The honeymoon is over. As UH enters the second half of the semester, many students are stuck in an academic nightmare with no chance of waking up. Procrastination has turned many intelligent students into idiots who hope they can get A’s on all their remaining work just to pass their classes.
The idea that schoolwork and studies must take over every minute of the day will backfire.’ People want immediate gratification found in less productive activities, because they offer forms of escape.
When students get caught in a mid-semester slump, they are typically advised to manage their time better. Those who give this advice have never felt the joy of watching several hours of reruns on television.’
This misleading advice causes over-planning, and only worsens the blow of procrastination. It sets off a vicious cycle of incomplete work and missed opportunities when students fail to complete their first assignments.
The only way to break free of this habit is to live in the present, but people shouldn’t only embrace immediate gratification. Instead, focus on the most important things and let go of the insignificant.
People should not waste their lives wondering about that which they have no control over, but should instead spend more time concentrating on what they can control: today, right now.
Students need to direct themselves along a set path, and they need to start now. They must take small steps in that direction, figure out what needs to be done and how, and then do it. It’s the only way to accomplish any goal.
According to Timothy Pychyl of Psychology Today, procrastination can be stopped in four steps: ‘1) Time travel: Counteract the irrationality of human nature and don’t wait to do what you have to do. 2) Don’t give in to feeling good. Short-term gain will translate into long-term pain. Just get started on what you have to do, and the negative emotions will fade away. 3) Reduce uncertainty and distractions. Planning is one thing; action is another. Turn off your television, close Facebook and make sure your mind is focused on your work. 4) Willpower. Believe you can do it. A negative attitude won’t help you.’
It might be too late in the semester to successfully exercise a complete revamp of bad grades, but it’s not too late to save yourself from having to retake a class or two.
Don’t put that homework assignment on a to-do list. Do it now.
