It’s Sunday night. You sit on the second floor of Swem, cursing yourself for leaving this paper to the last minute AGAIN. You promised yourself that you’d start it when it was assigned (or at least not at 9:15 the night before it was due), but life got in the way, as it always does.
Being in this situation time and time again has led me to wonder if procrastinating an assignment can be beneficial. We all have a friend who claims that they do their best work under pressure, no matter how ridiculous that may sound. Although I do question the logic of this claim, I have often done well on assignments that I’ve forced myself to complete right before the due date. With club meetings, assignments from other classes, some aspect of a social life, and the needs for sleep and food consumption, it’s understandable that college students are often found completing their papers and cramming for tests at the last minute. If only procrastination was actually a good thing…
Oh wait, several researchers are making claims that procrastination is, in fact, the best way to handle a situation. In 2012, Frank Partnoy released a book called Wait: The Art of Science and Day in which he advocated waiting until the last minute to make an important decision. Smithsonian.com, in their article “Why Procrastination is Good For You” said that “Partnoy claims that when faced with a decision, we should assess how long we have to make it, and then wait until the last possible moment to do so”. Essentially, he is saying that humans are most successful when they act right before a deadline.
Furthermore, Pamela Wiegartz, in a Psychology Today article, advocates the idea of the “active procrastinator”. She says that people who choose to wait until the last minute are able to “feel in control of their time and use it purposefully.” Wiegartz is promoting a special type of procrastinator, not somebody who just absentmindedly waits until the last day to make a decision or complete an assignment. To be an active procrastinator, one must make the conscious decision to perform under pressure in order to be able to do their best work.
While procrastination is certainly not the best tactic for everyone, it is good to hear that it can be beneficial in many circumstances. College students will be relieved to know that they still can do well on the paper they are struggling to finish the night before its due or the exam they waited until the last second to cram for. On that note, I should probably get back to my work that’s due tomorrow.