Beyond the 86%: An In-Depth Look at High School Procrastination Types

By: Elyse Taber

Many students throughout their high school career procrastinate with finishing their work. A study conducted by an educational company Magoosh, found that 86% of high school students claimed they procrastinated on assignments. This is because they get distracted by other things in their surroundings; it’s easy for them to get side tracked when they’re not interested in the assignment. 

Students often find themselves putting off a task to relieve the pressure off of their shoulders, but that only puts them in a deeper hole. Oxford Learning helps explain this, “Students often procrastinate because they don’t see how a project is relevant or important to them, don’t understand the material, or don’t know how to get started. When you boil it down, procrastination combines motivation, confidence, and comprehension issues.” 

Students from Mishawaka High School anonymously completed a survey that asked if they were procrastinators. Data from the survey showed that 32.7% of students are a defier when it comes to their work. Meaning that they don’t think the work is worthwhile, so they put it off to do other important tasks. The next largest percentage showed 30.9% of students claimed to be a crisis-maker, which means that in order to be motivated to do a task, they need to stress or pressure that is needed in last minute action. The next two types are the worrier and the perfectionist; these two fit hand in hand. 7.3% of students claimed to be a worrier, while 14.5% said they were a perfectionist. The worrier is someone who doesn’t start an important task in fear of not being able to do it on time or succeed. Similar to the worrier, the perfectionist is someone who doesn’t start the task in fear of failure; failure equates to not doing the task perfectly. Lastly, 14.5% of respondents believed they were the over-doer. The over-doer is someone who commits to too many tasks at once and fails to get them done on time. 

The National Institute of Health (NIH) helps elaborate on what procrastination can do to students in the long run. NIH states, “Academic procrastination leads to a decline in students’ well-being. It has been associated with poor academic performance, emotional distress, and physical health deterioration.” While these statements from the NIH may not be true about everyone, there’s still some way to help students find motivation to complete tasks without complication. 

Some of these tactics can include breaking down large tasks into smaller steps, setting realistic deadlines and goals, creating a distraction free environment and minimizing distractions, and rewarding yourself with something small after completing something. Those rewards can include five minutes on your phone, a snack break, or taking a walk. There are many other ways to motivate students, the ones listed are just a few effective ways to start productivity.

Mishawaka High School (MHS) counselor, Deb Thompson is responsible for 400 students and stated, “I actually think it is a major problem. Each student might have a different reason why they procrastinate. And I know sometimes adults think that it’s just because they don’t want to do something, but I look at it as, sometimes we avoid doing something because we don’t think we’re very good at it. And we don’t like to feel like we’re not good at things. So we put off doing it.” Going back to ways to get out of that procrastinating mood, Thompson’s advice:“I have a motto when maybe I don’t want to do something, right? That I say to myself, make a decision that’ll make future me proud. And that often is enough to motivate me to do something. But I don’t want to regret it in the future. So, if I make a decision right now, that’s gonna make my future me proud.” This is an amazing way to get students to do something because nobody wants to regret something that they could’ve done, but chose not to in the moment.

MHS teacher, Mr. Kreinbrink stated, “I think most students do it because it’s the easy way out. So they choose to procrastinate because they struggle with knowing how to schedule or time something to do it. So there’s always more time than I really have. Students always think they have an unlimited amount of time to do something. And then something comes up and they go, oh, I shouldn’t have procrastinated.” He also shared some ways that he avoids procrastination at home or in the workplace. He stated, “I think the biggest and easiest thing that I do is I usually create a checklist of items to do. So if my wife and I are going to prepare our house for a trip, we always create a list. Do we always follow that list? No.” Kreinbrink proves that everybody procrastinates, even if they may think they don’t; it’s a natural human thing to do.