PROCRASTINATION

LEO O’D,

The school is in the grip of a vile plague; its name is Procrastination, and it’s catching. Put it off, put it down, put it out of mind, hide it away, hide away from it, or simply delay, delay, delay until you are late and remind yourself to do better next time. Rinse and repeat. A sad, inescapable truth is that tasks do not perform themselves. Another regrettable fact: the editor of this issue received this article at 9:30PM on the day it was due, a number I was initially quite proud of.

By now it’s become clear to me that my time management skills are well-adapted- nay, dedicated- to overcoming the obstacles that my habit of avoiding, rather than confronting, an issue creates. Yet still, I haven’t learned. I recognise procrastination in myself and others, and I put off doing anything about it. This is the inescapable dilemma that a truly committed procrastinator creates for themselves.But where can I find these lucky few that don’t procrastinate? Do they exist? Do I have to find them right now? I’ll do that later. Until then, I’ll find my fellow sufferers. An unnamed year 12 student described the habit as “pretty ruinous, to be honest”; another simply replied “nah, later,” when asked for a quote. Finally, I approached those who I thought would be beyond procrastinating, but it transpired that they too were susceptible to the habit’s wiles. It seems as though this affliction has the entire student population firmly in its grasp.

But why? Esteemed behavioural psychology journal www.njlifehacks.com claims that “procrastination is

always the same story”; while we may sincerely want to do something unpleasant but ultimately rewarding, we feel unpleasant while thinking about such a task, and thus seek relief from the unpleasant feeling with other, less productive activities. I also came across some terrifying literature on a renowned online collaborative encyclopaedia which explained chronic procrastination, where putting tasks off becomes a “generalised habitual selfdestructive pattern”. The reason for this may be that the habit of completing tasks was not learned from the procrastinator’s parents in childhood, which upon reflection is a convenient excuse when my mum demands to know why I’m three months behind on my EPQ. At worst, procrastination can be a cause of shame and a contributor to low self-esteem, and occasionally a symptom of serious illnesses such as depression or ADD. This does not necessarily mean, however, that such illnesses are always the cause; one thing many procrastinators have in common is that, growing up, they were intelligent enough to be able to get away This trait seems prevalent among my peers. Luckily, however, the internet has the answer; like a destructive addiction or owning a Segway, the first step on a sufferer’s journey to overcoming procrastination is recognising it as a problem. Second comes finding out why they persist with such behaviour; it may be a fear of failure or a love of Minesweeper, but the recovering procrastinator must work out their individual reason for procrastinating. Finally, the procrastinator must go against their every instinct and act to develop solutions, either by forgiving themselves for past mistakes, or promising themselves a post-essay Twix.

After much last-minute research and a harrowing glimpse into the recesses of my psyche, I have concluded that it is difficult, but not impossible, to remedy this school-wide epidemic of habitual procrastination. Finally, after much deliberation, I asked myself: will I implement these solutions into my own routine? Definitely, I decided, but not right now.