Fight The Procrastination

Procrastination is a complicated issue because even though it is evidently damaging to many people in our world, it is an addiction that many cannot put a stop to. While procrastination can give you instant gratification by delays, when the time arrives, all the built stress which had been put aside with countless excuses, is mind-blowing. Day after day, the time which can easily be used to do something, gone to waste because of procrastination. This is a continuous cycle which lacks hard work or determination. Don’t you think the overwhelming stress and pain in the end outweighs the small-term satisfaction?

Days will pass by, procrastinating each day by filling your day up with excuses. Deep down, you know you can do it with the time you have, but the stress and discomfort you have when you sit down just makes you feel… bad. So, you pass the time you have with all sorts of things you like to do so you can push away that feeling. For example, in the article by Tim Urban, “Why Procrastinators Procrastinate” said, “In college, the sudden unbridled personal freedom was a disaster for me… I would do those the night before, until I realized I could just do them through the night, and I did that until I realized I could actually start them in the early morning on the day they were due” said the author. The more time you have, the more you overestimate it. Somehow, the math in your brain tells you that the hours you need to finish your homework can be done on the last few minutes before you go to bed. That time you have slowly fades away since you are using it to waste. Especially in this article called “Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go?” by Timothy Pychyl, one sentence especially captured what I want to say. “Feel good now, worry about that intention later. Short-term gain, long-term pain.” Put all the negative emotions aside, have fun for a short while, and it comes back, worse. So why? If you have time, use it, or else it will result in enormous servings of anxiety.

Another reason why I think procrastination is damaging, is that the pain and stress when the time is the time is up, outweighs the small-term satisfaction during procrastination. Procrastination isn’t ‘caused’ by anything. You decide. The small-term relief of stress doesn’t even come close to being worth the wave of pain in that slim amount of time. An example of this would be from the article, “The Balloon” written by Marky Nemko, which states, “Tony’s procrastinating ways finally caught up with him. He had been smart enough to be able to slide by at work but, at 40, senior-citizenhood for programmers, his procrastination combined with not keeping up with the latest languages and the slight decrements to his brainpower--noticeable only in such cognitively demanding fields as programming--got him "laid off.” This means procrastination really can affect your health, career, and your future. Right now, procrastination only applies to your homework, but in reality, this is proof of how procrastination can really mess up lives. “Lives can be ruined by procrastination. Certain kinds of procrastination have severely negative consequences if we don't take care of the tasks now. Dr. Bruce Liese mentions his concern for patients who procrastinate on coming to the doctor for fear of confirming that they really are sick.” says the article, “Negatives Consequences of Procrastination” written by Bill Anderson. Doesn’t this prove my point?

After all this, there is still more. Procrastination causes lack of hard work and determination. Even small procrastinations can demonstrate the laziness and how quickly you give up. Because of all this delaying, it’s a hurry to finish at the last minute. From the same article written by Bill Anderson, it stated this, “Dr. Bruce Liese explores this question and gives some insight into some of the causes and effects of procrastination. He says that any kind of procrastination is essentially delaying and thus avoiding our obligations. However, many people "get away" with procrastination time and time again, causing a perpetual cycle that reinforces a lack of discipline.” What this shows and should prove to you, is the more you procrastinate, the more it becomes a habit in which you don’t bother and avoid the challenges you face. In BBC’s “Procrastination: Readers' Tales of Epic Time-wasting”, there was a story from Craig, Bedfordshire, “I bought a book called 52 Steps To Defeating Procrastination. I've still never read it - it was over 10 years ago, and I'm not even sure where it is now.” Funny right? Well, in reality there are more serious scenarios which harm many, in terms of perseverance and finding a solution to a problem. Would you like this to happen to you?

It isn’t easy to stop, but when it comes to fighting to procrastination, you need that hard work and determination. The sooner you learn to fight it the better, the built up stress overflows and will swarm you unless you use that time you have efficiently. Don’t make excuses, don’t delay, just do it. Personally, I was a hardcore procrastinator. No joke. I would have a bunch of homework and bail, and eventually stay up until midnight because I began so late. Because of the numerous incidents, I just remembered the stress and tiredness, so I work hard when I have homework. I even do some homework several days before it’s due! What you need to remember, is to live in the present. Do it now, and you will have a good rest. Sit down and don’t be distracted and start making excuses. Set a time to start and finish and see what you get done without any distractions. You’ll be surprised.

CITATIONS

Urban, Tim. "Why Procrastinators Procrastinate - Wait But Why." Wait But Why. N.p., 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.
Pychyl, Timothy. "Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go?"Psychology Today. N.p., 6 Sept. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016. ”Procrastination: Readers' Tales of Epic Time-wasting - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., 30 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Nemko, Marty. "The Balloon." Psychology Today. N.p., 11 Mar. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Anderson, Bill, Matthew Long-Middleton, and Sydney Llewellyn. "The Negative Consequences Of Procrastination." The Negative Consequences Of Procrastination. N.p., 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

Writing Over Typing

Have you ever thought about how the human race is slowly but surely, losing the skill of writing? Or that the distractions that a computer holds are sometimes irresistible, therefore decreasing the efficiency of the work that we do? Or that you could irreversibly lose IQ points because of these distractions? Well these are all proven facts, and the horrible truth is that this could have a major effect on how the future generations can read, and how knowledgeable they turn out to be.

Writing helps stimulate the human brain in many ways, that typing and using computers to complete simple tasks simply don’t. Scientists believe that with writing becoming less and less popular with the human race, the ability of future generations can possibly be hindered, according to Anne Chemin. In this same article, ‘Handwriting vs typing: is the pen still mightier than the keyboard’, she wrote that in the June of 2014, a British survey of 2000 people went out, and 1 out of every 3 people who responded, said that they had not written anything by hand in the past six months. On top of that, she says, “Cursive writing – in which the pen is not raised between each character – has been dropped from the Common Core Curriculum Standards, shared by all states.” Additionally, writing notes by hand has been proven to help further improve your understanding on the topic at hand. This is because writing works your brain more, as it’s slower to write, allowing the information to get to your brain, whereas when you type, you type fast, and this is merely putting words with no meaning onto the screen.

Using laptops also hold the risk of getting distracted, and can offer much more temptation to multitask, which, according Larry Kim, is very unhealthy for us, as our brains are designed to focus on one thing at a time, which unfortunately means that multitasking lowers the quality of your work and your efficiency. It also leaves you mentally exhausted, because of the stress hormone, cortisol, that is being released. Humans have a naturally occurring tendency to take shortcuts, which is, as stated, scientifically proven to be very deleterious to our brains. Furthermore, using laptops to simply take notes during class, or whilst watching a video can obstruct your ability to learn the very possibly important things that you are being taught. Personally, I feel this as I am very tempted to take notes on my laptop, but I find that when I take notes in a notebook or on a piece of paper, I can remember more of what is being taught.

Along with distractions, focus problems, and the lack of brain stimulus, eye problems and loss of IQ points are also some problems associated with doing a lot of digital work. It is a proven fact that grown men can lose 15 IQ points from multitasking, and this can bring their brain level down to that of an eight-year-old. These changes can sometimes be irreversible. Moreover, two common eye problems, computer vision syndrome and digital eye strain, are both caused by your eyes not getting enough movement, as all the major movement can happen with the swipe of two fingers on the trackpad, which doesn’t stimulate your brain to move your eyes, whereas when you read books, and write on larger pieces of paper, your eyes have to move more, to see what you are doing or where you are reading. “According to a 2015 survey by The Vision Council, 65 percent of American adults reported having symptoms of digital eye strain.” Over time, with the use of laptops and electronic devices increasing, the amount of people with the computer vision syndrome and digital eye strain has also increased. (Heiting, 2016)

As well as having all these unhealthy and distracting components, computers and electronic handhelds can also provide a whole selection of helpful and useful elements, such as the wonderful google, quick communications, and a quick way to do just about anything. They also save your expenses on paper and pencils, with various choices of online unlimited storage, hard drive storage, going to save the planet.

All in all, I feel as though computers should not be a crutch for students to lean on to do their homework, but instead a learning tool for them to use for small things.

- "Multitasking Is Killing Your Brain." Observer. N.p., 02 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

- Chemin, Anne. "Handwriting vs Typing: Is the Pen Still Mightier than the Keyboard?" The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web.

- "4 Benefits of Handwriting Notes Vs. Typing on Laptops - Zebra Pen." Zebra Pen. N.p., 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

- "Computer Vision Syndrome and Digital Eye Strain." All About Vision. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.