putting it all together (jones)

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Tatijana Jones

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND PROCRASTINATION

INTRODUCTION

Procrastination is a familiar enemy to many university students, lurking in the shadows and sabotaging their academic success. It's a problem that can affect students from all walks of life, regardless of their background, major, or study habits. Despite knowing the consequences of procrastinating, such as missed deadlines, poor grades, and increased stress, students often put off assignments until the last minute. But why do they procrastinate in the first place? The answer lies in a complex mix of factors. To start with, the mounting stress of academic expectations can be overwhelming. Many students feel pressure to succeed, whether to maintain a scholarship, please their parents, or prove their worth. This pressure can lead to anxiety and self-doubt, making it difficult to focus on the task. Students may turn to procrastination as a coping mechanism, avoiding the source of their stress and delaying the inevitable. Secondly, a lack of motivation can also contribute to procrastination. If students feel they need to be more invested in the assignment or see little value in it, they may be able to find the necessary energy and enthusiasm to start working on it (Wu & He, 2022). Instead, they may distract themselves with social media, video games, or other forms of entertainment. Finally, difficulty managing time effectively is another common cause of procrastination. University students often juggle multiple commitments, from classes to extracurricular activities to part-time jobs. Balancing these competing demands can be challenging, especially when deadlines loom large (Pinke, Pawera, & Karlík, 2021). Without a clear plan for prioritizing and completing tasks, students may fall into the trap of procrastination. This paper illustrates that a complex mix of factors, including academic stress, lack of motivation, and difficulty managing time effectively, cause procrastination among university students.

References

Pinke, L., Pawera, R., & Karlík, O. (2021). Time Management and Procrastination. In  Developments in Information & Knowledge Management for Business Applications: Volume 3 (pp. 649-730). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Wu, W., & He, Q. (2022). The roles of moral disengagement and learned helplessness towards international postgraduate students’ academic procrastination.  Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 1085-1104.