Introduction

Stress rocketing, grades obliterated, and self-reproach: this scenario is only too familiar to the average student. With around 86% of high school students pushing back everyday assignments and mundane tasks, procrastination has become increasingly pervasive [1].

Procrastination is a constant battle between the limbic system, the emotional, instant-gratification aspect of the brain and the prefrontal cortex, the logical, rational aspect that helps with long-term planning and decision making. When faced with an unwanted task, the limbic system prompts a “fight, flight, or freeze” response, prioritizing instant mood relief over long term goals. This overrides the prefrontal cortex, leading to dopamine release and a sense of feeling better when doing something enjoyable but off-task [2]. 

Attempts to escape this never-ending cycle are often futile without proper strategies. Hence, this article will attempt to bring light to patterns of procrastination and its effects, and present effective strategies through an accessible and practical approach for students.

Patterns of Procrastination

Temporal Discounting: The Most Common Pattern

Temporal discounting is the concept that explains the reason behind why long-term gains are eclipsed by short-term rewards, leading to the true objective remaining unachieved. For example, the gain of completing a long-term project is overshadowed by the immediate gratification of watching a funny video [3].

Perfectionism and Procrastination

Counterintuitively, perfectionism and procrastination are correlated, with the former being a direct factor to the latter for many people [4]. The limbic system of many perfectionists is triggered because the fear of defying expectations and criticization increases, leading to apprehension when starting a task. Similarly, overanalysis also leads to disrupted action. Additionally, perfectionists avoid starting a task because they believe that the task at hand is only worth doing if it is important. “Unimportant” tasks are not started because they are believed to be unworthy [5]. 

Likewise, procrastination can also reinforce perfectionism because failing at a task leads to further apprehension and lack of feedback for a task, leading to even more poor results, ending in an endless cycle.

Effects of Chronic Procrastination

Procrastination reduces productivity and is also capable of altering and reducing the efficacy of the brain in the long term. This doesn’t just happen to students; around 20% of adults also chronically procrastinate [6]. 

Procrastination strengthens the neural pathways of the brain which are associated with avoidance. Similarly, it weakens the pathways associated with discipline, leading to it being increasingly difficult to focus [2]. This leads to poorer results and procrastination becoming a habit. Once habitual, procrastination is extremely difficult to combat and has detrimental effects on work pace and attention span, and snowballs into greater disarray.

Additionally, procrastination decreases the gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, leading to decreased decision making and impulse control. This leads to less control over rational decisions, compromising everyday critical thinking in class, or for any other task. Procrastination also increases cortisol levels, the excess of which leads to impaired memory, decreased focus, and compromise of mental health [2]. This leads to less productivity and cognitive function, leading to a less efficient work or school life.

Mitigation Strategies

Self-Forgiveness

Scientists have found that forgiving oneself leads to decreased procrastination in the future, restricting the limbic system . A study conducted involved measuring participants’ (students’) emotional and mental state after each test to observe the correlation between self-forgiveness and test results. Unpredictably, the results of this study found that, generally, procrastination is reduced when students were not as harsh on themselves because forgiveness recognizes the wrong in their actions while allowing a growth mindset [7]. It is important, as students, to move on from earlier mistakes, allowing for a more successful academic career. 

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is highly recommended to reduce procrastination and fatigue. The technique involves productive work in short bursts, usually around 25 minutes, with intermittent five minute breaks. After completing a few cycles, a longer break is taken. The short breaks offer a periodic, built-in reward that satisfies the limbic system and the brain’s craving for dopamine. In fact, a study found that participants who use the Pomodoro Technique were able to complete tasks for a given day more efficiently than those who did not use it [8].

However, this technique, though effective to reduce procrastination, may not be effective for students who like to “go with the flow” as they work because it causes them to halt their mental flow. For example, when engaged in creative tasks such as writing a story, it is unhelpful to have frequent breaks because they cause a disruption in focus and interrupt the “flow” of creativity. However, in tasks which require extensive logical thinking, the Pomodoro Technique is a great way to stagger work and finish the task efficiently without getting distracted [8].

Establishing Accountability

Individual accountability is a highly effective method to overcome procrastination. Sharing and announcing one’s objectives socially to another study partner or family member proved to be extremely effective in reducing fatigue and finishing tasks. Alternatively, to-do lists are also known to be effective in holding oneself accountable.

A study showed that students who announced themselves accountable for a task were much more likely to finish the task as compared to students who did not. Out of a cohort of 276 students divided into control and variable groups, with each student being assigned the same tasks as other students, students that held themselves accountable through an online accountability platform performed better in class and did better on assignments and tests. The enhanced performance on assignments, including time management, show that accountability to a task makes it more likely to be finished [9].

Conclusion

Procrastination follows very defined outlines and patterns, and knowing these in addition to techniques to mitigate them provide an academic boost to students, allowing for a better and more successful academic performance. While each of the strategies—self-forgiveness, Pomodoro, and accountability— are extremely useful, some may benefit the individual better than others, depending on different mindsets, academic abilities, and various other factors such as the task at hand. For example, the Pomodoro Technique is better suitable for logical thinking tasks, while the self-forgiveness method is more suitable for holistic academic growth. Ultimately, the “best” strategy is discernible by the individual, though all three discussed strategies are useful in different cases. These strategies can be applied to have a more successful academic performance as students, and a greater school experience in general.