Procrastination creates stress
COMMENTARY
Jessica Sanders

You could finish your homework now, but it’s not due for another day. You deserve a break. Spend some quality time with the PlayStation 2. Sure, you should work on your paper this weekend, and you’ll start right after the “Saved by the Bell” marathon. You could read this article now. Or you could just wait until later.

That little voice whispering in your ear has a name: It’s called procrastination. It tells you time is on your side and that “later” is the best word in the English language. It’s the reason you have to stay up till the wee hours finishing a paper that’s due in the morning.

And you aren’t the only one who hears its siren song. According to the “Education Digest,” 79 percent of students surveyed said they will probably procrastinate on their next assignment. Well, at least they’re honest.

In fact, it’s not uncommon to hear students bragging about their amazing feats of procrastination. Somehow, writing a 10-page paper in three hours amounts to a red badge of courage in our student sub-culture.

Not all procrastinators do it for bragging rights. Some just take more classes than they can handle, work too many hours or are a bit over-involved in extracurricular activities. According to the same article, 47 percent of students begin brainstorming immediately for projects. However, other classes and distractions soon cause the brainstorm to blow over.

Regardless of the causes, students who practice procrastination can experience some unfortunate effects. According to an article in the “Chronicle of Higher Education,” students who procrastinate show higher rates of smoking, drinking, digestive ailments, insomnia and cold and flu symptoms.

But don’t get too stressed out. Procrastination is not an incurable disease.

(www.careerjournal.com) outlines some simple steps to get yourself in order:
• Remember how your mom wouldn’t let you eat dessert until you finished your lima beans? Well it turns out there may be something to that. Get the icky things, like tests and papers, out of the way, so you can get to the dessert of college life.

• Tests and papers can seem overwhelming, but if you put them off, you get an avalanche of work. Try breaking projects down into small steps that can be accomplished over a period of time.

• Recruit a friend or roommate, or both, to pester you to get the job done. They may have better things to do, but offer to buy them a soda. Or you could always return the favor and pester them back.

So here is your assignment. Overcome procrastination. And I don’t mean later.

Jessica Sanders is a senior news-editorial journalism major from San Antonio.