turn causes procrastination. Inappropriate allocation of time is also mismanagement of time, you must know how to set your priorities and not spend time on irrelevant things leaving out the important tasks. If anything should be procrastinated at all, it should be your less important tasks. 

The list could be numerous and never ends but one thing is important, understanding the causes of procrastination and how to handle it. Procrastination is something that will always occur or beckon you at every point in time, if you yield to it, you empower it to endanger your effectiveness but if you master it, you maximize your potential and become effective. I will leave you to some quotes and let you consider the price of procrastination and the price of effectiveness and let’s see the one you will purchase. 

Christopher Parker said “procrastination is like a credit card; it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill’’. Like I said earlier, everything is a matter of choice, this choice determines what you get, so every result is still your choice. 

Roy Bennett said ‘’Don’t let procrastination take over your life. Be brave and take risks. Your life is happening right now’’. Remember, how you spend your time and day is how you spend your life, every time spent is a life spent.