Procrastination is the enemy of academic success
At the A+ Club, we work with students to overcome the urge to delay by implementing specific strategies for overcoming procrastination.
Our working definition of procrastination is "any delay that causes harm."
If the delay causes no harm, that's called "prioritization." However, if there is harm in the delay, such as missed or lower quality work, last-minute stress, or arguing with parents and teachers, etc., that's called "procrastination."
Procrastination is self-harm:
Why, then, would we choose to harm ourselves?
We don't: procrastination is not a rational choice.
(Not "lazy"!)
What is procrastination?
- Procrastination is an emotional response to anxiety.
- Procrastination anxiety is caused by task aversion (not wanting to do something unpleasant).
- In order to relieve the stress, the procrastinator delays or defers the aversive task and does something more enjoyable instead ("mood repair").
- While procrastinators are motivated by deadlines, the stress of the procrastination never goes away (low-burn anxiety until last-minute build-up of stress).
The Procrastination Cycle
Procrastination is the enemy of academic success
So let's get rid of words and excuses like "lazy," "don't care," or "don't want to" and work instead on getting in control of workflow and academics.
Please learn more on our Student Success Blog or by setting up a Stop Procrastination Now! webinar.