Ah, procrastination. The bane of the college student’s existence, that little trap that students frequently find themselves falling into and end up kicking themselves over.

And despite the 3 a.m. note to self, while scrambling to finish that 15-page paper that was assigned a month ago and is now due tomorrow, the majority of people end up procrastinating again.

Why? What causes students to put things off until the last minute when they easily could have finished it earlier?

According to Saint Louis University psychology professors David Munz and Chammie Austin procrastination is more than just a bad habit.

Despite the stress and anxiety it often causes, procrastination can also serve an important psychological role.

“Sometimes procrastination makes sense,” said Munz. “It can be looked upon as a natural human phenomenon that’s part of the self-regulation process.”

Austin says that procrastination can also have an “ego-protective function.”

“Oftentimes people avoid engaging in an activity because of the possibility of failure and what that might mean for one’s self-concept,” he said.

Instead, procrastination tends to carry with it the stigma of laziness or poor work ethic.

However, this is not always the case.

“Procrastinating doesn’t mean we’re lazy,” said Munz. “We feel bad about it; we don’t like doing it.”

For many students, procrastination actually motivates them.

Knowing there is only a short amount of time to get something done can have the effect of forcing one’s best, while at the same time showing how one prioritizes, which Austin describes as adaptive procrastination.

“If you procrastinate long enough and have a deadline to meet, with your back to the wall you’ll produce,” Austin said. “Some people condition themselves to respond that way.”

Procrastination becomes negative when the emotions accompanying it become so overwhelming that the procrastinator cannot do the thing he or she had put off, creating an unfortunate cycle of emotions and behavior.

Procrastination also becomes a problem when it is used for the purpose of rationalizing the outcome.

Procrastination can serve as an ego-protective function, which means that if, for example, a student puts off a paper and receives a poor grade, the student can simply blame the grade on procrastination; their self-concept as an intelligent student escapes damage.

“It’s very threatening to get feedback that says you aren’t good,” said Austin. “But if you procrastinate, it’s easy to say ‘If I don’t do well, it’s because of lack of effort, not innate abilities.'”

When this rationale is used every once in awhile, there is no real problem with it. However, when it becomes a consistent excuse for not doing something, one runs the risk of becoming a chronic procrastinator, which can be a sign of a deeper underlying issue.

Although Munz believes it is human nature to procrastinate occasionally, he and Austin both agree that the best plan is to try to avoid procrastination when possible.

Some solutions they suggested for managing procrastination are to make a plan or schedule to know exactly how much time there is to work with, and to tell someone else when something will be done so that the person can provide outside accountability.

“If you’re being held accountable to someone else,” said Austin, “it typically forces you to move forward with something and procrastinate less.”

If procrastination is an overwhelming problem, Student Health and Counseling Services is a resource available to students in Marchetti Towers East. There students can meet with a counselor, who will help improve their time management and planning skills.

One of the aspects of procrastination that Austin points out is the fact that it isn’t always intentional.

“Sometimes we underestimate the task or overestimate ourselves, and unintentionally procrastinate because we think we’re more capable of getting the task done than we are,” he said. “Especially when you have a lot to manage, you’ll put off the things that seem like they can get done easier.”

This situation is something that many students can relate to.

They have to balance hectic academic, extracurricular and social schedules with their personal needs and health concerns, and this can stretch them very thin.

“There’s so much to do that things always seem to get pushed back to the very last minute,” said junior Mike Yan. “It causes a lot of stress and sometimes poor work.”

For some students, though, procrastination does go back to Munz’s idea of procrastination as a mechanism for regulating priorities.

“I procrastinate because my procrastinating typically involves fun activities with my friends,” said sophomore Alicia Bowen. “I feel in the long run the friendships I’m forming will last a lifetime, while a lot of work can be tedious, and not pertaining to what we are going to do with our lives. So it won’t be with us in 4 years, yet alone a lifetime.”

For whatever reason, procrastination is not an inherently bad thing.

If kept to a minimum and balanced well, it can even be an effective tool, one that will become easier to handle with age.

“As you get older and things get more competitive, you’ll modify your approach to procrastination,” said Munz. “You don’t really get rid of those habits, you just refine them.”