As students frantically write end-of-semester papers, prepare for finals and request last-minute extensions, some will be wishing they followed Benjamin Franklin’s famous advice: “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”
Procrastination has become a major personal challenge on the road to academic excellence, and while many students can admit they have a problem, few have been able to fix it.
“Every semester I say to myself, ‘This time I’m going to start off the semester right, stay on top of my work and not procrastinate.’ And every semester I end up slipping into my old ways,” said Dennis Rourke, a senior psychobiology major.
When he should be writing papers or studying, Rourke can normally be found watching a movie, talking on AOL Instant Messenger, partying, playing computer games or “anything other than what I should be doing.”
“It stops me from achieving my potential because I am concentrating on getting the work done… instead of taking time to see if it is done right,” said fellow procrastinator Sherie Pope, a junior majoring in creative writing and sociology.
But while Pope sees no point getting angry at herself for employing the delaying tactic, Rourke is more concerned about his disposition to leave things to the last minute.
“It bothers me immensely when I procrastinate,” said Rourke, the creator of the Facebook group Procrastinators Anonymous. “If I didn’t procrastinate in high school and college, I probably would have better grades… and I might have learned more or done more things.”
BU’s counseling center suggests different strategies to overcome the problem, such as scheduling breaks, establishing deadlines, relinquishing to non-perfection and having realistic expectations.
But Rourke’s experience tells him the beast is not so easy to tame.
“I have tried strategies like getting a planner, using a calendar and breaking the work up and doing a little bit every day, with mixed success, but I usually end up procrastinating,” he said.
BU philosophy professor John Arthur was unsure what proportion of students leave their work until the eleventh hour, but after 32 years of teaching, he knows it is a big problem.
“You don’t have time to revise and are tired when taking the exam,” he said. “If people are rushed it puts them under greater stress.”
Arthur also speculated that people retain less information for future classes if they cram rather than learn progressively throughout the semester.
While Arthur said procrastinating had many negative side effects, he admitted there might be an upside to time-wasting.
“I suppose if you get used to it, one of two things can happen. Either the stress can build up, or for others that are able to handle the stress it teaches them to work under pressure, which in the real world people have to do sometimes,” he said.
Most students said extracurricular activities, socializing and a lack of concentration and discipline were to blame for continually postponing their work.
But some were more inclined to make the education system the scapegoat, blaming professors who assign work easy enough to complete in one night.
“I’ve waited until the last minute to write 10-page papers, have pulled many all nighters and have still managed to get As, so the procrastinating is reinforced and I continue to do it,” Rourke said.