It hits us when we least expect it. When we do not want to get back into the swing of constant assignments, essays, and studying for tests. Procrastination lives in all of us, no matter how small or large, and it becomes a problem.  Sometimes it can deter us from investing effort and time to produce a good result of our knowledge and understanding of things.

Procrastination is the process of delaying or postponing something until the last minute, or until past the deadline. It is easy to slip into the habit of procrastinating assignments and work. You tell yourself you will do it in an hour, and one hour turns into two, and two into four, and suddenly it has been days since you promised yourself to start an assignment or paper. 

Procrastination can happen due to the feeling of becoming overwhelmed, lack of interest in the subject, everyday distractions such as devices and friends and family, or simply not having enough time to dedicate to sit down and complete tasks or assignments.

What a lot of people do not know is that there are two types of procrastination. Active procrastination is when someone purposefully delays the action or task because they find that the results and products are better than when they moderately work on something throughout the allotted time frame. Passive procrastination is the feeling of being paralyzed or unable to complete a task on time, especially within a certain time frame. It can leave you anxiety ridden and guilty trying to convince yourself to be productive and complete the to-do list of the week.

Procrastination can be both a good and bad thing. For some people, procrastination is a healthy factor which gives people adequate time to think about the task needing to be completed before actually sitting down and doing it. Others may procrastinate constantly, which can impede their ability to produce quality work.

People who procrastinate are more likely to have health issues related to stress, overworking, insomnia, muscle tension and pain. This process can also make you feel negative feelings towards yourself or others. Procrastination can make you feel guilty and beat yourself up over something you dread doing, while being anxious and paralyzed before you even start your tasks.

Active procrastination is healthier than passive procrastination. It can help regulate how you use your free time and help grow academic performance and the courage and belief in the ability to complete assignments or tasks related to school or work. The time you spend procrastinating helps clear your head, while also giving plenty of time to plan and develop new ideas pertaining to your tasks. This can also help you redirect your focus onto other things that need to be completed around your living area. The process of completing smaller, easier tasks around the space you exist in can also help you motivate yourself into starting more time consuming, and energy draining tasks and actions.

Here are a few friendly tips that may help reduce or eliminate the possibility of procrastination. Reducing the number of decisions you need to make within a day can help alleviate stress and anxiety. Additionally, making these decisions earlier in the day helps give you a reasonable amount of time to do each task without rush. This can also help you eliminate the amount of time you need to spend making up your mind, while also preventing negative feelings such as anxiety and guilt from developing.

Making a to-do list is also helpful. It may be overwhelming to list all the tasks needed to be done within a day or week, but once you sit down and categorize them from high to low priority, you can separate times to complete them. Lower energy and quick tasks may be a lot, but once you start completing them you realize that they may not take up more than a few minutes at a time. This can also help you itemize the tasks needed to be done within the day, or within several days or weeks.

Whatever you do not complete within a day and what you still have on your list to complete, you can pick up where you left off. Continuing to do tasks from the day before helps to keep priority and not let tasks and assignments build up until you suddenly remember to complete them right before the deadline.

Give yourself reasonable time frames in order to complete things. Do not start your assignment the day it is due. Map out your schedule to find out when you have free time, and dedicate certain hours to complete an assignment through sessions of planning, writing, editing, and final revisions over the time frame. This can help you feel less stressed, as well as helping provide easy allotted time frames to complete tasks and assignments.

If you continue to have issues with procrastination that impedes your ability to function within day to day life, you may want to consult a professional or a counselor at Tarleton through the Tarleton Student Counseling Services and make an appointment to talk with a professional who can help you.

For more information, visit psychcentral.com/health/good-and-bad-things-about-procrastination#whats-next or  www.boisestate.edu/coen-mbe/2021/04/20/5-ways-to-stop-procrastinating/.