Student Procrastination: The Killer of Time
KUALA LUMPUR: Procrastination is a disease that is as old as time. It eats away at our time, makes us push duties away for another moment, and prevents us from finishing anything on a timely schedule!
Currently as we stand in the most recent age of technology, it has introduced a plethora of distractions and coupled that with everything that is presented before us, people now find it hard to avoid procrastinating their work altogether.
In Malaysia alone, 67% of students admit to procrastinating, and one in ten students even state that they’ve faced serious procrastination when it comes to finishing their assignments and completing whatever is due on their schedule.
In interviews conducted with two university students who have mentioned that they’ve experienced procrastination in points of their studies, they provided us with their insights when it came to dealing with the time-killing disease we all despise.
Chua Jia Zhe, a 20-year-old student who is currently studying for Bachelor in Multimedia from Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology, shared his experience with procrastination and when he encountered it.
“I seldom procrastinate when it comes to completing my academic tasks. Usually when I procrastinate, it’s usually because I overestimate how much time is left in order to perform my task.
“Besides that, I think that students nowadays assume that they need to be in some sort of right timing, correct opportunity or the suitable mindset in order to work on the project, resulting in them starting late,” He said.
Attributing one of the causes to how students seek out the right timing or when they’re in the ‘zone’ to work on their projects, the student’s opinion regarding timing and mindset is a look into how procrastination works in the first place, and its root in our biology.
Similar to pulling your hand away from a flame, this very part of your body reacts the same way when you’re faced with an unpleasant task, urging you to put off what you are currently doing for tomorrow and bringing you temporary relief.
The unpleasant feeling we all come across is natural, and to overcome this, motivation is a force that comes into the mind of many, helping us push through the ordeal blocking our path.
“When I realize that I have a procrastinating situation going on, I will motivate myself by taking notes of what I’m supposed to do– I will break down my tasks into more specific steps– What are the sequences I have to do in order to complete my tasks,” He said.
For Nurifah Sallehuddin, a 20-year-old student from Diploma in Journalism at Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology, when faced with an ordeal of tasks, she motivates herself through creating a goal she can look forward to achieving.
Following this, she stated how instead of procrastinating and procrastinating the time she has whilst working on her due assignment, the feeling she gets after her work is done feels better than what she would’ve wasted.
“My suggestion is to ‘Sedar Diri’, which means being more self-aware and reminding yourself of your own responsibilities– You have to be truthful and admit that if you finish your work now, you’ll have more time to enjoy without having this feeling of stress, kind of guilt,” She said.
Nurifah added as suggestions to students who are currently facing a procrastination crisis in their studies, stating how by building this mindset, one will naturally be able to reduce the distractions in their lives.