We've all been guilty of procrastinating at some point in our lives. Students in high school and college are particularly prone to procrastinating. However, in light of the recent COVID-19 situation, it has become a major concern. You might have assigned projects or homework to your students weeks ago, but most of them are far from making progress. Many students struggle to finish their pile of assignments and become frustrated. As a result, they end up getting poor grades. As their teacher, your first priority should be to assist them in overcoming it. But, how to avoid procrastination for students?
Why Do Students Procrastinate?
Procrastination among students is not necessarily due to laziness or irresponsibility. If you look closely you'll notice that procrastination is also caused by a lack of motivation, confidence, and guidelines.
In short, some common reasons for procrastination are:
- Lack of organizational skills
- Low energy level
- Lack of understanding
- Lack of Motivation
- Fear of failure
- Lack of confidence
- Prone to distraction
- Concentration problem
When students put off their work for days, procrastination becomes disastrous. It eventually affects the students’ performance in both academic and personal life. Procrastination over a long period of time might even lead to depression. Students might also become less confident in their ability to participate in future tasks.
How To Avoid Students Procrastinating ?
So, how can you help overcome student procrastination? Here are some tips that can help your students become more active and stop procrastinating:
Create Meaningful Projects For Students
Students often put off doing their projects when they find them boring or irrelevant. They may feel the projects are not relevant to them. So, create projects and assignments that are meaningful for your students.
You should also explain why you are giving them the project. When students feel they have something to gain from the task, they will be motivated to do it.
Break The Project Into Minor Tasks
Projects that need to be submitted at the end of the term are often very long. Moreover, students have projects and papers on other subjects as well. So, instead of telling them to submit the entire project by the due date, you can break the tasks into smaller parts.
Then ask them to complete each part and report back to you on separate dates. They can show you the outline first and complete the projects part by part.
Give Them Clear Instructions
Many students do not begin working on their assignments because they lack the necessary information. Provide them with detailed instructions on how to execute the tasks. And make sure everyone understands the rules.
Set Deadlines And Remind Students About It
Students are frequently distracted with other activities and fail to remember important deadlines. Thus, remind them of the deadline on a regular basis. Encourage your students to turn in smaller tasks on time so they don't feel overwhelmed by having to submit everything at once.
Teach Students Management Skills
Another reason students procrastinate is that they lack proper time management skills. Hence, it would be best if you took some time to teach some management and organizational skills before handing the students any projects.
You can encourage them to use planners. Remind them to write their assignments and set deadlines to submit them. They can use safe online Google Apps to keep track of their projects and important submission dates, Such as Safe Doc also provides a secure online space for students and teachers in Google Workspace for Education, blocking obscene images, documents, and videos from the web.
Reward Students For Completing Tasks
Motivation and genuine words of inspiration can encourage students to be more productive. Even if the projects and assignments are for their development, students want to be appreciated for their handwork.
So, reward the students who complete their tasks within the deadline. The reward does not have to be anything materialistic. You can tell them how much you appreciate their hard work or what a great job they have done in submitting their projects on time.
Conclusion
By now, you must have learned how to avoid procrastination for students. Support from teachers is crucial to stopping procrastination among students. It will help if you are strategic about helping your students. You can start by applying these tips mentioned in this article.
