[JSR] End Procrastination Today!

Rather than procrastinating, one can finish all their work or homework, which leaves them free to do other activities without stress. [Source: Author, Stephen Kim]

As of July 3, it has been exactly 110 days since the last school closure in California. Many students and adults have found ways to cope with their current quarantined situation, but even now, many others still have a hard time staying motivated and finishing their tasks. Some days students and adults may feel weary, other days, monotonous, binging on Youtube videos and TV shows. However, despite watching the exciting new season on Netflix, people still have guilt and anxiety in the back of their minds because of a task they are putting aside. For students in high school, there is also an uneasy feeling of doing something more to boost their college applications; yet many choose to procrastinate rather than volunteer because they have “too much homework” (of course from procrastinating). Many live oppressed and enslaved by this stress everyday, however, there's a way to end this feeling starting today; to be exact, a way to end procrastination in your very room by tonight.

Stephen Kim, Grade 9 West Ranch High School

Before getting started on a task, the most common mistake among students and adults is looking for short term motivation. Examples of this can be looking up motivational videos online, texting friends “study updates”, questioning and contemplating the purpose of studying, and doing extracurricular activities instead of starting the tasks. The reason why one shouldn’t look for motivation is because motivation is a fleeting emotion, which means it will disappear after a short period of time. Rather than seeking out motivation, the best way that has been proven throughout time is using a study system. Because students and adults are both human, they are vulnerable to temptations and procrastination, one group more than the other. But for students and adults alike, there is a way to end procrastination using a study system. One of the most common systems is known as the pomodoro technique, which was developed in the late 1980s and consists of four twenty-five minute study sessions with a five minute rest at the end of session. Once you go through four sessions with breaks, take a fifteen to thirty minute rest. Once this is done, you have completed one full pomodoro cycle.

It is crucial for everyone to end their procrastination to today, because procrastination not only brings your grades, trust, self esteem, relationships, and reputation down, but according to a psychological scientist, Fuschia Sirois of Bishop’s University in Quebec, it also takes a toll on your health. Her studies showed headaches, digestive issues, colds and flus, insomnia, and even hypertension or cardiovascular disease can be caused by procrastination. This is why it is important to end this bad habit today.

Many who are reading this right now, have probably tried to stop procrastination one way or the other before. However, today is your last deadline. By midnight tonight, you should end procrastination by following and customizing a study system and quit looking for motivation. If one is looking for the purpose of studying, it is simple: so that a person can carve their own path. It is important to not just look into the future but also look in the present. As one would put it, “One day or day one. You decide.