How Bad Procrastinating Is For College Students 

Procrastinating is common with college students as most of them tend to finish their tasks at a later time. 

Some of these students feel that the task is irrelevant, and they don’t see the immediate benefit they can get from it. 

Students prefer to focus more on what is happening presently than what will happen in the future. But whatever reason it may be, procrastinating can do you more harm than good. 

An Alarming Dilemma

According to a study, around 75% of college students procrastinate, and graduate students are even higher at 95%. 

Students tend to overestimate the time they have to submit the project and underestimate the time it takes to get it done. 

Because today’s students tend to live their lives as it happens, the increase in numbers of students procrastinating has now reached an alarming level.

So how does procrastinating affect you as a student?

Affects Your Mental Health

Researchers have found that the effects of procrastinating on one’s mental health increase with time. 

Students may feel more relaxed when they procrastinate, but this is only true in the beginning. It acts as a defense mechanism. But as soon as it starts to wear off, it causes more stress. 

The closer the deadline gets, the higher the stress level becomes. Their finding shows that procrastinators usually suffer illnesses such as low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. 

It Causes Fatigue and Physical Distress

Procrastination can also lead to physical exhaustion and distress. Since you tend to over-exert yourself as you have barely enough time to finish your tasks, your body uses more energy than it can recover. Combine it with the social responsibilities that you have to manage, and you’ll end up feeling tired and drained.

Procrastinating Can Disrupt Your Schedule

When you delay doing your task, and something unexpected arises, what usually happens is you try to adjust your schedule so that you can accomplish it. It disrupts everything that you are supposed to do, which can add to more stress. 

Higher Chance Of Missing The Deadline

This habit also increases the chance of students missing deadlines. Since procrastinators tend to delay starting on their work, the room for error becomes small. 

Sometimes people forget that there are uncontrollable factors that hinder you from getting the desired outcome. If it happens, they have very little time to adjust, which often leads to them not finishing. 

Mediocre Result

There is a reason why school requirements are given ample time before submission. It is so that you can prepare accordingly and have enough time to perfect it. 

When you try to accomplish it with less time, your work may look half-baked unless cramming is your forte. When you procrastinate, you also limit yourself to the things that you can accomplish. 

If you can finish a task in a small amount of time, imagine what you can if you have started earlier.

Lower Academic Performance

Procrastination also affects the way you perform in your class. Some may argue that “cramming” helps students get higher grades, reinforcing the habit of procrastinating. 

But what they fail to realize is that since procrastination increases the stress level of students, this stress is what hinders most from participating in class actively.

Gloomy Future Ahead

Most companies look at a graduate’s GPA when they are shortlisting their applicants. Given that procrastinating directly affects your academic performance, your chance of getting employed or getting a good-paying job is also affected. 

If you are used to procrastinating, there is a huge possibility that you will carry this habit at work as well. 

So you see, procrastinating is something that you should take out of your system. Some might find comfort with it and say that there are positive effects that you can get out of it. 

But the adverse effects that you will get would outweigh the positive ones. 

At the end of the day, find a technique that would work well with you. Just remember that you can’t reverse time, so make sure that you make the most out of it. 

Save yourself from getting stressed, and you’ll be surprised how good it feels to accomplish a task way beyond the deadline.