Thesis Statement: Procrastination among high school students is not just a bad habit but

it is perceived as extremely harmful for it can cause them high level of stress that results
to behavioral disorders.

I.

Introduction
Do you experience a playful feeling that you are in mood starting
making your projects but after a few minutes you will set aside your paper
works and choose to check your phone if someone specifically your
friends leave their messages?
Many of high school students hobby is to procrastinate also
known as maana habit. They do not about to start the task they need to
finish. They do not want to start the task they need to finish. They are fond
of cramming. Well, there are students that say that their creative juices will
help them when the deadline next to them. But few students can do this
kind of habit and they use it as an excuse for their laziness. We cannot
redeem time. When their teachers give a term paper or project, students
need to brain storm and schedule the things they need to accomplish.
Excessive procrastination can result in many troubles.
Overall procrastination will have a negative effect on students, studies and
personal successs.1
Teenagers are influenced by the magic of technology in their study
habits. It is good to rest and have enough time to relax but they should
know all their limitations and boundaries because it is not nice to do bad

1 Ronald Molmisa, Pass or Fail (Philippines:OMF Literature Inc. 2011),

p.67

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things; however, take note of the consequences that will happen after it is
done.
According to Queena Lee-Chua in her article Rx for
procrastination, the word procrastination is derived from the word
procrastinus which means forward and tomorrow.
Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in
preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place
of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later
time, sometimes to the last minute
When teenager/students have a task to do, especially if they have
given a lot of time, one of the initial reactions is to sit back and relax.
Because of having a lot of time to do it there is a tendency for them to do
some other stuff which will make them focus on doing the task divert to
other things. After having fun, the word start pop-up that will lead them
to panicking stage, rushing their work for the sake of finishing it. The
effect of it is a low quality output because you only allotted a short period
of time to prepare it.
Bullying, cheating or drug abuse is not the most common problem
of students because those three are insidious but procrastination is the
most prevalent2
Procrastination is also known as student syndrome. Students are
not aware that they are procrastinating because it became their habit; they
think that it is normal or they observed that most of their classmates are
procrastinating and with that observation they conclude that it is just

2 Quenna Lee-Chua,Rx for Procrastination,Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 12, 2011,

p.14.

3
typical. Procrastination can also be considered as a contagious disease.
Many students got the idea of procrastination from their friends who
influenced them.

II.

Types of Procrastinators
Procrastination is widely practiced among students. There are a lot of
forms of procrastinating; students can be classified according to the way they
procrastinate.
A. The Cleaner
Organizing is making your things systematic and tidy, yet it could
be a cause for you to procrastinate.
Students, even a lot of people are quite irritated o messy
surroundings but some of them are using cleaning as an excuse on hanging
up their school requirements, hence committing procrastination.

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This type of procrastinator has its pros and cons. They were able to
organize their stuffs for a tidier environment but they were not yet done on
what should be done like assignments and projects. They were able to
accomplish one duty but still, they let the other task left hang which is
supposed to be done immediately and urgently.

B. The Panicker
Some students are used in procrastinating and cramming yet, they
are afraid of getting caught. Over confidence is a reason of a panicker to
procrastinate. Even before doing homework, some students could already
underestimated the homework and setting it on a shorter length of time but
the homework is a contrast to their expectations. This is one of the most
usual scenario of a panicker.

C. The List Maker

Do you think it is effective for a procrastinator to have a list of the
task they need to do? It depends. Certified procrastinators would not think
of making a list of the task they need to accomplish because they are too
lazy to do it. A task list will not be completely marked unless the one who
listed it, do something about it. The task should be listed with
determination that you will finish it and make it possible.
D. The Napper

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After going home late, some students will do their assignment and
they will eventually find themselves sleeping and dreaming about what
they did before they sleep. Setting an alarm clock is good but sometimes
students are not able to wake up because of tiredness which is their fault in
the first place. Having fun is not bad but time management should be
considered, especially by students. Students have a lot of time with their
friends but when it comes to school matters, they set it aside for a short
length of time.
E. The Internet Researcher
Living in the modern day, teenagers are fond of browsing the
internet most especially in social sites. The internet is a rich source of
information but some students who often procrastinate use the internet for
entertainment which is a cause of procrastination. A little entertainment is
not bad if other important things are done first.

III.

Stand of Procrastination
A. Causes of Procrastination
All things came from a valid reason but when you procrastinate
nothing is valid because you procrastinate for the sake of having fun or so
that you could chat with your friends and shout in Twitter. Because of
industrialization and other advancement of the society, the students have a
lot of reasons to procrastinate.

1.

Modernization
Technology can make people lives easier but it can also teach them
to be lazy as well. Maybe it depends on the person on what path he/she
wants to take. The only ingredient is self-discipline- a behavior that
you need to have in your hand for you to control yourself in using
computer and cell phone. Under modernization, there are three social

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pages that high school students are addicted to browse with that
became the reason for them to procrastinate.
a. Facebook
Facebook is one of the most addicting sites in the world. It
is used to communicate with other people. Communicating with
other people does not seem to be addicting, right? Facebook is not
just for communicating with other people; it can also be used to
play games, to share whats on your mind, to upload pictures, to be
updated on what is the latest with your idol, to have some new
friends, etc. It is the reason why people, mostly teenagers,
procrastinate.

b. Wattpad
Students interviewees answered that reading e-books
entertain and also inspire them that made them caught up in the
love stories like: Diary ng Panget, Operation: Break the
Casanovas Heart and Shes Dating the Gangster. Due to this
so-called hobby, readers are vulnerable to procrastinate because it
divides their attention and the fact that they cant multi-task when
you are reading.
Wattpad is a special website where millions of works made
by aspiring authors are compiled and shared to public. Some says

8
that the works published to this site are made special to all
hopeless romantic readers who wish to have a perfect love life like
what is written to the book of their own choice. Sad thing about
this addiction shows that many students are very impatient when it
comes to love. Love can wait and still high school students are still
immature to serious type of relationship. There are many fishes
in the sea, as the common saying says and there is no reason to
rush.
In addition, reading PDFs in cellphones causes our eyes to
weaken because of the light that is concentrated and there are
traces of Radiation. Eyes are pretty much precious and it needs
care. Day dreams are fine as long as it never reach its ultimate,
because reality is better than dream. It is better to live out your
dream than to die living in the world of fantasy.

c. Youtube
Listening to music can help motivate a person throughout
the day. Some of the high school students are fond of watching
videos or latest music of their favorite bands or artists. They tend
to follow or listen to the latest craze coming from the internet.
High school students also have access on violent videos like by
using the internet.

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All of these informative and entertaining vines and videos
can be accessed on Youtube. Youtube is a website that allows
internet users to watch videos uploaded by other people. Youtube
contains a lot of videos that can be accessed by most people. It is
also the source of most of todays dance crazes. Youtube has a lot
of videos that are entertaining. It causes procrastination because
some students, who are supposed to do their task first, instead,
watch the latest sensations on Youtube. After viewing a specific
video, therell be a list of related videos that will be screened. Due
to curiosity, the person will view the other videos concerning the
video the person have just watched. After that, another list comes
off. The person will be caught in a loop of curiosity of browsing
videos and will only stop if the person feels satisfied.
2.

Study Habits
Most habits negate the effect of studying on students. The habits may
also cause procrastination. There are a lot of habits that students
practice while studying.
a. Scattered Focus
Why do students keep on diverting their focus and
doing other things instead? Its because they find their main
task/goal boring. So they tend to do other things instead. But
sometimes, the reason why they commit scattered focus is that they
have lots of things to do. And that makes them think a way to
finish their tasks very quickly. So, they technically think that doing

10
all tasks at once help finish their tasks faster. But in reality,
students are making things more complicated and messy. Having a
lot of projects on the same week or date of deadlines is very
confusing and will get you out of phase. Scattered focus will give
stress to students that may cause them to leave the task and
procrastinate. A to-do-list will help in organizing tasks.

b. Boredom
Everyone is willing to work if it is fun to do but once
boredom strikes, they cannot help it. High school students are
easily bored. Ningas kugon is one of a common practice that
leads people to procrastination. People who love to start their work
but also leave it when they are starting to get bored are those who
practice Ningas kugon. The reason why people, most specifically
the students, get bored is because they lose interest in that work
which they had in starting that work.
Boredom is one of the enemies of good time management.
When someone is struck by this powerful force, a new
procrastinator is born.

c. Poor Time Management

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Time management is another way to overcome
procrastination. because students value their time, every second is
important to them. Therefore, they will not delay the things they
have to do. They will not put off impending tasks to a later time.
Time management can also be applied to students because they
often procrastinate so the result is cramming. And when they cram,
the quality of their work is poor. The reason is they do no have
enough time to polish their work. This is why time management is
important. It doesnt only lessen their tasks; it also make them
more organized and disciplined.
d. Perfectionism
Perfectionism believes that they have to do something that
will make others proud of them. Nobody is perfect, everyone
commits mistakes and always have a chance to improve it.
Perfectionism causes procrastination; when high school students
are already finished with their projects and they have identified an
error to their work, they will think a perfect or complicated idea
that will lead them to procrastination because they have
insufficient time to apply it in their finished project. They must
take the initiative. They will become stronger, braver, more
disciplined, more driven, and more focused. So recognize that the
challenge of procrastination is truly a blessing disguise. The whole
point is to grow stronger.

12
e. Laziness
As a result of procrastinating, students become lazier than
before. Laziness is the most effective poison to kill them achieving
their goal and being successful. Once they decided to postpone
their work, they become lazy to finish it. They will give many
excuses to themselves so that they dont need to complete their
task yet. For instance, If they have an assignments during the
holiday they will say that Hold on, I have such a long time to
finish it and everything is going to be okay. Procrastination,
together with laziness, will ruin your life. You can live your life
once only. There is no second chance. Therefore; you need to kill
your laziness before everything becomes too late.
B. Effects of Procrastination
Procrastination can cause negative effects to students and also to their
behavior. It can cause anxiety, guilt feelings and sometimes their mood
swings; it can cause poor performance.
1.

Stress
When students are stressed, they feel irritated and there is a
tendency for some to hurt other people. Stress is a mental disorder
where in your feel that there is no way for you to surpass in something
that is why sometimes, instead of doing their task, they just think of it
and when they know that they cannot do it they will just sit and let their
brain burst because of over thinking. The only thing that they can do is
to relax and give themselves a time to enjoy.

2.

Poor Quality Outputs

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Another effect of procrastination is an unfinished task. Therefore;
it can hinder them from being a good student. As a high school student,
they cannot run and escape away their assignments. Besides, they had
been given a lot of time to finish their duties/assigned task. As a good
student, They are suppose to manage time wisely so that they can finish
all the assignments on time but because of procrastination, they cannot
make a quality output and there is a tendency for them that they will
submit their assignments after the given deadline. Dont attach yourself
in the words, Better late than Never, because you misunderstood it
and used it to cover your mistakes.
3.

Low Grades
Maybe grade is not important to some high school students but
they should start to love their grades and make their parents proud to
them. If they really love their parents, they can sacrifice everything just
to make them smile. Procrastination can lower down your grade; this is
because you cannot complete your work on time, lack of revisions and
exercises. Therefore, you cannot perform well in your exams. The
consequence is in your grade. Only then you will realize that youve
taken a wrong path. You need to go back from the start again. Give
chance to yourself in order to get a good grade in your exam.
According to Collins Dictionary, self esteem means how you feel
about yourself. So if you have low-esteem, you can behave confidently.
In procrastination, having low self-esteem means you dont trust
yourself. For example, a lot of requirements were given and

14
unfortunately you have low self-esteem, the tendency for you is that
youll not do it because you believe that you cannot finish it.
4.

Anxiety
Because anxiety is somehow a complex word, let us recall what
anxiety means. Anxiety is a feeling of nervousness or worry. We
connect anxiety to procrastination because procrastination means you
delay things that you really have to do and that means you dont care at
all. Anxiety can also consider as a major factor that may lead students
to procrastinate.

IV.

Overcoming Procrastination
There are things that student should do so that they will not be victim of
procrastination. Often, it is not how hard your project is; nevertheless, it is the
attitude of the person who will do that certain task.
A. Recognize that You are a Procrastinator
If students will not accept that they are procrastinators, there will
be a chance for them to not change for the better because there is a system
inside their mind that says that it is just fine to procrastinate; besides, and
they observed that they are not the only ones. Sometimes the truth will
make them realize that they have to do something that will get them in
better condition. Its not a crime to admit that you procrastinate, in fact it
is good to admit at least so that you know what to change in you and you
know what is your weaknesses and try to enhance and change it by little.

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B. Focus on Starting rather than Finishing
The problem in some high school students they are over thinking
how hard their projects are but theyre not thinking on how to start it.
Because of that kind of thinking, they were more confused and challenged
which causes big probability that they really cant do it and be able to
accomplish it on time.
You should not worry yourself on how, when and where to start on
your work but you should motivate yourself more on how to finish and
vision in your mind what is your ideal finished look of your project. On
that way, you will have a greed head forward on doing and finishing soon
your work. Optimism never fails.
C. Motivation to Change
Motivation is the process of encouraging the subordinates to act in
a desired manner. It can also help students to overcome procrastination.
Lack of motivation may result student to feel that nobody care for them or
a feeling that nobody wanted to lend their shoulder for them to be
motivated.
In the article How to Overcome Procrastination Using Self Talk
the writer believes that even if motivation is high, students may still
encounter tasks that they dont want to do. In these situations, selfdiscipline works like a motivational back-up system.
Motivation is the key to change. But it depends on the students if
they are willing to change for the better or ignore the effects of
procrastination to their personality and behavior.
We will make our assignments together Rosette Tarinay, third
year student. Friends play a big role in her motivational system and she

16
will not get bored in doing the task she need to accomplish because she
can play a joke with her friend while doing the assignments they need to
pass.
D. Dealing with Fear of Failure
Many students usually fail in their work because they are afraid to
commit mistake that they will regret at the end of the day. The root cause
of this fear is perfectionism. It is a practice where in the students mindset
is in doing a great work that tends them to be a indecisive because their
focus is scattered on making their work perfect
Fear of failure is considered as one factor why students
procrastinate because after seeing that there is something wrong in their
finished work, they will think of something that will make it perfect. The
problem is that they have insufficient time to change it.
Another one, accept that nobody is perfect. Failure is a blessing in
disguise because students will learn from it and will realize that everything
happened for reasons

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V.

Survey Analyses
Background Information:
For the interview, students from grade 7, grade 8, third year and fourth
year were taken as respondents. To have each year level be equally
represented, 17 students per year level were interviewed, totaling to 68
respondents. Each of the respondents were asked by the following questions
and their answers are shown in the results of the analyses.

THINGS STUDYING
DONE(21.6%)
BY STUDENTS
AFTER GETTING HOME
CLEANING (4.8%)
SLEEPING (13.6%)

EATING (27.2%)

SURFING THE NET (30%)

WANDERING AROUND (0.8%)

WATCHING TELEVISION (1.6%)

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITES (0.8%)

TEXTING (1.6%)

HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS (1.6%)

SPORTS ACTIVITES (1.6%)

After getting home, 30% of the student respondents surf the net first
before doing other things. Other things that a lot of students do are eating,
studying and sleeping. There are only few respondents who do other things
like watching television, texting, wandering around, sports activities,

18
extracurricular activities, and hanging out with friends. This data proves that
most students give priority first in doing things in the virtual world like
logging in Facebook, Twitter and all other social sites. Even though a big
percentage of the respondents study before doing other things, most of the
respondents take priority on surfing the net which is one justified reason of
procrastination.

TIME CONSUMPTION OF STUDENTS BY DOING WORK

STUDENTS THAT CONSUME ONE (1) HOUR

STUDENTS THAT CONSUME TWO TO THREE (2-3) HOURS

STUDENTS THAT CONSUME FOUR (4) HOURS

STUDENTS THAT CONSUME MORE THAN FOUR (4) HOURS

On the hours that the students are usually doing school tasks, the most
numbered among the choices given are doing tasks within 2-3 hours which
was chosen by 45% of the respondents, next is doing tasks for 1 hour which
was chosen by 22% of the respondents, then doing tasks for 4 hours which
was chosen by 17% of the respondents and lastly, doing tasks for more than 4
hours which was chosen by 16 % of the students.

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STUDENTS WHO START THEIR OUTPUTS EARLY

STUDENTS WHO DO THEIR OUTPUTS RIGHT AWAY (37.68%)

STUDENT WHO DO THEIR OUTPUT IN SOME OTHER DAY (47.83%)

STUDENTS WHO SETTLE FOR MEDIOCRITY (4.35%)

STUDENTS WHO DO THEIR OUTPUTS THE NIGHT BEFORE (10.14%)

Survey shows that the majority of high school students make their outputs
project in some other day. Following the biggest portion of the graph is the
percentage of students who will start their project as soon as possible. Third
on the list are the people who will procrastinate that will surely make them
cram for outputs that causes them to pass low quality project. Second to the
last on the list are the secondary students who will not hesitate to give a low
quality of project- mediocrity. Last on the list, which no one dares to answer,
is being ignorant on the project itself.

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STUDENTS' RESPONSE WHETHER THEY THINK THAT THEY'RE FRIENDS GREATLY INFLUENCE THEM TO PROCRASTINATE

YES (31.88%)

SOMETIMES (42.03%)

NO (26.09%)

In the data shown, most students answered sometimes. A lot of students

responded positive while the remaining replied a negative. As shown in the
data, most of the students friends only influence them to procrastinate not
very often. This means that the friend/s could only influence the student to
procrastinate depending on many situations. A lot also answered that their
friends play a big role on influencing them to procrastinate which means that
these friends could be a bad influence to them.

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THE TIME WHEN STUDENTS

START
IMMEDIATELY
(47.22%) WORKING ON A 10-PAGE REPORT
(Given a specific scenario)
THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE DUE DATE

TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE DUE DATE (6.94%)

ONE WEEK BEFORE DUE DATE (18.06%)

SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE THE DUE DATE (11.11%)

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DUE DATE (0.00%)

Based on the graph, majority has answered immediately. Those people

dont want to rush their work. While 12 people chose to start working three
weeks before it is due. It might be because they are preparing themselves for
that task. Also for those who answered two weeks before it is due. Almost 20
people answered both one week before it is due and several days before it is
due. Why? It is because theyre procrastinators.

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FACTORS THAT PREVENT STUDENTS FROM DOING THEIR WORK WELL

ENVIRONMENT (40.74%)

STRESS (40.74%)

FINANCIAL TERMS (6.17%)

TECHNOLOGY (3.70%)

PERSONALITY/LAZINESS (3.70%)

FRIENDS/ PEER PRESSURE (4.95%)

As we can see on the graph, the most common factors that prevent the
students from doing their work well are their environment and stress. Other
usual reasons are financial terms, technology, their friends or peer pressure
and their personality- laziness. On this data, we can conclude that the
environment of the student is a great factor that can hinder him/her from
studying well. Other examples of that are family problems which are also a
cause of the rebellion of children; as a result of the rebellion, children do not
study well or they might even procrastinate. Another great factor that affects
students from doing their work well is stress. Stress can also be a result of the
students environment. There are several negative effects of stress including
procrastinating.

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STUDENTS' RESPONSE IF THEY ARE AWARE IN DOING PROCRASTINATION

YES (67.64%)

NO (14.71%)

MAYBE (17.65%)

Based on the graph, majority were procrastinating because their common

response is that they were aware of it and they know that their works suffers
the most. While some of the students arent aware of doing it or never have
the guts to take the risk of procrastination. Also, there are also students who
are not sure that theyre doing procrastination to the fact that theyre not
familiar and confused about procrastination. Some of them tend to be ignorant
of this idea or just taking time for granted--relaxed ones.

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THINGS THAT SHOULD BE OBSERVED TO AVOID PROCRASTINATION ACCORDING TO STUDENTS

TIME MANAGEMENT (40.58%)

IMMEDIATELY (24.64%)

DISCIPLINE (20.29%)

RESPONSIBILITY (14.49%)

Based on the graph, many students spend their time wisely for them to
prevent from procrastinating, while some other students will do their tasks
immediately and will be discipline to their works given. Lastly, the remaining
ones would stop procrastinating because they keep in mind that it is their
responsibility as a student to do their task as soon as possible.

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PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WHO ARE AWARE THAT THEY WERE PROCRASTINATING

YES (62.32%)

NO (37.68%)

Based on the graph, Most of the students tend to give up because they
dont know where to start. Majority who answered yes feel depressed,
stressed, frustrated, sad and ashamed. While students who answered no
wanted to finish their assigned tasks for the sake of not to be part of so-called
procrastinators, they tend to do their outputs as early as possible.

VI.

Summary

26
Procrastination, considered to be a syndrome among people especially in
students, is form of laziness that causes poor outputs. This syndrome leads
person to reach his best extent in doing such task and consider himself a
mediocre. Mediocre persons are the ones who dont value the word quality.
They make tasks and never even bother exerting some effort to those specific
tasks. They are the person who makes projects for the sake of completion.
Putting off something or as we call it slacking is like the breaking the rule of
discipline: choosing between what you want now and what you want most.
People get bored and tend to find a way to lessen their stress load by
entertainment. This is where distractions, more likely the interesting stuff,
invade the organized or planned tasks. The largest and the common
entertainment that is sufficient enough to feed the stressed minds of this
generation is the social media websites such as Facebook, Youtube, Wattpad
and etc.all in one entertainment. Reducing stress is essential to our minds
but excessive entertainment is a major devastation of planned process to reach
goals.
Sometimes the person itself is not the problem but the reward system or the
motivation was not quite convincing. It is hard to make one stay to their path
towards success. Procrastination is the mother inconvenience and cramming.
Humans are vulnerable of distraction or the wrong path and thats how life
workschallenges to face. Remembering and achieving the ideal state in goal
is the greatest prize received to those who give much effort and control the
temptation of short happiness. Whenever and wherever, procrastination is a

27
part of humans dictionary. Self-controlling, learning to prioritize, managing
time, reducing distractions and putting on the motivated mode are the
ingredients of success in every requirement given and prevention tips, and not
a complete cure, of this disorder.

VII.

Conclusion

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Based from the interview that we have conducted, we therefore conclude that
procrastination is a bad habit among high school students in terms of studying which
causes some physical and mental stress.
Technology, which is prevalent at this time, and the environment, like circle of
friends and peer pressure are some hindrances of effective studying habits among
students.
Some students consume in doing school tasks for prolonged hours because theyre
doing duties and things that is not relatable on what they should do. And in terms of long
deadline projects, some students tend to do it just a couple of days or worse, a night
before the deadline because of the long time frame of preparation that is wasted in doing
other things that is not relatable on the project that should be accomplish because they
find it boring and they know that they have a lot of time before doing the task.
There are some cases that they did not know where to start doing an activity.
Some felt giving up. They felt helpless, clueless and useless but others say that they know
they can do it.

VIII. Recommendation

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This research will help in widening and broadening the perception of readers,
specifically the high school students about procrastination. In this research, it elaborates
procrastinations definition, factors, causes and effects and some key points on how to
manage and minimize it.
Everything that surrounds us including ourselves, possess both positive and
negative characteristics, perspectives and benefits. Its good causes, bad causes and effects
could help solve your problem or make things more complicated.
Even if procrastinating has some beneficial factors, it is still not good to commit it
repetitively. A continuous and repetitious activity is a habit- a habit which is a tough thing
to minimize or to change because you already get used to it. If you can minimize this bad
habit, then do and start it. Even little by little until you can discipline yourself.
Theres nothing wrong in choosing bad options but dont expect a good result to
your action. It is alright if you opted to do last minute works; you have freedom to choose
and you yourself is the one who is responsible on your actions and its outcomes but of
course, do not expect big rewards and good grades on what you have done.
Lastly, in every action people are doing, optimism should always be put behind
their back. Optimism will never fail. Future opportunities should always be sought by
people and most especially by students.