How Can Students Stop Procrastinating?

Dealing with The Problem of Student Procrastination

Although there are many behaviors that can make one less successful as a student, they range in seriousness. Skipping class or plagiarizing, for example, are behaviors that indicate a disregard for the educational process, and can hugely affect a student's educational outcomes in a class and perhaps even his or her whole future. Other behaviors, although they are not engaged in with malicious intent or disregard for education, can be damaging as well. One of these is procrastination, and this is a behavior that I myself find that I engage in again and again. Although I have the utmost respect for my professors and am even excited about writing my assignments and completing them, I find that I often do not begin in a timely fashion. I'm constantly struggling to meet a deadline, and this sometimes causes the work to not be the best I could make it.

I began the process of writing this paper by determining why this problem exists, and it seems to me to relate not to my disinterest in assignments, but to my interest in such a wide variety of other things. I am often distracted by new opportunities, whether they involve spending time with friends, trying out something new, or even learning something (which never seems to relate to what I am supposed to be doing for class!) I believe this behavior also stems from the fact that, as a child, I routinely put off my work and was able to receive very high marks regardless. This habit was ingrained partially because I was not challenged in my early years of school.

If I were able to change this behavior, I would be about to earn higher marks for my work, but perhaps even more importantly, I would be working to my full potential. I know that my work can be better if I devote more time to it, which would at least give me the option of going the extra mile and doing more than the minimum on assignments--something I often want to do, but do not have time due to my procrastination.

My program to fix this problem involves positive reinforcement: I will reward myself with eating takeout from my favorite places when I have stuck to the schedule of my assignments for the last week. I also plan to put into place a punishment aspect, which will be negative. If I have an assignment that is on the schedule, but that I have not begun (or met deadlines on), I will punish myself by taking away the opportunity to go out with friends, hopefully forcing me to complete the assignment. Between these two conditioning mechanisms, I hope that my plan will be successful in bringing procrastinatory behavior to extinction. Because my positive reinforcement aspect involves the eating of food I like, my hope is that it will function as a primary reinforcer. The secondary reinforcer of positive feedback from professors will, I hope, be helpful as well.

I will begin my program by creating a schedule for myself each week, and check on my progress daily to give myself the option of the food I want and/or to take away plans with friends as needed. My short term objective for changing the behavior will be to minimize procrastination in my current classes, and long term I hope to get through an entire term of school without rushing through a significant assignment. These changes will, I hope, lead to a better school experience both in terms of marks and in terms of how fulfilling and lasting my learning is. I want to have deep understanding of the topics I learn about, and stopping procrastination is the first step I must take.