Do you sometimes try to ignore school work, hoping against hope that it will go away? Do you substitute school work with less important work (for example, watching sports instead of writing assignments or studying)? Do you tend to focus on one part of school work at the expense of the rest, for example, studying only certain topics you feel are simple and leaving those you feel are difficult? Do you spend too much time choosing a topic? Do you wait until the last minute to begin serious studying? Do you often put off school work that you find difficult? Do you attempt to do too much work at once that you cannot do any of it? When you start writing assignments and homework do you often stop before completing? If your answer is yes to any of the above questions, then you have a problem of procrastination.

In the past weeks, we have been discussing an important topic on how to deal with laziness. I am happy that this topic has raised a lot of dust on people's minds looking at the number of text and emails I have been receiving. Never has my phone been as busy as in the past weeks and guess what? Most of the text messages and callers were admitting being lazy. It is so gratifying and I am grateful to all those who said the previous column on how to deal with laziness had brought some positive change in your academic and personal life. We owe it to the Saturday's Education Post for the column space.

Nevertheless, today we will try to relate our previous discussion (How to deal with Laziness) to procrastination. It is true that students who are lazy are procrastinators. In any case, what is procrastination? It is simply the habit of putting off school works to the last possible minute. It is part of being human. We have all procrastinated at one time or another. However, for some students, it is a major problem. They would rather wait until the last minute to begin serious preparations for the exams. Students who procrastinate are always full of excuses and consolation statements like "I still have time: I will do my assignment some other time."

When a procrastinator sets an alarm clock to wake him/her up, say at 04:00 am, he or she will just switch it off when it rings, reset it to some other time and continue sleeping while consoling himself/herself with excuses like, "It is just for today. I have tomorrow and other days to study." The following day, a procrastinator will do likewise until it becomes a habit only to later realise that it is almost exam time. When this happens, a procrastinator will start panicking. Come exam time, you will see all those who have been procrastinating under pressure while trying to force themselves to understand everything at once.

Putting off school work is deadly. It does not solve any problem: it only delays it until you are overwhelmed and burdened with other problems. One thing students who procrastinate normally forget is that time keeps on ticking while they delay school works. According to Benjamin Franklin, "You may delay, but time will not." My dear readers, putting off school work is fooling yourself. According to Olin Miller, "If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it." George Claude further counsels, "Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing will make it impossible." If you are finding school to be hard, postponing homework, assignments, study will make it impossible for you to pass exams. Therefore, I urge you to do today what should be done today. "A year from now, you may wish you had started today" (Karen Lamb). This is a sound and timely advice; never entertain this animal called procrastination. It will rob you of your time, opportunities and success in the end. Take every single moment seriously so that you may not live on regrets at a later stage. "This is the beginning of a new day. God has given you this day to use as I will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important, because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that you have traded for it. It should be gain, not loss; good not evil; success not failure; in order that you shall not regret the price you paid for it (Author Unknown).

May God bless you. Keep on reading this column and remember to get yourself a copy of "EXAMS MADE EASY" book. The author is the Principal at Great North Road Academy and an exam consultant for Exams Made Easy Educational Consultants. For motivational talks, consultancy, questions and contributions, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or text me on +260955592320

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