10 Reasons Why High School Students Procrastinate

Do you pick up a pencil and write all your papers and complete your assignments without a second thought? Do you finish your chores with plenty of time to spare? Do you volunteer your time to help other people before you finish the current season of your favorite Netflix show? Do you clean your bedroom before it becomes an uninhabitable toxic wasteland?

Well if you do, then Marvel may have found its newest superhero because resisting the persuasive powers of procrastination is surely a heroic feat.

Beginning a task is usually the hardest step of productivity. According to an article from “Psychology Today”, destructive procrastinating habits affect roughly “one-fifth of adults and half of all students.”

But what causes so many people to struggle with time management? Here is a list of ten common excuses and reasons that high school students use to explain their procrastination.

1. “I forgot to do it”
Being absent or being distracted when an assignment is announced can make students unaware of due dates. Sometimes students genuinely leave their work until the last minute because they are unaware of it, or because they forget it was assigned to begin with. Milford High School (MHS) senior Hunter Dumas can relate all too well to this dilemma. “I forgot to complete an assignment until the day before it was due for my leadership class recently because we rarely have homework in that class and I wasn’t used to having to do work for it at home,” Dumas recalls.

2. “I didn’t know how to do it”
Whether it is because of the social action required to ask questions, or the effort of speaking up, adolescents commonly stay silent when they are confused about the subject matter. It isn’t unusual for students to wait until the day an assignment is due to explain that they were unsure about the information. Some don’t like to admit their self deficits in front of their peers or teachers, and others avoid the conversation out of laziness. If an individual lacks the skills or confidence to complete certain tasks, it is only natural for he or she to avoid doing them.

3. “I didn’t have enough time”
For many people procrastination is their biggest challenge when managing their time because they would rather prioritize the things they enjoy over their work. Some students have packed schedules with athletics, school, homework, family life, social life, and/or other extracurricular activities. Because of this, homework and schoolwork are often pushed aside until absolutely necessary to allow adolescents to have more freedom in the rest of their schedule. MHS sophomore Sara Simonich understands this conflict because she spends a lot of time at soccer practice, games, and tournaments after school and on weekends. “I often have to work on schoolwork while I am in between games or traveling to get to one in order to finish my work before it is due,” Sara admits.

4. “I didn’t understand what was expected of me”
High-schoolers also often blame their unfinished assignments on a lack of directions given to them. Perhaps their teacher did leave out a few crucial details about the desired outcome, but more often than not students are to blame for not voicing their questions to gain a better understanding of their prompt.

5. “I didn’t leave myself enough time”
Confidence is almost always a wonderful quality to have. But when it comes to estimating how much time completing an assignment will take, cockiness can lead to frustrating problems. Students tend to overestimate the time they are given, and underestimate how long it will take for them to finish their work. Consequently, they fail to complete their assigned work in time. Courtney Fortin, another MHS senior, remembers pushing her homework aside in the past, and then running out of time to finish. “I finally had everything else done for the day, but it was late at night so I ended up choosing sleep over schoolwork.”

6. “I didn’t have a deadline”
Some teachers are overly-lenient with their students by allowing them to turn in late work without a penalty or grade reduction. When teachers do this, it can cause teens to take their assigned work less seriously because there is no consequence as long as they do it eventually. Biology and Anatomy teacher at MHS, Kathy Simmermon often lets students turn in assignments late because she understands that their schedules and personal conflicts can make it hard for them to complete assignments.

7. “I was afraid I’d fail even if I tried”
Perfectionism often underlies the fear of failure. High-schoolers have unrealistic expectations placed on them by society. When students feel insufficient or below these standards they are discouraged. Teenagers sometimes place their self-worth in their self-achievement, and as a result constantly question their work. Being afraid of making a mistakes can lead them to putting off, or never completing their assignments to avoid the stress or anxiety.

8. “I was distracted”
Being preoccupied with entertainment is another common cause of procrastination for teenagers. Impulses can result in adolescents spending the time they previously declared for work, in other ways. Poor habits can make them waste time until they have low energy, or until it’s just too late.

9. “I was angry”
Procrastination can also be a form of rebellion for some teenagers. Sometimes students feel that their work is being forced on them by unreasonable teachers, and choose to resist such authority. They rebel against imposed schedules, standards, and expectations in order to prove that nobody is in charge of them. Some also seek rebellion as a way to show their anger towards busy work, assignments that lack an educational purpose and serve as solely something to take up time.

10. “I didn’t feel like it.”
Having a lack of motivation or being bored by the class material makes students search for other ways to spend their time that will make themselves feel happier temporarily. Other students may be bored of their daily after-school routine, and might want to switch up their schedules. Little willpower is common amongst teenagers who don’t get enough sleep, keep themselves to busy, or stress a lot.

The belief that one must feel motivated in order to begin a task though, has the order of events reversed. In “The Feeling Good Handbook,” David D. Burns (1989) writes that “the ‘doing’ comes first, and then the motivation. Thus, starting a task is the real motivator, rather than motivation needing to be present prior to beginning the task. Often, just taking the first step, regardless of how small, can serve as an inducement and thus a motivator for further action.”
Procrastination is just a roadblock in the road to success, and everyone must deal with it at some point in their life in order to get where they want to go.