Bianca Insigne

Maria Karaan

Communication in English I

July 8, 2013

The Positive Effects of Procrastination

Procrastination: the act of delaying something that needs to be done until the very last minute.

This is something that all students are bound to experience at least once in their lifetime and is an act

looked down upon by parents, teachers, and even students themselves. From my experiences, there are

five causes to procrastination. There is poor memory, terrible time management skills, inability to

effectively prioritize, uncooperative group mates, and lastly (and probably worst of all) the

disappearance or inexistance of inspiration and motivation. Whatever the reason for putting important

things off until the last minute, it seems obvious that procrastination is simply bad because it can result

in immense load of stress, sleep deprivation, guilt, and unsatisfaction. It can be detrimental to a

student's physical, mental, and emotional health and does not reflect a one's positive qualities. Clearly

it must be avoided at all costs.

Or should it?

Procrastination can have positive effects. In reality, it builds character by teaching the value of

time and time management, giving students motivation, preparing them for the workforce, and enabling

one to form strong bonds with other classmates.

When a student is battling sleep at two in the morning typing a paper, he or she will realize that

time must not be taken for granted. It should be spent wisely. Those late nights spent cramming every

single detail about the organelles in an animal cell into your brain will teach you that two hours should

not have been spent scrolling through your newsfeed on Facebook. Making a powerpoint on the

morning of your presentation will make it clear to you that half an hour should've been spent for this,

instead of coordinating your outfit. In this way procrastination will make you understand how much

time should be alotted for different tasks and how valuable time truly is.

Next, procrastination serves as a concrete motivator for students. When a student is answering

an activity sheet in a relaxed environment, there is no pressure to get the task done right away, as

opposed to when the teacher has just entered the classroom. An environment with time pressure will

push students to work harder and faster because a higher expectation must be met: there is an

assignment that needs to be accomplished within a tight timeframe.

Procrastination will expose students to alternative working conditions, preparing them for the

world beyond school wherein difficult tasks may need to be done in a limited amount of time. It also

prepares one to be able to work with others. Students will develop communication skills, specifically in

group work, wherein they need to effectively exchange and organize their plans and ideas. Cooperation

and collaboration are also practiced through procrastination. This act gives students a venue to

excersise being calm while coordinating with others to achieve one common goal. Aside from this,

students' creativity will also be enriched for the reason that they will be forced to find alternative plans

that fit their restricted timeframe. Furthermore, it builds maturity for students: they will learn to be

accountable for whatever the consequences they may face individually, or as a group.

Although it can be a stressful experience, procrastination can actually make academic life more

fun and entertaining. It is a topic that many if not all sudents can relate to, a platform for sharing

hilarious anecdotes. Memories are made with classmates, and stories that will be fondly looked back on

and laughed about are born. Friends can bond during those wee hours of the morning when they are

constructing a scale model of the Great Wall of China, both experiencing an unforgettable part of

school life.

Lastly, procrastination can be fulfilling. You'll never forget that estatic feeling of the burden

being lifted from your shoulders when you finally finished that essay. Once you're done with that

project and submit it on time, you'll be overcome with wonderful and relieved emotion. Nothing can

quite compare the sweet victory of pulling off an “all-nighter”.

value time

work under pressure

learn the importance of organization

builds character

stories to share

1. what is procrastination? Why do students do this and what can it do? Is it all bad

2. Time value – realize something taken for granted

3. pressure as a motivator – no push if in a relaxed environment

4. stories to share – bonding with other students who can relate, make classmates' life more amuse,

entertain others

5. recap – procrastina

Bianca Insigne

Maria Karaan

Communication in English I

July 8, 2013

The Positive Effects of Procrastination

Procrastination: the act of delaying something that needs to be done until the very last minute.

This is something that all students are bound to experience at least once in their lifetime and is an act

looked down upon by parents, teachers, and even students themselves. From my experiences, there are

five causes to procrastination. First, there is poor memory. There are just some times when one will

completely forget about an assignment, and only remember it the day before the deadline. The second

cause is terrible time management skills. An example would be when half an an hour is spent making a

to-do list, and only a measely fifteen minutes are alotted for studying for a major test the next day.

Basically a student will spend too much time on trivial tasks, instead of the more important one at hand.

Third, we have something closely related: inability to effectively prioritize. Students who fall under

this category don't know which things to put first and end up giving more value to what can really be

done later. Fourth we have uncooperative group mates, a completely undesriable fate we never want to

experience when projects must be done with classmates. You want to get started, but not alone, so you

don't start at all; that is, until the deadline is dreadfully near. Lastly we have my most hated cause: the

disappearance or inexistance of inspiration and or motivation. This basically speaks for itself.

Whatever the reason, for putting important things off until the last minute, it seems clear that

procrastination is simply bad because it can result in immense loads of stress, sleep deprivation, guilt,

and unsatisfaction. It can be detrimental to a student's physical, mental, and emotional health. Clearly

it must be avoided at all costs.

Or should it?

Procrastination can have positive effects. In reality, it builds character by teaching the value of

time and time management, giving students motivation, preparing them for the workforce, and enabling

one to form strong bonds with other classmates.

When a student is battling sleep at two in the morning typing an essay, he or she will realize that

time must not be taken for granted. It should be spent wisely. Those late nights spent cramming every

single detail about the organelles in an animal cell into your brain will teach you that two hours should

not have been spent scrolling through your newsfeed on Facebook. Making a powerpoint on the

morning of your presentation will make it clear to you that half an hour should've been spent for this,

instead of coordinating your outfit. In this way procrastination will make you understand how much

time should be alotted for different tasks and how valuable time truly is.

Next, procrastination serves as a concrete motivator for students. When a student is answering

an activity sheet in a relaxed environment, there is no pressure to get the task done right away, as

opposed to when the teacher has just entered the classroom. An environment with time pressure will

push students to work harder and faster because there is an assignment that needs to be accomplished

within a tight timeframe.

Procrastination will expose students to alternative working conditions, preparing them for the

world beyond school wherein difficult tasks may need to be done in a limited amount of time. It also

prepares one to be able to work with others. Students will develop communication skills, specifically in

group work, wherein they need to effectively exchange and organize their plans and ideas. Cooperation

and collaboration are also practiced through procrastination. This act gives students a venue to

excersise being calm while coordinating with others to achieve one common goal.

Although it can be a stressful experience, procrastination can actually make academic life more

fun and entertaining. It is a topic that many if not all sudents can relate to, a platform for sharing

hilarious anecdotes. Memories are made with classmates, and stories that will be fondly looked back on

and laughed about are born. Friends can bond during those wee hours of the morning when they are

both experiencing an unforgettable part of school life.

Lastly,