The clock is ticking, tick tick tick. The stack of assignments from August to December has piled up and there are now only three days left in the semester. How to get it done? The only reasonable thing to do is cram everything that you should have been learning throughout the semester into multiple nights. Students freshman to senior wait until the last minute to have a hope of turning in assignments.
Finals week is stressful for almost everyone, but there is extra pressure for students who have procrastinated all semester. They spend the whole year coasting by barely showing up to class and doing nothing. The procrastinator stays for an extra 5-8 hours each night trying to get four months of work done in four days. The absence of preparation creates a lack of sleep which manifests itself in poor final grades. Instead of studying for the most important test of the class, they focus on minor assignments. Although they were trying to bring their grade up, they hardly succeeded and they did poorly on their final.
The pressure of missing assignments is not only on the student but also on the lenient teacher who is allowing late assignments. Many teachers have a no-late assignment policy and stick it throughout finals. Yet, when a parent starts emailing them about their student failing during finals week they become a pushover. The teacher does not want the student to fail, but by allowing them to “succeed” in class, they fail personally. Not only are they allowing the students to flounder with their academic strategies, but the teacher adds extra stress on themselves. Now they are grading finals and hundreds of late assignments.
By procrastinating you not only create unnecessary stress on yourself and the people around you, you create a mindset of allowing failure. This mindset will carry into future academic achievements. The start of a new semester means the start of fresh studying skills. By starting a class and doing the assignments on time, you will create a life-long habit that will allow you to manage your time in a better way.
