Procrastination

There is a virus I have been trying to avoid since I was in middle school, a virus so strong and powerful that even the best of students suffer from it. The procrastination virus. It has hit me rather hard in high school, despite my best efforts to avoid its powerful and enticing ways. All types of students have at one time suffered from procrastination, whether it be because there were other more important projects to do, or simply because you just wanted to sit on the couch instead of study for the math test, procrastination has been an all too familiar guest for us all.
So what makes procrastination so easy to succumb to? Oxford Learning Online tells us that kids fall to procrastination when projects are unclear. We are less likely to start a project early, or in some cases on time, when we are unclear about what we are supposed to do. When students are unclear of the subject, or steps they must complete to finish the project they are less likely to do the project on time. Often educators and parents alike believe procrastination is a symptom of laziness, their student simply does not want to put in the work; but students aren't suffering from the couch bug, but rather an unclear understanding of their project. Kids these days are often looking for instant gratification, so when the project doesn't make any sense to them they don't have any instant gratification because they don't understand why the project is important. The procrastination virus can be fought with motivation; and motivation can be created by full understanding. So next time you don't understand the project, make sure to ask! So you don't turn it in late, or wait until the night before to start that enormous Spanish project.