With finals week only a month away, a college success workshop, sponsored by IUP's Learning Enhancement Center, addressed student procrastination.
"Stop Procrastinating Now" was held in Pratt Hall Wednesday night.
The workshop showed students know how they procrastinate and how they can try to procrastinate less.
Christin Canavaugh (senior, English education) ran the workshop, and she put the students at ease by letting them know that they are not the only ones with these problems -- most college students have trouble with procrastination.
"I just don't have enough time, it seems like," Canavaugh said. "It's very hard for me to read when I'm in bed."
Reading or studying in bed is difficult. Your brain is trained to do certain things in certain places; in comfortable furniture or in your bed, your brain is trained to relax and sleep.
Whereas, if you were to study in a hard desk chair or sitting on the floor, your brain stays alert because your body isn't very comfortable," Canavaugh said.
The students were warned that watching TV or listening to music while studying is one of the least-effective methods of studying because less information can be retained when the mind is concentrating on so many things.
"Try to get your work done before the TV show [that you want to watch] comes on, or make watching a half hour of TV a reward for yourself," Canavaugh said.
Canavaugh also stressed time management and keeping a planner as key elements to end procrastination.
"Prioritize which assignment is most important, and do that first," Canavaugh said.
Twelve of the 15 students present said they put off the unpleasant work until last. Using Canavaugh's method of doing the most-important assignment first, one is less likely to have a mass of unpleasant work at the end.
Lastly, the students were told to "nibble" at their major assignments, like research papers or semester-long projects, instead of doing the entire thing in one night. This way the work will be of higher quality and "you keep your sanity," Canavaugh said.
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