The plague of procrastination

At 6 p.m. sophomore CCPA major, Sarah Carpi started writing her French paper. By 11 p.m. she had watched “The O.C.”, caught up with friends on AIM, spent at least an hour on thefacebook and checked her email, but her computer screen was still blank.

The epidemic plaguing Sarah and many across the nation is procrastination. Procrastination is simply doing something while postponing what really needs to get done.

Everyone has procrastinated about something. Psychologist William Knaus believes about 90 percent of college students struggle with procrastination. The real problem arises when procrastination consistently takes priority over work. “I’ll study for my test after I watch my shows, play Snood and shop online.” Or “We can wait another few days to do laundry. Right now I need a nap followed by some serious video game time.” Halo 2 just came out, you know.

So why do we procrastinate? I think it’s technology’s fault. When most people sit down to work they are either at or near a computer. The computer alone houses many of the worst procrastination devices.

Computer games, browsing the Internet, AIM and thefacebook are just a few of the worst. Sophomore advertising major Kim Mabry, “hasn’t even started [her] project yet, but [she] is talking online right now.” On thefacebook or AIM, hours can pass without doing anything productive. Although I now know far too much information about all of my friends including when they shower, favorite song lyrics and what they are doing at this very moment.

Disconnect from the Internet you say. Well then I’ll just move on to spider solitaire, hearts and spades. Oh yes, there were ways to procrastinate before the Internet. You can waste the same amount of time and surprisingly learn less than you did while chatting with your friends.

Television does its part helping in the procrastination as well. University of Oklahoma student Jennifer Vickery says, ”There is always something on television I have to watch before I start studying. It’s my break.” For most of us these little breaks turn into hours of doing something other than work.

Of course technology alone doesn’t deserve all the blame. We are somewhat responsible for our lack of productivity. So how do you stop procrastinating and get the work done when there are so many distractions?

First disconnect from the Internet. It doesn’t eliminate all distractions, but it’s a start. I know this is hard. You feel disconnected, but it will help. If possible, move to the library or somewhere else quiet and distraction free. When you remove friends, Internet and television it’s amazing how much you get done. You have nothing left to do but start that paper or study for your test.

OK, so the library is too far away, or you are in your pajamas and don’t want to change. Jeff Herring, writer for Knight Ridder suggests eliminating procrastination by not letting it begin. When you get an assignment do it right away. He says, “write a note to yourself saying, ‘Do it now,’ and put it where you’ll see it often, such as on your mirror or above your desk.” He also suggests moving a deadline up a week so if you do procrastinate, it’s still finished early.

If none of this works for you, try bribing yourself. Study for an hour, and then you get to watch television. Or, when you finish a chapter, you get a nap. Chocolate always works for me. If I get my studying done, I get to eat cookie dough. Who cares about the calories or the fact that raw eggs can kill you? I finished my paper.

So come on guys, this is not some omnipotent force we have no control over. You can beat procrastination. You just must be motivated enough to take these steps and get the work done. Isn’t disconnecting the Internet for an hour and finishing your paper better than playing online until 2 a.m. then realizing your paper is still only half done?

Now I am not claiming to be procrastination-free. I have taken several “short breaks,” looked on thefacebook at least five times, talked on AIM and run to Starbucks while writing this. But procrastinating only puts more stress and exhaustion in our lives when we already have too much on our plates. If we could stop wasting time and get our work done, there would be more time to play, sleep and relax. Take author and businessman Roger Babson’s advice, “Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present.”

Maggie Johnson is a sophomore phsycology and CCPA major. She can be reached at [email protected].