Procrastination and college students are like salt and pepper: they go hand in hand.
Ask any student if he or she procrastinates and you’ll most likely hear “Sure, who doesn’t?” However, a new study from Carleton University in Canada suggests procrastination is not only bad for morale, but may have unfavorable health effects.
Dr. Tim Pychyl, who led the study, observed the health of doctoral students who led active and busy lives, defining procrastination as “not getting on with life and with personal goals.”
Pychyl differentiated between positive procrastination, or “sagacious delay,” such as waiting until more research is gathered for a paper, and negative procrastination due to laziness.
For students looking to keep themselves from procrastinating, Pychyl suggests breaking large jobs down into smaller steps and to make a clear commitment to a period of nonstop work, like 30 minutes.
Additionally, Fuschia Sirois, a graduate student doing research for the Carleton project, said an individual’s academic and personal well-being are interrelated.
“If you put off taking care of your health because you are trying to get caught up on your academic work, your health suffers, your work suffers and it turns into a negative loop,” she said.
Students guilty of procrastinating can be found at any university, and they said their reasons for doing so can be endless.
“I procrastinate because I do my best work under pressure. I also think everyone procrastinates to a certain degree,” said College of Communication freshman Lauren Rich.
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Mike O’Neil said time constraints and a busy schedule also contribute to his procrastination.
“Sometimes I just want time for myself. Otherwise, I’d be doing work all the time,” he said.
On the other hand, College of Engineering sophomore Kevin Hemmer said he recognizes the consequences that can result from putting off his studies.
“I try not to procrastinate too much, because then the work just piles up. And when the work piles up I get stressed thinking about it all the time,” he said. “The thing that stops me from procrastinating is mainly the desire to avoid as much stress as possible, though I’ve never gotten stressed to the point where I feel sick because of it.”
For assistance close to campus, the BU Student Resource Center offers workshops such as “Juggle Your Time,” which coaches students in time and work management.
Susanna Tam of the Student Resource Center said procrastination can not only affect students’ health, but can affect the financial aid they receive from the university due to their poor classroom performance.
“From my own experience, I don’t think it’s possible to procrastinate and still be able to get all your work done,” Tam said. “And because of that, students’ grades drop, and the long term effect is that they end up having to leave BU.”