The sun is shining, clothes are being shed and spring has finally arrived after a long winter. And though we’re used to having some down time between the “end” of winter and the conclusion of the semester, this year’s weather has forced us to wait around longer than usual.
The late seasonal transition has forced students to choose whether to spend their free time in the library finishing up semester-long projects or outside throwing a football with friends. Usually, the first weeks of good weather come earlier in the semester and don’t fight finals for students’ time, but this semester is a different story. It demonstrates the consequences of procrastination.
Procrastination is the act of carrying out more pleasurable tasks before taking on less pleasurable tasks, and it’s ingrained in the way college runs. Not only are students guilty, but some instructors have jumped on the bandwagon without recognizing it. Some experienced professors release assignments and projects closer to the deadline because they have realized no students will start early anyway. This thinking reduces the choices for students who like to get ahead of the game.
Some people say it’s impossible not to procrastinate because “life happens” and some people simply have a lot of other priorities, but, in terms of semester-long projects, that’s just an excuse.
Semester-long projects have a lot of different pieces that make up the finished project and require a lot of time to complete, but that’s why they are assigned at the beginning of the semester. Despite having an entire semester to complete the project, the majority of work is done in the last week before the deadline. One study showed that participation was five times higher in the last week before a deadline than the sum total of the preceding three weeks for which the exercises were available. Students seem to like to taunt the deadline and believe the pressure will produce a better result, but that’s not the case.
The correlation between procrastination and bad grades is apparent. A study by Case Western Reserve University found that procrastinators received lower grades than their counterparts. It also leads to more cases of academic misconduct such as plagiarism, copying and cheating during exams, according to a German panel study of several thousand university students. With all these undesirable outcomes, why is procrastination still so common?
The cold winter weather encourages students to stay indoors and is thus supposed to encourage schoolwork, but I’m starting to think students prefer to be inside during the warm spring. We’ve had a relatively brutal winter, which would make one believe students had a lot of free time due to the many snow days we endured. All that nasty weather created opportunities for us to work on projects so we could enjoy every moment of the spring weather. Unfortunately, I don’t believe most students used their snow days wisely, and despite opportunities earlier in the semester, the libraries are slammed yet again.
Earlier in the semester, you had a choice between working on that big project and watching the new season of House of Cards, but now you don’t have a choice. When you procrastinate and work near a deadline, you don’t give yourself the choice between work and play. The “choice” evaporates and is replaced by a “requirement” which produces lower-quality work because you know you want to be somewhere else. In reality, you have a choice between spending time outside with friends when it’s beautiful outside now and watching the new season of House of Cards when it’s crummy outside during the summer. I realize some people might pick the former, but I hope next year we all make the smart decision and procrastinate less so we can spend time outside during the warmer months.
