With e-learning assignments flooding in, students may find themselves choosing between another episode of their favorite show and the English paper due at 11:59. With the increasing demand for entertainment and the availability of streaming services such as Netflix, students are more prone to procrastination than they were in the past.

According to Variety, 70% of U.S. consumers of television binge-watch shows, watching on average five episodes per session. With this type of consumption, it would be hard for students to stop watching their favorite shows and focus on their current assignments.

There are two types of procrastination according to Psychology Today: resistant procrastination and refusal procrastination. Resistant procrastination is when a student delays doing a particular task until the last minute but ends up finishing it. However, students that participate in refusal procrastination continue to put a particular task aside and never get it done.

Procrastination not only affects a student’s ability to receive good grades and complete their school assignments but also has long-term effects such as incompetence in the workforce. Costing employers nearly $10,000 each year per employee, procrastination makes up over a quarter of people’s working days, according to a research article written by Brenda Nguyen of The University of Calgary, et al.

With people procrastinating in the workforce, employers may lose unnecessary money and make it harder for their coworkers to complete their jobs. With jobs that require the collaboration of multiple people, with just one procrastinator, it could be difficult for the team to finish their task.

There are many reasons why someone may procrastinate, according to Forbes. Students may procrastinate simply because they do not wish to do the assignment at hand or because they have so many things that they need to accomplish and end up not doing any of them. Stress or anxiety could also be a factor as students could fear big steps in their education.

Because of the many negative effects that procrastination may have, it is important that students understand ways to cease their procrastination in order to have success in their education and in their future workplace. According to Psychology Today, there are five ways people can stop their procrastination.

Preventing Procrastination

Number 1: Make sure to look at the bigger picture. Although it may be tempting to prioritize urgent things, seeing what the bigger goal is could help you reduce your procrastination.

Number 2: Understand that it is normal to feel lost when starting something. Finding what helps you start a new process could help prevent you from procrastinating.

Number 3: It is okay to fear failure but do not let it define you. Understanding that your accomplishments do not necessarily determine your worth could help procrastination that comes from the fear of failure.

Number 4: Understand what helps you work the best. Active procrastination is when a student starts later on an assignment because they perform better under pressure. Just understanding what helps you perform the best could help you from procrastinating.

Number 5: Try not to spend too much time doing unnecessary things even if you do not want to do your work. If you can’t help yourself, just make sure to have specific allotted time for distractions.