LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Active procrastination

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To all students who have a problem with procrastination, to those who have had grades ruined by hasty and quick jobs, to those who have lost sleep due to last minute all-nighters, to those who have increasing stress with deadlines being piled on:

I have taken it upon myself to learn to navigate the treacherous waters of procrastination, and to teach you all how to have better habits. Two months ago, I decided to investigate this topic about how to procrastinate correctly. After a couple days of intense research of the pros and cons of procrastination, I chose to live my project instead of write my project. Instead of bothering with outlines and drafts upon drafts, I put to use the skills I learned about in my research to properly be able to teach about procrastination credibly. Obviously, I did do some writing, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. But as it is with procrastination, I started this paper one day before its deadline.

The main difference I observed between stress-inducing procrastination and my relaxing version is the difference between passive and active. Passive procrastination is what most students use. This is when projects are put off so long that there is literally not enough time to complete them. This is what causes stress and what leads to a decrease in grades and mental health. Active procrastination is what should be taught. Projects are still procrastinated, but with slightly more time than a passive procrastinator would usually allot. During the time of putting off work, productive and/or fun activities are substituted into the schedule.

There are several reasons this procrastination works. The more time spent putting off the assignment is more time to subconsciously work through the problem. Even after you stop consciously thinking about what needs to be done, your mind will continue crunching the task. While your subconscious keeps working, you are free to do other activities that are productive like exercise, social activities, cleaning, and needed naps. These four are the activities that I found most effective in active procrastinating.

If students could be taught active versus passive procrastination, many problems like lowered grades, poorer mental health, and higher stress levels could be nearly eradicated. Active procrastination gives one the opportunity to have higher degrees of freedom to do activities they want to do, while having plenty of time to complete any due assignments.

Summer Hancey is a sophomore at Utah State University. A member of the Huntsman Scholars program and of the Honors college, she is studying accounting with a finance minor.