Why do Students Procrastinate?

Why do Students Procrastinate? Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing an important task. Procrastination can negatively affect a studentr's ability to successfully accomplish coursework. Though personality may cause procrastination in some students, overall, research shows that there are a few main reasons why so many students tend to procrastinate. Fear of failure, feeling overwhelmed due to the task at hand, and distraction are three main reasons why students may procrastinate (site). Fear of failure is an issue that affects students of all ages. This type of fear is initiated within students who make small mistakes that cause them to fall short of their goal. This specific idea contributes to the causes of procrastination. As students become unhappy with small mistakes made on quizzes or tests, they may tend to put studying for the subsequent quizzes or tests aside in fear of facing the feeling of themselves failing again. Fear of failure is known as the largest base of procrastination as it can sabotage a studentr's desire to move forward with a task at hand (site). Accepting a poor grade and moving past the setback is the first step to dealing with the fear of failure. Secondly, developing a plan to study instead of procrastinating is a better solution to dealing with the fear of failure. Feeling ready and prepared for an upcoming task offers an opportunity of success and goal accomplishment (mindtools). Procrastination due to fear of failure can lead to further failure and a sense of feeling overwhelmed. Students may also procrastinate because the task at hand seems overwhelming. When faced with a large task, it becomes easy to feel discouraged by the amount of work to be completed. This feeling of discouragement may cause a student to not know where to begin and cause a sense of wanting instant gratification by choosing to spend time doing something more interesting and fun than the task at hand (Mindtools). Instead of procrastinating, students could find a starting point to begin the task followed by listing out additional steps to complete the task. In doing this, the student is able to break down the large task, that once seemed overwhelming, into smaller components. Students will undergo that will eventually lead up to completing the greater task (site). Goals become easier to attain when they are broken down into smaller parts. Feeling less overwhelmed by the task at hand will combat procrastinating the task in the first place. The third main reason for students procrastinating is distraction (site). Often students will have busy lives or other commitments that take away from their school work. Finding a balance is helpful in defeating the need to procrastinate projects that are essential for successful completion of courses. Thinking ahead and making a weekly schedule is important to finding this balance. As stated prior, students may prefer taking their mind off the task at hand with scrolling through social media websites, going shopping, or anything that the student may find more fun or more instantly gratifying compared to the task at hand. Completing the task at hand and rewarding themselves with these engagements is a great way to defeat procrastination in this area (site). There are several components that cause students to procrastinate. Researchers have found there to be three main reasons to procrastinating. Identifying the main reasons why a student is procrastinating will assist with initiating steps to create a plan to accomplishing the task at hand. Completing the task at hand in a timely manor will offer a better opportunity to successful completion of each course.

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