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daisy Says:
July 14th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I so agree with this!
I’m a recovering deep procrastinator. i guess it started back in high school when i felt pressured to go into the student grind. the resentment really does build, and changing the habit once it’s started is hard.
Doing a lot better though; I only wipe out once a month or so. 
I guess I was just sick of how I inadvertently stressed myself out.
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daisy Says:
July 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Oh, and forgot to add that reevaluating your relationship with schoolwork and your priorities really does help. that’s what actually started my climb out of my procrastination habit.
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Kathryn Says:
July 14th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I completely agree! as a teacher, i see so many students doing this — working several jobs While taking a full-time load in school. so much of the advice out there about procrastination amounts to “more discipline. ” still, most of my students have loads of discipline — just not much time.
The sad thing is that for many, there isn’t an option other than to work full-time While in school. it used to impress people when i said i worked full-time While in grad school full-time (how rare! how disciplined! how tough! ). now it’s just normal.
I love the manifesto as the start of a solution. still, i think the long-term answer is that our current system (falling financial aid, more financial burden, greater competition for admission) has to give a little.
I’m curious if others have more ideas on how students can simplify in the meantime?
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Study Hacks Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I love the manifesto as the start of a solution. still, i think the long-term answer is that our current system (falling financial aid, more financial burden, greater competition for admission) has to give a little.
I agree about fixing the financial situation. something has the give there. I’m less optimistic about the competition aspect. i lesson i’ve learned from working with students is that you can’t force them not to be ambitious. you need, instead, to teach them how to follow ambitions in a sustainable way…
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The Procrastinator Says:
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Long live procrastination.
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Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Monday Master Class: Conquer Cramming with the Same Day Rule (Pingback) Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
[] you resent your major and are crushed by the weight of your parent’s expectations-style deep procratinator, but instead someone who tends to wait just a little bit too long to get started on big []
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Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Monday Master Class: The Biggest Source of Stress that Most Students Ignore (Pingback) Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
[] when the grades were returned, amy was not happy. to make things worse, she was drained. as she explains, by the end of the semester, she had begun to “loathe” her classes; a source of devastating deep procrastination. []
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Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Case Study: How Skidmore’s Busiest Student Discovered the Secret to Happiness on the Other Side of the World (Pingback) Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
[] full years at skidmore. because i had more time to really fall in love with my topics of study, the contempt for “work” that begets procrastination was never given a chance to take hold. my productivity went through the []
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nyrd06 Says:
August 8th, 2008 at 4:25 am
Freshman year i chose to double major in anthropology and film and also get a tefl certificate for 2 reasons:the subjects interest me; and, they are all stepping stones, both separately and conjointly, towards my ideal career. you see, my deepest passion resides in the culinary arts, and as going to culinary school was not an option (1. i did not have the money, nor could i afford to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt before the age of 30, and 2. my parents refused to pay for it), i chose the next best thinga broad combinations of academic aspirations at a state university, something both affordable and practical. this decision made plenty of sense to me then.
Now, however, im feeling the burn, and your articles coupled with several recent discoveries are driving home the reality of my situation. just last spring, for example, i encountered my first-ever experience of, as you call it, deep procrastination. my case resembles that amys. i would finish assignments (papers mostly) but skip out on some of the readings, reading one or two for a class and/or barely even skimming others. most of my work barely met my standards for an a or b grade. i simply did not have time to be inspired or creative or to do my best, which invoked within me all kinds of guilt and stress. also, i always felt behind schedule. eventually, i realized that i had, at some point, formed an extreme dislike for school. something that has never occurred before i meanone of my favorite books is the larmours the walking drum for ganeshs sake.
While spring semester is over residual deep procrastination habits remained when i took two very epitomic writing and reading intensive courses this past june. i worked and long hours but went no where. the grades were my worst ever. i dont want to enter this fall with these habits or this outlook. i detest feeling this way, depressed, guilt-riddenand (unhealthily) nostalgic.
i want fall semester 06 backwhen i was a freshman and i liked all of my classes, when i made straight as piece o cake, when i didnt have to worry about paying for 1-2 semester (2) without scholarship assistance, and getting and keeping a job all While maintaining gpa with the same course load and extracurricular responsibilities. i want the simplicity you talk about in your blog but i just dont know how to get there. i dont know how to go about choosing between/among a ba in film, a ba in anthropology, and a tefl certificate. i mean, i have talked myself into thinking that i need these things for almost 2 years nowand now i have to choose which one(s) to keep. its too hard, and no one can help me make this decision or give me career advice because most either have no clue what anthropology is or cant offer potential job opportunities beyond the stereotypical (director, archeologist, or teacher). no one that i have talked to can give me any advice beyond the opinion that i should not have pursued either major in the 1st placethat instead i should have chosen something that will put me in a well-paying job straight out of schoollike journalism, law, or biology (premed). but i dont want those fields. heres what i do want ( in very simplified and concentrated terms) experience as a chef ( not a cook, but a chef), the ability to direct/edit/ interpret films ( do i wanna be a pro director like spielberg or hitchcock? no, but i want to be able to be a cinematographer or pa at least), the experience of international travel for the purpose of/as a result of/ leading to the exploration of peoples, cultures, and languages, experience as a teacher/manager/leader. so i guess my main question, besides a general plea for advice on my situation, is if you are a junior who is double majoring but considering dropping one bahow do you choose?
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Study Hacks Says:
August 8th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
So i guess my main question, besides a general plea for advice on my situation, is if you are a junior who is double majoring but considering dropping one bahow do you choose?
There’s a lot going on in there! two points, one, if you are feeling pretty overwhelmed or down about your situation, go talk to someone on campus. they’ll know your school, and it’s particular demands, well, and you’d be surprised by the relevance of their advice.
Second, in terms of your major choice, here’s my thought: it doesn’t matter which one you choose. no job is going to require either. select the one whose remaining courses seem most interesting to you, minor in the other, and stop sweating it.
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Dottywine Says:
August 10th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I don’t know. i dropped my schedule down a lot last semester. i took only 13 hours. i felt very dumb, but also very relaxed. and i was happier. free time out the whazzo. almost didn’t know what to do with it. however, i still caught myself doing a lot of deep procrastination. maybe i just suck at school in general. i don’t know.
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Danielle Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Although i agree with the majority of the information on this site, this article does not seem fully correct to me.
I was a hard-core procrastinator in high school, not because i had an aversion to school work or was sidetracked by email or the tv. in my case, and in the case of several other people i kNow, my results when i worked on projects in advance were actually less satisfactory than when i worked “under the gun” so to speak, usually the night before the project was due. since i only ever benefited from postponing assignments, a sleepless next day was only a small price to pay.
Now i should make it clear that the only projects i did well on when i waited to the very last second were essays. and after several years, i have finally figured out why this is the case: i am a perfectionist. usually perfectionism and procrastination do not go hand in hand, but in my case, they always have. the caliber of the assignments and especially written assignments which i hand in is invariably extremely high.
However, my perfectionism causes me to agonize over ever word choice and turn of phrase until my essays and reflections are cumbersome and unwieldy both in size and scope. only when i am rushing at the last minute, (and usually a fair bit tired at this time) can i turn off this aspect of my mind. when i do, my brain goes on autopilot, but past writing experience ensures that the result is satisfactory to me.
Like i said, this phenomenon only occurs with “creative” processes such as writing or designing. although i wish i knew how to force my brain to go to the autopilot mode automatically, by experience i know that it is the pressure, sense of urgency and the mental tiredness that brings it on.
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Study Hacks Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
And after several years, i have finally figured out why this is the case: i am a perfectionist.
This is a really useful addition. thank you for sharing. indeed, i recently visited harvard’s student advising offices, and they told me that perfectionism was actually one of the big problems that tackled.
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Nick Says:
September 1st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
In reply to nyrd06:
I have been in a somewhat similar position to you. i just finished a joint-honours (rough british equivalent of double-mayor, i presume) degree in anthropology and religious studies, and was rather (read: utterly) unsure of what to do next. i knew i wanted to go on to further study, but found so much of both religious studies and anthropology interesting to the point of wanting to focus on it.
So, i ended up choosing what to do next somewhat arbitratily. i thought of all of the things i particularly enjoyed, and for which i was more motivated to actually write great essays (that is not procrastinate quite so deeply), and essentially just chose one. i know that anything from that list i’d get on great with, so I’m not sweating it. I’m glad now to be focusing on one field in particular, to the point that i can devote far more time to really mastering it.
Of course you’ll have to do the difficult job of working out how such a philosophy would apply to your situation.
Also, as cal has written about before, once you make the step to focus on one path, you get the time to find interesting events / people related to it, and from there comes motivation, new ideas, and opportunities. in particular, i suggest you try not to worry about jobs you’ll get from various study combinations. focus on one field, and the excellence and contacts you’ll make there will set you up much better than having a ‘perfect’ qualification to present to an organisation who don’t know you as you’ve been too hard studying to work / talk with before.
Also, regarding your interest in tefl, that does sound like a good way to get to do some of the things you want to. however if doing it at your university is prohibiting your other studies you might consider dropping it for Now, and perhaps taking an intensive course afterwards or in the holidays. that option may be a little more expensive (i don’t know how your university has things set up), but might be better for you. do a bit of research first though; some tefl certificates are more useful than others, and at the end of the day you need to feel able to teach by the end of it.
I hope this is helpful; feel free to email me at nyrd06rep@njw. me. uk if you want to discuss any of this further.
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Simplify to beat procrastination « Students in the States (Pingback) Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 2:34 am
[] stop procrastinating by making it easier to procrastinate []
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Will Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 5:29 am
I am definitely a deep procrastinator, but my problem is that i can’t fix it using your chosen solution. I’m still in high school and so i don’t really have a choice of having fewer classes. any suggestions for helping me quit my procrastination problem?
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Study Hacks Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Any suggestions for helping me quit my procrastination problem?
Start with the 18 articles here:
Http://calnewport. com/blog/category/tips-fighting-procrastination/
They won’t all apply to high school, but they’ll help frame the problem for you.
