Procrastination all too often a way of life for most university students
As they advance in their academic careers, students tend to choose procrastination as a way of life.

COMMENTARY
By Jeff Dennis

Procrastination.

That wonderful word so many of us live by. It makes us put off our work until the last possible moment. Often it leads many people to go crazy in the minutes just before a test as they realize they havenÕt studied enough. In fact, itÕs also the reason IÕm writing this article at 7 a.m. the morning itÕs due.

What is it that makes us put off our work for so long? In my case, part of the reason is that there is always something needing to be done no matter how far ahead I get on schoolwork. Therefore, it seems futile to do anything in advance.

ThereÕs a part of me that still thinks I should get my work done early. As a result, I sit around thinking about how I should be doing my schoolwork but still get absolutely nothing accomplished.

As a freshman, school was a much higher priority in life, and often I found myself doing schoolwork days in advance, and even checking over my work. That mindset is about as ancient as diapers are to me now. It is so much easier to put everything off until the last minute and wake up the morning something is due to finish it up. Working on a deadline can be quite addictive, and once youÕre hooked, itÕs certainly hard to work on something thatÕs not due in a matter of hours.

Procrastination does not exactly bring out the best in all of us. Time constraints cause us to forego certain proofreading procedures which could really make our work top of the line. However, after 3 years of college, it seems useless to put that much effort into a paper when you know you can easily pull off a B. By this time in your academic career, schoolwork runs together like chores that need to be done.

ItÕs not necessarily that the professors are less inspiring than they were during freshman year, but itÕs really hard to become excited about yet another research paper, or some sort of busy work they assign that wonÕt even be graded.

I realize I appear to be taking the easy way out by blaming teachers for my lack of motivation when the problem I speak of clearly points directly at myself.

Many upperclassmen would likely attest to the fact that things other than class work become more important as the years go by. We become involved in organizations and activities that help us to better define goals in our lives, so it might actually be a good thing that some work can be put off in order to pursue other interests. Nonetheless, many of us still have a lingering feeling that we should get our work done in a little more timely fashion, so the best advice I can give is to start today and put the best effort you can into your schoolwork.

On second thought, why donÕt you just wait until tomorrow?

Jeff Dennis is a senior sociology majo from Gail.