Students are assigned homework to enhance their knowledge and writing skills. In contrast, students, not realising their potentials and strengths, show an irresponsible attitude towards their homework. They delay their assigned academic tasks as much as they can.
Procrastination doesn’t let them put in the best of their efforts and finish their homework on time. Consequently, they miss the deadlines or complete them in a rush leaving hundreds of loopholes in it. Here is a detailed discussion about the reasons why students delay their work and how they can get rid of this bad habit.
Why students are used to procrastinating their work?
Several factors make the students delay their homework and limit their efforts. Here are some of the major causes that lead students to procrastinate:
- Lack of interest. Students lack their interest in studies. In the modern age, students are more interested in e-gaming and online certifications instead of sitting for long hours on their study tables to complete their homework. Due to this lack of interest, they don’t take their homework seriously and try to delay it to the last extent. Without a doubt, other activities are also important for students’ intellectual growth but they must not affect their studies.
- Lack of understanding of the topic. Sometimes, students do not get proper guidelines regarding their homework topics due to which they face difficulty in fully understanding the topic. This lack of understanding also comes up as one of the main reasons for procrastination because they cannot deal with the topic until they know what it actually is.
- Fear of dealing with a lengthy homework. Some home assignments have a huge word count or dense research is required for them. Such lengthy homework is much time-consuming. So, the fear of dealing with such homework doesn’t let the students begin. Thinking of how it will be completed they keep procrastinating it.
- Laziness and weakness. Most of the time, procrastination is all about laziness. The reason for this laziness can be internal body weakness. Students do not take proper diet that affects their physical health. They begin to feel tired soon and after coming back from their educational institutes, they are left with not enough courage to do their homework. Thus, they wait for a holiday to complete their pending tasks.
- Unstable mental health. The mental health issues such as anxiety, stress, exhaustion, frustration, anger are the big hurdles in students’ academic growth. These abstract emotions overwhelm the human brain and start controlling his actions. Procrastination also comes as one of the reactions to these emotions.
- Failure phobia. The fear of failure is termed failure phobia. It also blocks your thinking capacity and doesn’t let you do homework. Due to this fear, students keep thinking that they can’t do it and if they will try to do it, their drafts will not get the grades, they think that failure is their ultimate future. This is sometimes, due to the parents’ and teachers’ discouraging behaviours with the students.
- Waiting for the last moment. Some students delay their homework just to have fun. Doing homework at the last moment seems to be more challenging and more exciting for such students. They used to do their homework with complete focus and enthusiasm but at the 11th hour. This sort of procrastination seems to be a part of their personality and style.
How to get rid of procrastination and speed up your homework?
Following are some tips that will help you put this habit to an end – stop procrastination.
Mark key points in your coursebook with coloured highlighters
First, you should discuss your homework topics with your teachers so that they can clear your confusion and you could have a better understanding of that. During this discussion, keep your coursebook with you and mark in it the key points relevant to the topic. Use colored highlighters for this purpose. When you’ll open the book again, the colors will grab your interest and you will find yourself eager to do your homework.
Watch a film or documentary on the assigned topic
Many students when assigned a narrative essay as their homework, they are blank about what to do in it. In such a situation when you are lacking ideas to do your homework, students can watch movies and documentaries related to the topic. It will help them know how they can narrate their story in their homework creatively and also persuade them to start working.
Plan Your Homework in a creative way
When you have an efficient plan, it doesn’t let your delay your tasks and you feel convinced to begin with your homework. To plan your homework effectively as well as creatively, you should follow these steps:
- Mind map your ideas.
- Set short deadlines for yourself.
- Make a schedule.
- Proceed with your homework step by step.
- Award yourself after covering each step.
While planning your homework, you must have divided the whole task into short steps. For example, if you are supposed to write a critical analysis, you must have first read the chapter which you are going to analyze, then you will find its main themes. Then, you will search for what critics have said about the topic under discussion.
So, you must not forget to treat yourself after successfully getting done with each of these tasks. This treat can be a refreshment even just a sweet or it can be just a break. It will keep you motivated throughout your homework hours.
Be smart and get done with your work by intelligent means
You may use smart options right after you realise that the assigned homework is not your cup of tea. If you have weak argumentative skills and your homework is to argumentative essay, make a fast decision that you want to do.
Takeaway
Delaying your homework is always considered to be a bad habit no matter how genuine your reasons are. Even if you are confident enough that you would complete it within time, still you shouldn’t procrastinate.
Helen Bradfield did her degree in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. She is interested in mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
