Covid and the year of procrastination.

2020 is over and I really can’t wait for the new year to change our lives. It has been a year being cooped up and many times alone with my own thoughts. I have thought about the things I want to do and about the things I need to complete. One thing that I have found is an escape into the digital world, this world has expanded while the real world seems to have been downsized.

The online world of games and entertainment has been a major distraction and fills a gap that real life sometimes just can’t keep up with, it keeps us on the edge of our seats and our minds stimulated in ways past generations never experienced. This exciting and stimulating virtual world has created something of a new beast out of procrastination’ it has grown new legs and led us to believe we can accomplish things much quicker than we really might be able to. We can log on and get all the information we need at the click of a button. I realize this isn’t new but it is certainly growing quicker and more accessible.

I thought it would be interesting to get a bigger perspective, so I asked a variety of people a few questions to see if I’m on the right track.

Mr. Whalen’s Perspective on the questions

1. Do you feel like students are procrastinating more now because of covid 19? Is Procrastination greater this year than other years? 1 and 2. I don’t think students are procrastinating more this year than in previous years. Some students procrastinate, some don’t. Students have more time this year to finish work for their classes.

3. When is it good to procrastinate? It could be useful to procrastinate when you’re unsure of something. It gives you more time to think of a solution. Just don’t take so long that you miss a deadline or an opportunity!

4. Why do people procrastinate? Because something is difficult or seen as unpleasant.

5. When is it really bad to start procrastinating? When you’re procrastinating all the time for everything, that’s a problem.

6.Have you seen your students have worse attendance this year than other years? No. No more than last year.

7.How badly has the Coronavirus affected the time for students to hand in their work from previous years? Students have fewer classes at one time this year. It should be easier to complete assignments because you have fewer classes giving you assignments.

8. Is it bad to procrastinate? Only if it becomes an impediment to your life.

9. What’s the difference between procrastination and patience? Patience is when you want to give careful attention to something you’re doing. Procrastination is when you put off something with no plans to do it, carefully or otherwise.

3) When is it good to procrastinate? It’s “good” to procrastinate if you are being productive in another way and the waiting period before starting something is actually useful to you to help you formulate your thoughts. I often take a walk before plunging into something for this very purpose. It is good for me to exercise, and I often have a new idea when I return from my walk.

4) Why do people procrastinate? I can’t speak for other people, but I procrastinate because sometimes I think a task is unpleasant or there’s another thing I’d prefer to do. Other times I just don’t know where to begin, so I put off starting.

5)When is it really bad to start procrastinating? Procrastination becomes a problem when a deadline looms, and I haven’t left enough time to properly perform a task. Then I get upset and make the situation even worse.

6) Have you seen your students have worse attendance this year than other years? Attendance is definitely more of a problem this year primarily because each day is so precious when you only have two days together a week. When students are in the building for five days a week, an absence here or there doesn’t have as big an impact. Still, just showing up is one of the most important ways for students to access their education under any circumstances.

7) How badly has the Coronavirus affected the time for students to hand in their work from previous years? As a teacher, my expectations for when work will be handed in (the “due date”) is a lot more lax this year, because I know that kids are struggling to complete work due to our rules around quarantine.

8)Is it bad to procrastinate? By its nature procrastination suggests there is a problem, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Recognizing and working through problems is an important life skill. When I stop myself and ask why I can’t get to work on something, I try to generate a list. Once I deal with those issues, it helps me clear the way to work. That reflection is a useful part of procrastination.

9) What’s the difference between procrastination and patience? Wow. What a good question. Procrastination is the act of putting things off; patience is the act of waiting for the inevitable to happen. A patient person is not necessarily a procrastinator, and a procrastinator may not be patient. (More likely they’re panicked!) In both cases, time is an issue but the results are very different.

10) What can procrastinators do to change their lives? A procrastinator should ask themself what the reasons are for delaying doing something that needs to be done. They need to come to terms with those reasons and clear them so that they can move forward. Sometimes just talking to someone else can help reduce the anxiety or lack of engagement that produces procrastination. Making lists and schedules helps me stay on task. Also, I reward myself when I complete a portion of the tasks I’ve been putting off. I’ll make a mini-goal and when I finish it, I do something else that I really enjoy. Then I go back to the task refreshed and often with a new outlook on it.

11)Are students procrastinating more now because of the Coronavirus? I think the ability of most students to engage with hard work has become more difficult during Covid. It takes perseverance to push through a tough task, and without the extrinsic efforts of a teacher/coach, many young people lose focus. I believe – once again – that this is a temporary problem. Once we are able to help students daily build their intrinsic desire to do good work, the procrastination problem will lessen, though it will certainly still exist.

And then my perspective on the questions

1. Do you feel like students are procrastinating more now because of covid 19? I feel that this is

   true, I feel now that we have online classes more often people have more free time to do

   something more interesting and fun or they go and procrastinate.

2. Is Procrastination greater this year than other years? Yes most likely way greater than last year

   because of online classes.

3. When is it good to procrastinate? When it’s a project where you need to procrastinate.
4. Why do people procrastinate? People procrastinate because they are either postponing

   something or just don’t want to do it.

5. When is it really bad to start procrastinating? When it’s something that’s due right away.
6. Have you seen your students have worse attendance this year than other years? I’m not a teacher

   but it’s probably worse just because of online attendance.

7. How badly has the Coronavirus affected the time for students to hand in their work from

   previous years? Again I’m not a teacher but it’s probably affected it pretty heavily because of the

   new schedule and changes that had to happen.

8. Is it bad to procrastinate? Yes.
9. What’s the difference between procrastination and patience? Procrastination is to delay or avoid

   something, patience is to celebrate the task you’ve done.

10. What can procrastinators do to change their lives? Know what you want to do every day, set

    short term goals and long term goals.

11. Are students procrastinating more now because of the Coronavirus? Yes since some places are all

    online still I can imagine people are avoiding their work and classes.