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Ty Stebelton

Lucia Elden

English 111

17 October 2018

My Good Habit of Procrastination

As of late, my procrastination has been getting out of hand. I have always

procrastinated since I was little, but lately it seems to be worse. It isn’t necessarily a terrible

thing for most situations, but for one specific class it is affecting me a lot. With English, or any

class for that matter, I always just put off writing until the night before. This isn’t necessarily bad

because I feel motivated and focused when I know that I have no choice but to get it done. This

is even when my best thoughts are articulated. However, I am taking online pre-calculus and for

that class, I have never procrastinated so much in my entire life. The class is divided into weekly

lessons with homework and quizzes. After a few weeks, there is the test covering everything we

learned. Additionally, all the work from the past few weeks are due on that test day. Most people

will do the work as it comes and take the test with no problem. I, however, will never do the

work or quizzes until a couple days before the test. This means I procrastinate several weeks of

lessons, work, and quizzes until I have only a few days to learn it all for the test. It hasn't been

much of a problem for me academically because I understand everything better and finish all the

work, but health and stress wise, it’s causes much anguish. So while health wise it may not be

good for me, but I reap the benefits of it in full.

I always put myself into a position where I have no choice. It is either do the work as best

as possible with complete focus or else parish. I always do this to myself and I view it as a bad

thing, but what if it isn’t? As I said before, my best work seems to come out when I do this. So,
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while it is very stressful, it would seem that it benefits me on an academic level. Most people

would not be able to understand this because it seems so opposite. If a person is thought to

always put their work off and timing everything to do it last minute, they are also probably

thought to be a student with a bad work ethic. However, this is not the case because the focus

and attention help me perform better in my work. Not too long ago, I realized that I procrastinate

not because I’m lazy or unable to understand the material or work I need to do but because this is

when I perform my best. My view on procrastination changed immensely. Jack Mezirow would

comment on this by pointing at his idea of frames of reference. Mezirow states, “We transform

our frames of reference through critical reflection on the assumptions upon which our

interpretations, beliefs, and habits of mind or points of view are based” (88). I agree with him

because his point is evident here. I always viewed procrastination as such a bad thing and as if it

made me a bad student, but after some critical reflection on what procrastination means on a

deeper level, I now understand that it isn’t necessarily bad because it has made me perform

better.

This is a habit that has stuck with me for quite some time. As I stated before, it has gotten

to be more frequent and consistent in college. I believe that it is because college is more difficult

and requires more critical thought. I make this claim based on the evidence that I would

procrastinate much more in classes that I deem more difficult. In essence, the more difficult the

class, the more I procrastinate. I should add that I do not do this on purpose, it is simply a habit.

Jack Mezirow briefly speaks on habit of mind by stating, “Habits of mind are broad, abstract,

orienting, habitual ways of thinking, feeling, and acting influenced by assumptions that

constitute a set of codes” (87). James VanderMey speaks much more on habits in his article

“Remarks on Habit.” VanderMey would agree with Mezirow’s definition of habits of mind.
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However, Mezirow seems to frown upon habits while VanderMey would have a similar view of

habits as me, positive. VanderMey says, “As each of us develops into a fully functioning person,

and as each of us gets educated and ultimately grows into a professional, we acquire those

proficiencies in the form of growing and deepening habits” (14). This is all when he spoke of the

DQP (Degree Qualification Profile) of each student and how we develop some bad habits, but

also good habits that help us succeed through school. Additionally, VanderMey states, “First is

the idea of habit as action potential, a body’s readiness to take a certain path” (15). This line

from VanderMey’s speech spoke to me quite heavily as it illustrates my point exactly. My habit

of procrastination is as he says, action potential. I am used to doing everything last minute,

frantically working while still doing the best work I can do. My body is prepared to take this path

as his has been doing it for several years. This is another example of why my last-minute

procrastination isn’t an inherently bad thing. I have conditioned my body to take work best at

these times, and I think VanderMey would heavily agree.

I understand how this may all seem silly or redundant to others. How it could be viewed

by outsiders as an excuse to being lazy instead of throwing myself into my work. Perri Klass, a

professor at New York University, would be one author who disagrees with me and VanderMey.

In Perri Klass’ “Learning the Language,” she tells her story of working at a hospital as a medical

student. The theme of her story is that she has trouble with the language of the discourse

community inside the hospital, and, as such, throws herself into it and is constantly trying learn

and improve her language skills there. She was constantly learning and pushing herself to

understand the new language every day. Klass states, “You move closer and closer to being a

doctor instead of just talking like one” (63). The key words in her quote are ‘closer and closer’.

She formed a habit of learning that meant she was always putting herself into the position to
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learn and to conquer this new medical jargon. Therefore, it is evident as to why she would

disagree with my own habits. I do not work at a consistent pace as she did. I put off work and

studying until I have no choice but to do so, whereas she never put it off. She was eager to hop

into it consistently and was willing to learn everyday she was there. VanderMey would agree that

she has a good habit because she is learning at a consistent and excited pace, but he wouldn’t

disagree with my own habits as Perri Klass might.

I don’t think my procrastination is bad and harmful to me academically. To some, Klass

and Mezirow included, it may seem redundant and not efficient, but it is a habit that has always

helped me comprehend lessons and work efficiently. VanderMey spoke greatly on habits, on

how students develop numerous habits throughout their career. He said that habits seem to

always be frowned upon and get a bad rap, but he disagrees with this common misconception by

stating, “I think we can make a case for good habits, and we have backing from lots of thinkers

on this” (13). So, while my habit of procrastination is not ideal, I think it’s an example of a good

habit. Some day I will work on improving and tweaking my habit to be even more efficient,

allowing me to work very efficiently when it isn’t the last minute, but for now, I think my habit

is fine and simply gets a bad rap.

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Works Cited

Klass, Perri, “Learning the Language.” Exploring Connections: Learning

Mezirow, Jack. “Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice.”

Exploring Connections: Learning in the 21st Century. New York:

Pearson Education, Inc., 2016, pp. 87-93.

VanderMey, James, “Remarks on Habit.” Exploring Connections: Learning