The Contributions of Technology to Modern Procrastination

The standard work day involves an influx of tasks that can become overwhelming. However, if said tasks are not urgent, we tend to put them off until they are, which is usually too late. On a normal day, I am busy from the moment I wake up until around 10:30pm, leaving me no room to procrastinate. This has taught me many lessons, both about myself and about bad tendencies. One lesson being that modern procrastination, in most cases, directly stems from our dependency on technology. Ergo, we should attempt to pull the plug on the tech realm while trying to work.

Technology is a major contributor to procrastination. The more technologically involved we become, the harder it is to distance ourselves from it. Everything constantly begs for our attention, and our reliance on technology for our work means that their begging is more likely to pull us off task. The fun may seem like the better option at the time, but the effects of procrastinating, or putting off work, can be very harmful. Many a time while working on my school work I have been distracted by my phone and chose to indulge on the sweet satisfaction of the internet. However, my indulgences always directly correlate with my grades. This has taught me that electronics cause more harm than good while doing work.

In, “Reporter turns in article about procrastination on time”, an article published by PBS, the author detailed just how harmful procrastination can be. He said that putting something off grants only a temporary reduction in stress, and ultimately results in lower grades as well as higher stress levels. You may save yourself from work for one night, but in actuality, you’re only doubling your amount for the next. He continued that there’s no incentive to turn assignments in early, leading people to not take the initiative and bother trying in advance. He also mentioned how delaying work may be helpful, but is far different from procrastinating. A delay occurs when you’re busy with other tasks of higher importance whereas procrastination is putting tasks off to be idle. His solution- to work on your projects for at least ten minutes a day- could drastically reduce your stress levels. The hardest part is starting; from then on it’s easy.

Unlike the article, I chose to do all of my work the night before it was due in middle school rather than dividing it over several nights. Rather than taking the initiative, I gave in to the constant begging of social media and the electronic realm. The due date seemed so far away until it was the following day. I ran into quite the dilemma when I became over encumbered with stress and stayed up far too late working on my assignments, as I only had hours remaining. I lacked credence in myself that I could finish the project and the quality of my work quickly began to deteriorate. I paid for the lack of sleep in my other classes, and my lack of initiative was reflected through my poor grade.

It wasn’t until then that I realized how damaging procrastination is. The two weeks of music, television, and movies were definitely not worth the sentence of a failing grade staring back at me from the grade book. The culmination of my procrastination ended abruptly shortly thereafter. I was lucky there was an extra credit opportunity following the assignment, but nonetheless, it was just the wake up call that I had needed. Rather than putting off my work for so many nights, I should have instead removed myself from the tech realm and divided my project workload over several nights. Also, had I known how grave of an impact that my laziness would cause, I was have never procrastinated in the first place.

Recently I had the anagnorisis that my chronic procrastination leads to the dreaded stress and helplessness I suffered from before every assignment was due. I decided to take matters into my own hands and ditch the tech realm while doing my work. I was not only surprised by the increase in efficiency while doing work, but also by how my grades reflected my newfound ethic. Distancing myself from anything I found to be distracting and spreading my work out over the duration of its time allotment, my stress levels dropped drastically. Alas, I was happy; I was carefree.

Procrastination is a disease that runs rabid through schools. Rather than doing work, we are inclined to chose the more entertaining option- technology. Students need to instead find balance between entertainment and work. Rewarding yourself for your work allows you to have the best of both worlds; you save yourself from stress, sleep deprivation, and bad grades while also enjoying yourself. Putting off work can seriously harm you depending on the intensity of the offense, which is why procrastination should never be an option. Even if it’s only for ten minutes a night, any work is better than no work. Unplug yourself and work for a short duration each night and the outcome will be surprising. Just a few minutes can save you from so much pain.