Ways to overcome the three most common causes of procrastination

Procrastination is prevalent in the lives of most high school students. What do we spend our time doing? Many watch a streaming service, like Netflix or Hulu, or nap. A few clean their rooms or work on different tasks. We all know that we shouldn’t put off an essay until the day before it’s due or our homework until the lunch period before -- so why do we procrastinate?

According to Grade Power Learning, the causes are, “(1) Feeling overwhelmed (2)Too many distractions (3) Lack of motivation.”

If reason one, feeling overwhelmed, is the issue, it is suggested that the student breaks up the assignment into smaller tasks with a schedule. The smaller tasks will make it seem like a smaller project and the schedule will make sure the student finishes each task in a timely fashion.

When reason two--too many distractions--is the problem, it is time to relocate or adjust the surroundings. If the distraction is the phone, many suggest a student puts their phone out of reach and upside down and on silent. If it is out of reach, the student is more likely to not want to grab it. If it is upside down, the student will not see it light up with notifications, and if it’s on silent, they will not hear any notifications. An alternative is setting your phone out of sight. “Out of sight, out of mind” and the student will be able to focus. If it is too noisy, there are suggestions that students relocate to move away from the sounds.

The third cause of procrastination is very common. Lack of motivation effects all students. There are no concise solutions to this. One is that a student rewards him or herself after completing a task. Another is whenever given the chance, students should study what interests them. If someone is more interested in what they are doing, they are more likely to be motivated to do it.

The guidance counselor also have some advice on tackling the problem of procrastination.

Counselor Christina Miley said, “My biggest piece of advice is for students to start by doing one of the easier tasks from their list. Starting with something small can help provide the motivation to complete larger or more difficult tasks.”

Counselor Kalee Oberlin suggests, “I also believe in creating a routine. I think if you have a routine you are less likely to procrastinate, and having a routine also makes you feel more productive. It's kind of like an automatic jump start!”

Counselor April Nenadal said, “Eat the frog! Do your hardest task first to get it out of the way. Some say there is a link of this saying to Mark Twain who said something along the lines of: ‘if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a frog, it is almost certainly the worst thing you will do that day and it will be done!’”

Whatever solution, pick one and stick with it. Procrastination is bad, but there are ways to fix it.