In November, Life Skills students found inspiration in Harvard graduate and writer Tim Urban’s acclaimed TED talk, “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator.”

We reflected on what environments (bedroom), objects (mobile phones, TV), and relationships (classmates, online gamers) tend to distract us from “taking care of business.” Next, students researched for themselves the topic of procrastination in school and reflected on their current methods of organizing their time and work. Finally, they devised their own personalized “Procrastination Avoidance Plans.”

These plans included:
(1) keeping a written daily planner,
(2) using whiteboard calendars in bedrooms,
(3) uploading assignments to a cloud calendar service
(4) talking to trusted friends and family
(5) finishing school work before video games
(6) turning our mobile devices on “flight mode” when studying.

We truly learned a lot from each other as our first year students from Class 1A and 1B presented specific strategies and mind sets that are helping them balance personal life with academic responsibilities. The presentation was also a great opportunity to speak in English in front of an audience. Of course, Mr. Joyce was extremely impressed by the well-prepared presentations.

Why did we analyze this topic? Everyone procrastinates! Consequences can range from humorous to deeply upsetting while one thing is for sure: procrastination leads to increased anxiety! Therefore we agreed that procrastination avoidance is stress avoidance, too. Class 1 is adapting quickly to the long school days, personal study, and homework. Becoming more vigilant towards procrastination and diligent in “staying ahead of thr work” will lead to greater confidence and success.