Procrastination

[psydd]

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I can't tell if I have a severe case of senioritis or if I'm really just a huge procrastinator at heart. It's my last semester of classes as an undergrad, and I've been slacking off left and right. I'm hoping that it's just because I'm so tired and bitter about undergraduate work at this point since grad school is so close to becoming a reality, which I'm really excited about. I keep telling myself that once I'm in a grad program, my procrastinating tendencies are going to vanish due to sheer lack of time to slack off. But, I'm starting to get a little worried because I'm thinking, "Well, if I'm having a hard time keeping up with school NOW, how will I ever keep up with it in grad school?"

So, to all you current grad students with procrastinating tendencies out there, do you have any time to shirk your duties anymore like you may have done in the past as an undergrad?

 

[cara susanna]

Depends on how good you are at time management. It also depends on what's going on: some weeks are terrible and some are just fine. This week, for instance, I've spread apart all of the stuff I have to get done so I have some free time each day.

With grad school I've found that you pretty much have to set aside some time to just relax and enjoy yourself because if you waited until you had everything done, you'd never have any time off. So I guess that's kind of procrastination.

 

[TenaciousGirl]

I hear you on this one I am so ready for winter break. I know you said you're a senior but do you have a history of procrastination? If not then you probably won't procrastinate in grad school until you reach the end of the year when we're all ready for a break.

 

[kkb19]

I actually brought this up to a counselor at school last week. I asked him if there was any way to be "cured" of procrastination and suggested they have a class for it. An example: I had a little 5-7 page paper due last Friday, basically reviewing two journal articles and tying them in to a main topic. I have known about this since the beginning of the semester, even had my articles for a couple months (that was a separate assignment), yet I waited until Thursday night and Friday morning to write it. I don't know how I did on it yet, but this is standard operating procedure for me. Even when I have time I cannot force myself to do things early; I can't focus until the last minute.

One thing I might try (no promises I will stick to it) is from an article I read about a guy at MIT who published half a dozen papers, finished his dissertation, wrote a book, and did it all in 40 hours a week in his final year of grad school. He basically set a schedule and stuck to it, including his dog walking time, so he didn't do any work after 5 pm and never on weekends. Apparently by setting his own limit on work hours, he was much more productive during those hours and had a very nice balance between work and relaxation. Not a bad idea...but not sure it will work for everyone.

 

[KillerDiller]

One thing I might try (no promises I will stick to it) is from an article I read about a guy at MIT who published half a dozen papers, finished his dissertation, wrote a book, and did it all in 40 hours a week in his final year of grad school. He basically set a schedule and stuck to it, including his dog walking time, so he didn't do any work after 5 pm and never on weekends. Apparently by setting his own limit on work hours, he was much more productive during those hours and had a very nice balance between work and relaxation. Not a bad idea...but not sure it will work for everyone.

I think this is a great idea if you can make it work. I tried this in my MS program and it worked wonderfully. I found that the only times I worked outside of my schedule were times when I actually wanted to be doing that (e.g. I'd hang out in a coffee shop and work ahead).

However, sometimes it's beyond your control. I tried to apply the same principle in my PhD program and found it didn't work. I'm booked from 8:30 to 6:30 or later each day simply with courses, fellowship duties, and practicum, which doesn't allow enough time for all the reading and writing I need to do 🙁.

I've found Cara's suggestion to be really helpful the last two years. Set aside some time to relax within the week because if you don't schedule that in, you won't do it.

 

[psydd]

I hear you on this one I am so ready for winter break. I know you said you're a senior but do you have a history of procrastination? If not then you probably won't procrastinate in grad school until you reach the end of the year when we're all ready for a break.

I'm actually a super senior, which makes my remaining undergraduate experience all the more painful haha.

An example: I had a little 5-7 page paper due last Friday, basically reviewing two journal articles and tying them in to a main topic. I have known about this since the beginning of the semester, even had my articles for a couple months (that was a separate assignment), yet I waited until Thursday night and Friday morning to write it. I don't know how I did on it yet, but this is standard operating procedure for me. Even when I have time I cannot force myself to do things early; I can't focus until the last minute.

I think I probably am just a procrastinator, because I do such similar things to that example. It's basically what I'm doing right now on my final paper (10-pager) for a class. I've known about it all semester, but yet even with only 2 weeks remaining and not having gotten a lot of work done on it yet, it still feels "too early" to be doing it somehow.

The extra ridiculousness of my situation is that I'm a fraction of a point shy of graduating magna cum laude. I need straight A's this semester to pull it off, which is a real possibility if I just stop slacking off. Sigh.

I only feel motivated for grad school at this point, even though it's not real yet.

 

[cara susanna]

The problem with that guy's schedule is that you'd have to be finished with your coursework. On average, each course that I have this semester is about 2-3 hours on one day so by the time your classes are over each day you don't have much time to get other stuff done.

I know a lot of people who work at the office and nowhere else--they do nothing at home. It works great for them, and that's wonderful. But not so much for me, I find I'm too social to be productive while in an office with several othe people. 😉 So I actually am more productive when I can study at home. I also take multiple breaks throughout and, like I said, it works for me.

You do have to stay caught up with your coursework, though, so you can only procrastinate to a certain degree. If say, you put off taping all of your test administrations until the end of the semester, you would get absolutely slammed.

 

[Wildcat06]

there's a LOT of positive peer pressure in grad school. as a first year my cohort and i all have our classes together and chat outside of class so i have a pretty good idea of where they are on assignments and since they're all pretty far ahead of the curve i feel the urge to keep up. i actually finished writing a paper yesterday afternoon that isn't due 'til wednesday. i can tell you that never would have happened in undergrad. 12 hours max 😉

 

[Ollie123]

Procrastination is absolutely still possible in grad school. And beyond. What, you thought your course syllabi were painstakingly developed over several months prior to the first class? You may be surprised how often faculty are scrambling the night before class figuring out what on earth they are supposed to be teaching the students.

The key is figuring out what you CAN procrastinate. I still blitz through term papers at the last minute. I can get away with it, and I know that even if I didn't manage to do it that might mean a "B" in the class...but who cares, grades are meaningless at this level.

The problem you may find is that the "important" things in grad school don't have set deadlines. When does that publication have to be submitted? When its done. Whenever that happens to be. Procrastinate for 10 years if you want. When do you have to get experience doing assessment X or working with clients with disorder Y? Sometime before internship would be good. What about your thesis? Well, you should get it done soon, but no one is going to hold your feet to the fire.

I'm guilty of all of the above at one point or another. I'd strongly encourage you to set deadlines if you procrastinate because otherwise it will get rough. I say this knowing I haven't been overly successful with it myself. In some ways, procrastination is easier in grad school. There is ALWAYS more work to be done, which can offer a guilt-free way to procrastinate the important stuff....something I take advantage of FAR more often than I should.