Your physics teacher told you to prepare for the exam next week. You say to yourself, “no problem, I have plenty of time.” First mistake. Jump to the night before, and you are stressed out, tired, and full of regret.  

All of us have done this at least once in our lives and been left with all the work we had promised ourselves we would do earlier. Procrastination happens to all of us, but it shouldn’t be mistaken for laziness. Procrastination can occur if you are stressed, fearful, or even a perfectionist. The question is, why do we continue to procrastinate?

Procrastination is a coping strategy, not straight laziness or failure to properly manage time. When something seems too stressful, the brain will choose short-term stability over future success. I asked Shannon Foy about her encounters with student procrastination, and she said, “From my perspective as a learning specialist, procrastination doesn’t mean students are lazy… It usually means they’re overwhelmed. The longer they delay, the more anxiety, shame, and late work pile up, which can quietly chip away at their confidence and make school feel harder than it really is.” Shannon's recognition of the stress students carry further emphasizes the struggle of procrastination, and how this produces a repetitive cycle in which shying away from work lowers confidence, making the task at hand even more alarming, which makes us avoid it again. 

Students here at Rowland Hall experience the effects of procrastination: “Procrastination has had a huge effect on my social and school life. From pushing things back for weeks and weeks to leaving things unattended to for months, procrastination has prevented me from attaining my goals and from catching back up. It can even feel like I’m drowning in work. And knowing it's all your fault makes it seem infinitely worse,” says Atticus Puttgen. This negative thinking of blaming yourself causes even more procrastination and self-imposed blame and stress.

Another student says that procrastination has had both pros and cons for him: “Procrastination has been a double-edged sword. On one hand, it causes an unnecessary amount of stress in my life that I could avoid if I did things sooner. On the other hand, it's improved the quality of my work because when I'm crunching, I usually flow my ideas and thoughts better.” This quote from Sammy Braga displays the idea that productive cramming, although not healthy, can sometimes work in your favor. 

How to escape? It's recommended to do things like planning out work, doing an assignment one piece at a time, and using methods like the pomodoro method, instead of  having faith in your abilities that have been shown to fail. But procrastinating itself isn't failure; it’s just a natural reaction to fear or stress, and once people start to understand how the cycle works, procrastination will be easier to avoid.