Written by Vanessa Szpurko

Procrastination. It’s a common topic of conversation (and cause of worry) around campus. But why does it happen?

“Procrastination is actually a fairly complex phenomenon. There are a lot of different reasons why students do it,“ said Maryann Kope, who works at the University of Guelph’s Learning Services Centre. “For some people, they haven’t quite figured out how to manage their time in a way that’s really effective for them and their program.”

Kope argues that the subject a person is studying can have a lot to do with how students approach homework.

“They may find that with the subjects they really like and enjoy, they don’t procrastinate…but with subjects that they find difficult, [or if] they don’t like the course, it’s harder to get motivated and to sit down and do the work,” said Kope.

Sunet Slabbert is a fine arts student at the U of G who admitted to being a frequent procrastinator and agreed that this was precisely the case.

“I procrastinate on everything except when it comes to art projects, “ she said. “They’re much more enjoyable than studying or doing essays.”

Contrary to popular belief, procrastination isn’t only a practice employed by the unmotivated. According to Kope, there is a solid correlation between procrastination and perfectionism.

“For [perfectionists], their self-esteem is often heavily invested in their academic performance. If they procrastinate on an assignment, and they do it at the last minute in a big rush…when they get it back and receive a B or a C they can think, ‘Well I could have gotten an A if I had put the time into it,’” said Kope. “It provides them with an emotional out that allows their self esteem to remain intact. For a lot of people, that’s a very subconscious, unintentional kind of behavior they’re not even aware of.”

Some students avoid a certain assignment or piece of work so strongly that they will classify other non-work related tasks as more important. Kope explained that this is a technique that many students use in order to make themselves feel productive when in reality they aren’t focusing on the truly important tasks they should be doing.

If a task is put off long enough, students will reach the point where they have no choice but to attempt to complete their work in a very short amount of time.

“Oftentimes, the amount of stress and panic that’s involved with trying to get through that task means that you’re never really realizing your own ability,” she said.

Some students might argue that they do some of their best work at the last minute, and thrive under the pressure that crunch time creates.

Mark Fenske, an assistant professor of psychology at the U of G and co-author of the soon-to-be-released book, The Winner’s Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success, explained that success isn’t about the speed work is done at, but the focus involved.

“You’re forced by the deadline to put everything else aside…which pushes you into becoming engaged with the material,” he said. “Once you’re engaged with the material, you see it’s not all that bad.”

So, how is it possible to achieve that level of focus without waiting until the eleventh-hour?

“Think about a task in concrete terms…break it down into its constituent parts. What exactly are the different elements that go into it?” said Fenske. “You can break those down into smaller, more manageable jobs. By laying it out in that way, research shows that you have a much higher success rate in terms of being able to do the task and not procrastinate.”

Kope emphasized that Learning Services (on the first floor of McLaughlin Library) has a number of ways to offer assistance to students, such as workshops, one-on-one consultations with peer helpers, and a website at www.learningservices.uoguelph.ca.

“Everyone, at some point, struggles with [procrastination and time management] at some point in their life,” she said. “And there are a lot of good resources here to help.”

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