As I have outlined in previous posts, the cause of my campaign is to raise awareness about the high rates of procrastination, discover why so many students procrastinate and offer tips in order to motivate them to start their work. Because procrastination is a cyclical habit that has the power to become embedded in an individual’s everyday life, sparking change among my target demographic has proven to be a challenge.
As I reach the halfway mark of my campaign, I have discovered what has become quite an important insight- one based off what I have constantly seen on social media. Mostly, if not all the posts made with the hashtag ‘procrastination’ has been trivial and this sparked a realisation. We take procrastination lightly. It’s something that we laugh about; use as an excuse and defence mechanism for not completing our tasks, or even to bond with our peers. The strong online meme culture that surrounds the issue reiterates this bond we share.
Although we acknowledge procrastination, we don’t do anything about it. We leave our tasks to the last minute, while not realising the real impact it has on our lives. When we leave our assignments until the night before it is due, we stay up all night scrambling to complete it and end up submitting a mediocre paper that does not properly reflect our academic abilities. As our ‘to-do’ list piles up, our stress increases with it and yet many of us simply ignore the list because we ‘work better under pressure’.
When we cram the first thing we sacrifice is our sleep, which leads me to discuss the problem of sleep deprivation; a huge issue that has many negative impacts upon our health. According to the Better Health Channel, sleep deprivation leads to fatigue, judgement impairment, and learning/academic difficulties. We are more accident prone because staying awake for 24 hours or more results in a reduced hand-to-eye coordination (similar to having a blood alcohol level of 0.1). Furthermore, a lack of sleep can also be linked to the increased risk of emotional problems such as depression, which has unfortunately seen an increase among many young people.
These are but some of the consequences that result from procrastinating, which highlights the need to change its trivial stigma because it is actually a serious problem that affects so many individuals. As such, I have added an additional objective to my campaign; one that aims to eliminate this stigma and raise awareness about the negative impacts of procrastination. We must recognise that for some of us, procrastination has become a part of our lives.
To overcome procrastination means making a lifestyle change.
This is where we make our start and this is where we can stand out from the crowd.
So tell me, why do you think there is such a stigma attached to procrastination? Why do you procrastinate? Is it hard to break the cycle of constantly putting off your tasks until the last minute?
-S.T
The Proactive Procrastinator 
