Procrastination: A College Student's Best Friend? by Megan

Procrastination: A College Student's Best Friend? by Megan - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

My biggest New Year’s Resolution this year is to not procrastinate. I have this bad habit of completing a huge paper all in one day instead of spreading things out in order to lighten my workload. Though this method usually gets the job done and I end up getting a good grade, the end result is lack of sleep and an addition of stress. My goal this year is to plan out my work better. If I need to get a large chunk of reading done, I want to start planning it out so I do a chapter or a section at a time. Same with papers, I want to break down the different steps of a paper over a few days. Doing an entire paper, from planning to printing, in one night, may seem par for the course for a college student, but it is not healthy for anyone. Pulling all-nighters constantly in order to get work done, causes, first of all, lack of sleep but on top of that unnecessary stress, that leaks into other parts of life If enough stress piles on, a student can get sick and fall behind in classes, which is just a cycle of stress waiting to happen. In order to stop this rather obnoxious pattern, you have to beat the habit of procrastination.
When it comes to beating the habit as part of a New Year’s resolution, it could be easy to say that I wanted to stop procrastinating, but that would be too easy to forget about. Having a plan to break a habit not only makes it easier to stick to, but makes me more accountable. Planning out how to follow through with my New Year’s resolution can help me plan out my schoolwork and do better in school in general. New Year’s resolutions can be hard to stick to but I think by having a New Year’s resolution that is planned and thought out, the resolution will make my 2016 much better, and make me a better student.
Having this New Year’s resolution will mean less all-nighters and better grades that can make me a calmer person in general. If I am not constantly worried about finishing a paper or worksheet on time, then I can take the time to do it well and do it the best that I can. Trying to break the habit of procrastination will be the best New Year’s resolution that a student can make.