The Dangers of Procrastination

As high school students, especially seniors, we all have a tendency to procrastinate. It’s very likely you’re reading this article instead of doing some assignment you’ve been putting off for days. Personally, I can assure you I’m writing this the night it’s due, and a friend of mine will soon be receiving an urgent phone call for help editing. However, these behaviors are not gears for success, in fact, they can be quite debilitating for your work and your social life.

How are you supposed to enjoy your free time with crushing responsibilities weighing on your shoulders all the time? Or is it better to forget the importance of your tasks so you can enjoy a night out, and abandon your responsibilities all together?  Before long, your grades begin to plummet and you’re so stressed you can’t get anything done, making you more behind. Then, you’ll have to work overtime playing catchup, making school so much harder for you than it has to be. The last thing you need is to make high school more difficult than it already is.

Not all of the consequences of procrastination are tied to your school life, however. What happens when you wait to ask off work for homecoming, and your boss won’t let you off now? Do you abandon a paying job or a precious night? For homecoming alone, there are dozens of things you could be procrastinating right now. You’ll want to find an outfit, a date or a group of friends to attend with, a place to eat beforehand, maybe even getting your hair, nails, or makeup professionally done. If you don’t plan these things out ahead of time (just as I did not plan this article out) your whole night will be a mess.

For seniors, college applications, scholarships, etc. will be starting soon, if you haven’t already started filling these out. You can not put these responsibilities off. A late application could prevent you from getting into your first choice of college. What if your whole career path is changed because you thought you could wait just one more night to start that essay?

For the underclassmen, how many of you have been scraping by on the bare minimum for the work you do? You have to think about your GPA from the start of high school. Too many students don’t start to worry about this until their junior year, and it’s almost too late to make any drastic changes at that point. By your junior year, it takes a lot more work to make those kinds of changes, especially if you’ve made bad habits regarding your school work. Procrastinating these responsibilities will make the last two years of high school so much harder for you.

This is your reminder that whatever you’ve been putting off, stop! Procrastination is dangerous and can begin to stack up. Don’t let it. There is no reason for day to day tasks or big events to overwhelm you, so long as you don’t put off preparations. Remember the importance of your task and the consequence of waiting, then you should be able to remain motivated enough to overcome your procrastination instincts.