“I’ll do it tomorrow or next week.” Many students struggle with getting their academic work done. Studenthälsan (Student Health Center) will address this common academic problem with a special seminar on Tuesday, February 24th.
Doing last minute work is a regular process for students everywhere. The reading, writing and group tasks keep piling up and instead of attacking the mountain of work and chopping at it bit by bit, people like putting off the inevitable. For some years now, this behavior has a sophisticated term even outside the psychological community: procrastination, from Latin procrastinatio, literally meaning ‘for tomorrow’.
80 to 95% are affected
The OED defines the concept very generally as “the action of delaying or postponing something”. Among researchers, it is estimated that 80 to 95% of the college population puts off tasks occasionally, while half of the students are consistent and problematic procrastinators. Instead of getting work done, some students like to sleep, play games or watch TV, whereas others are more productive procrastinators, who rather do chores around the apartment, such as laundry or cleaning, instead of finishing school work.
A voluntary delay
From a technical perspective, procrastination is “the voluntary delay of an intended and necessary […] important activity, despite expecting potential negative consequences that outweigh the positive consequences of the delay,” as psychology professor Katrin Klingsieck stated in the European Psychologist in 2013. In other words, procrastinating is wholly unnecessary and does not benefit the people doing it in the least.
Academic procrastination
To avoid such behavior in the future, Studenthälsan offers the seminar with the title “Academic procrastination – What is it and what can I do about it?”. In the two-hour seminar, students will learn more about what exactly procrastination is, how it can affect them and ways to overcome it in the future. The last point is essential because it is assumed that 95% of procrastinators would like to reduce their postponing tendencies.
- What? Seminar: “Academic procrastination –What is it and what can I do about it?”
- When? 24 February, 12.15–14.00
- Where? At the Student Health Center (Paradisgatan 5B, Lund)
The number of seats is limited. If you are interested in participating please send an email to asa.probert@stu.lu.se as soon as possible.
