As a wife, mother and BYU student, Lauren Smith struggles to keep up with all of her responsibilities.
"I have often loved being busy but this time I'm absolutely hating it," Smith said.
There is a sweeping generalization about time that it is always in short supply, threatening to run out at the worst possible moment.
That generalization couldn’t be truer for college students whose schedules are filled to the brim with classes, homework, jobs and other responsibilities.
“Students are really in a difficult position because they’ve got so many pressure points that are more so than a lot of people who are just out in the work force,” said BYU psychology professor Terry Seamons.
College students on average spend just 3.3 hours a day on educational activities while spending on average four hours a day on leisure and 8.6 hours per day sleeping according to the 2016 American Time Use Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A report from the U.S. Census Bureau claims that about 71 percent of undergraduates work. Between the student life, the working life and the dating or family life, it’s common for students to feel like they’re being stretched too thin.
"When I'm away there's always stress in the back of my mind wondering how my baby is doing," Smith said. ""Household responsibilities have tripled since I
was single and I never feel like I’m keeping up. It’s been a lot to juggle and sometimes I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water.”
For BYU student David Wilcox, his work, school, church and family responsibilities always take precedent.
“I kinda hate (being busy) because I don’t have time for myself to invest in me,” Wilcox said. “I like reading books and I need to be working on my business but I don’t have time for that.”
On top of all the daily demands, students are bombarded with social opportunities and the natural tendency to want to have fun that can often lead to procrastinating.
“Procrastination is all about doing what you want to do,” Seamons said. “In many cases what students want to do is not what they need to do. There’s always a dilemma between doing what pleases you and doing what is necessary to get things done.”
Eighty to 95 percent of college students procrastinate with 75 percent of students considering themselves procrastinators and about 50 percent cause themselves problems by procrastinating consistently according to a study published in the Psychological Bulletin.
“I generally don’t have a problem completing everything, there’s just usually that last hour of stress before everything is finished,” Smith said.
When Smith is procrastinating, she likes to watch Netflix and spend time with her husband while Wilcox spends time with friends and family. Whatever the form of procrastination, BYU psychology professor Hal Miller said it’s all temporal discounters.
“(Students) discount the future relative to the present,” Miller said. “People procrastinate as the actual choice point when the smaller, sooner reward that was once strongly dispreferred to the larger, later reward becomes available and is now strongly preferred.”
Miller said an example of temporal discounters is when a student promises themselves they won’t hang out with their friends until their assignment is complete. However, when the opportunity presents itself to spend time with friends, a student chooses that over finishing work.
HOW THE PROBLEM MANIFESTS ITSELF
Smith said she procrastinates based on the importance of a task. She never procrastinates her work assignments but often puts off homework.
overwhelmed and stressed out with their workload and are unsure of where to begin.
“Procrastination is a vicious cycle. We live in a culture where the expectations for perfection is pretty high and I think we often misinterpret what that means and oft times in order to achieve whatever that is, we feel like we’ve got to get it just right,” Seamons said. “Well the reality is you’re never going to get it perfect and so this target continues to be placed out further and further and in one sense you never achieve it and then that creates frustration.”
Seamons believes getting caught up in this cycle is falling into the bad habit of procrastination. Miller, on the other hand, says it’s misleading to peg procrastination as a bad habit but that scientifically there isn’t a solid explanation for why people procrastinate.
“In my opinion, the neurosciences are not yet in a position to offer a comprehensive brain model of procrastination,” Miller said. “Stress, yes. Procrastination, no.”
Bad habit or not, procrastination is a relevant concern for many students. Despite a student’s personal time management skills, there are ways to help increase productivity.
“I hate being stressed so that fear is usually enough motivation to remind me that if I don’t do it today I’ll be stressed out about it tomorrow,” Keira said. “I will usually make a daily plan for my day and schedule out what specific times I need to do what. I take assignments in the order of closest due date. When I stick to a schedule I’ve made — no matter how much I do or don’t get done in that timeframe — I feel successful.”
David tries to spend at least 30 minutes a day studying while Smith eliminates distractions to get her assignments done. Seamons believes the first keys to avoiding procrastination are personal ownership and realistic sacrifice.
“(Procrastination) is not a decision that somebody else forces on (you),” Seamons said. “(You) decide to either do the job now or put it off. But you’ve got to be realistic enough to say, ‘What am I willing to sacrifice and what positive habits can I apply that will counteract the natural tendency to go have fun?’”
Overall, Seamons advises a healthy balance for all students.
“Many times people will think the way to deal with procrastination is to just knuckle down and get the job done. Well, yes, but you’ve gotta do it in a way that gives you the opportunity to enjoy your life.”
WAYS TO OVERCOME THE PROBLEM
Keira Wilcox has her plate full as a full-time BYU student, intern, wife and expectant mother but has found that strict scheduling helps her stay on top of her responsibilities and feel accomplished.
College students have a lot on their plate, and sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. (Kat Leakehe)
THE PROBLEM
INTRODUCTION
Procrastinating is a huge problem amongst college students according to the American Time Use Survey. (Kat Leakehe)
A huge part of procrastination is coming up with excuses. It's always easy to come up with why you need to put something off. (Kat Leakehe)
“The world in which we live is full of expectations and it’s a matter of learning how to address those," Seamons said. "It's always a matter of how do you balance what you want with what somebody else wants of you."
Balancing a busy schedule can be tough for students who want to meet high expectations but feel
A study conducted by Dan Ariely examined if students performed better when given deadlines or not. (Kat Leakehe)
Click through the slideshow for tips on how to beat procrastination. (Kat Leakehe)
