Why Do We Put Things Off?

Have you ever decided to start studying "tomorrow," only to say the same thing again the next day? If so, you are not alone. In a survey conducted by our school newspaper last month, 68 percent of the 300 students who answered said that they often postpone tasks they find difficult or boring. Psychologists call this habit procrastination, and it is surprisingly common among people of all ages.

Why do we postpone things even when we know they are important? One reason is that our brains tend to value rewards we can get right now more than rewards in the future. Watching a funny video gives us pleasure immediately, while the benefits of learning new words may not appear until months later. As a result, the choice that feels better today often wins. This is why so many of us pick up our phones "just for a minute" and end up using them for an hour.

Another reason is that large tasks can feel overwhelming. When a goal such as "memorize 2,000 words" seems too big, it is hard to know where to begin. Several students told us that they felt anxious just looking at their thick vocabulary books, so they closed them and did something else instead. Some even admitted that they had postponed reviewing until the night before the test.

The good news is that there are simple ways to fight this habit. First, break a big goal into small steps. Ten new words a day is much easier to start than 2,000. Second, decide exactly when and where you will study — for example, "on the train after school." Finally, give yourself a small reward after you finish each step.

When a sports festival is postponed because of rain, the school chooses a new date for it. However, when we put off our own work without a plan, nobody chooses a new date for us, and the work does not disappear. It only feels heavier as the deadline gets closer, and the stress grows along with it. Remember that every expert was once a beginner who simply decided to begin. Why not take the first small step today, instead of tomorrow?