Procrastination is defined as doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time. Since this is the beginning of a new school year we want to alert all students in Saint Lucia that this is not a smart way to achieve academic excellence. Just like a farmer who wakes up early to sow his seed before the scotching heat descends upon him, so too students should have a similar attitude toward school projects and homework.

Waiting until the last minute to do assignments is so prevalent among students today more than ever before. While technology is constantly facilitating education in general, it also brings more distraction along with it. I remember my school years back in West Africa where the only library we had was about fifteen miles away and not everybody who could afford to pay the subscription fee yet my peers were eager to walk to the library just to read. Today, things have changed and you can have any book available to you at any time just by a click of a finger, yet procrastination keeps surging amount students. While technology helps facilitates school work, it forces us to recognize that it also brings with it a lot of distractions causing students to struggle to stay focus; as a result we are raising a generation of procrastinators. Some of these distractions are completely out of our control, others are the ones we create for ourselves like cell phone, emails, social network, TV viewing. So the question we need to ask is how can we fight this subtle tendency? If you are a student always remember this quote from Edward Young who said that “Procrastination is the thief of time.” Yes procrastination is not your friend but your foe. Imagine that you develop an allergy to a specific food, every time you eat that food, it makes you restless and you feel tired with a migraine headache for days. This is exactly how procrastination operates. It is like an allergic food, when eaten one is bound to have a negative reaction.  If you have a project or homework and always wait for the last minute to have it done, the reality is these assignments will never go away and sooner or later you will have to do them. Putting them off to a later day or time often is a bad decision because time constraints and unforeseen occurrences may arise bringing with it much pressure and anxiety. As these feelings build, your creative ability may be hampered which often results in rushed work and the final product is always disappointing. According to researcher Ernesto Reuben “procrastination seriously affects our productivity at work and can cost people considerable amounts of money as [impatient people] postpone paperwork indefinitely.” So going forward what can be done about it so that this school year is less stressful and more productive?

For those students who are in primary schools, parents have the obligation to help them schedule their time focusing more on the important assignments before pleasure. For those who are not so young they too should also recognize that parents still have a role to play and should accept guidance. This is a prime time in your life to show and take responsible because if you do not develop this seriousness towards your school assignments now you will no doubt have the same attitude towards work. So first always make a Check List of what needs to be accomplish the next day and make sure you stick to it. At the end of the day go back and review your checklist to see if you were able to get everything completed, if not, ask yourself why, as you search for answers be honest with yourself, remember only honesty will get you to see why you failed to complete everything on your checklist. With that information you are better prepared to readjust your thinking and your attitude about how you handle project and school work going forward. Second breakdown big projects or assignments not due the next day into several days and make sure that it is completed at least a day before the due date. Always remember to ask for help early if you know you will need it so that time can be allotted to you in advance.

To conclude: Procrastination is a serious behavior we need to avoid at all cost because it compromises a person progress academically; it destroys talent, creativity and makes a person indecisive. The Examer Company Limited is geared towards raising awareness on issues like these through Film Annex Language Art by writing/blogging. Those of you who have talent in filmmaking can contribute to our purpose by writing/blogging ideas that will help promote solutions to the problems we face. This program gives micro scholarship to students who participate. Create your own blog page by subscribing to filmannex.com. If you have any further question regarding this please email me at Isaac@examerofsaintlucia.com