Procrastination: intentional or unintentional ?

What do we think in layman's terms procrastinating means? They say na "arrey kal hai na wakt kal kar lenge !" Right? Well yes, absolutely this means to shift today's work to tomorrow and that's how it goes from work to work overload. If we see it from a psychological perspective it could have so many causes like it could be overwhelming fear relating to the subject, tiredness from traveling (if one is a college student and has to travel a lot to and fro), as a coping mechanism, pressure from family to succeed no matter what, or because one might have a carefree attitude, or some unknown disruption, etc. So these are just some of the reasons why we try to push away work that we could get done that time itself. This story that I am about to tell you is about a girl named Riti and how she became a victim of procrastination. 

CHAPTER 1

Let me first introduce her, Riti is a 22-year-old girl born in Gujrat and brought up in the village of Ratnagiri up until she was 1 year old when her family shifted to Mumbai. Since her childhood, she was a very happy, sweet, and naughty girl. Her favorite times included sitting in her doctor father's chair to long rides in the car, walking with her mom in the park, and watching the fishes in the big pond in the backyard of her bungalow. Fast forward to when in Mumbai Riti started with her 1st standard, she suddenly felt like she had become a big girl and was slowly starting to enjoy her school journey that had just begun. Every day after coming back from school she used to beam excitedly and tell her mumma what they did in the class that day, what fun they had on the bus with her friends. Not only was she sweet and funny she also knew when to take things seriously, especially when it came to academics. Soon Riti would go on to become a top student in her school winning accolades that added a shine to her excellent hard work. She had become an undergraduate by now and had intended to pursue her master's once she graduated. 

CHAPTER 2

Flashback to when she was in 9th grade, Riti had already decided what she wanted to pursue and was determined to make her dreams come true. She would always make sure to do her assignments and make time for her meditation time with her Nani, She knew how to balance her studies and leisure time well and of course bring home a reason for her family to be proud of her. This was like a religious activity for Riti that even now as an undergraduate she never compromised on. Life went on smoothly for every soul in the Patel family and the world but what was unexpected was the rise of COVID cases and the dreaded "Lockdown" that would enter everyone's life as an earthquake and shake up the normal life routine of young and adults alike. Schools transitioned from online to offline, offices became work-from-home. Shopping stores started their own apps to do business online. everything happening from the comfort of one's home.

CHAPTER 3

As this new storm was not welcome at first because of the restrictions it brought along soon things turned out to be good for people who preferred to stay comfortable at home. Our Riti wasn't happy about this because she loved going outside meeting her friends or going shopping and now they couldn't even go to school together and have lunch at the school staircase. Having to stay 24/7 at home and attend online lectures, things started to take a toll on her. Study patterns were altered and now no longer students were expected to write long answers but MCQs. Riti also began to gradually like the "at home" feeling and started to relax a little when it came to studying. One day her mumma asked her "Riti beta padhai karli?" to which she replied "nahi mumma kal karungi, aaj mujhe apni favourite series complete karni hai" At first it didn't seem much of a problem but as days went by this continued to happen and to the point where it was only months before the exam and she hadn't started her note making, she started to hurt from within and blaming herself for how she had changed and how she didn't want to disappoint her family. Riti would cry herself to sleep every night and promise to do better the next day. It would be wrong to say that she couldn't be her old self anymore but sometimes certain situations change people in a way they wouldn't have expected and sadly this was the case here. 

CHAPTER 4

Her situation showed no signs of improvement yet somehow she was able to graduate. This pandemic lasted for two whole years. Now that the pandemic had been lifted it felt as if God had hit the "back to normal" button on humanity. Riti also applied for a master's at Mumbai University(her dream college) and on hearing that she had secured a spot she beamed with joy and couldn't wait to join the college and make new friends. Days flew by and the transition again happened from online to offline with hybrid mode being introduced as a means of "testing the waters" Lectures happened as usual and of course, she did make some friends. All was going well for our Ri it seemed but no one was ready for a bomb that was going to be dropped. It was during the time semester 1 was approaching and Riti was struggling with studying a lot (she was not able to bring herself to practice writing long answers or read the article materials the professors had told every student to do so as assignments, she also was struggling with understanding the new software that was introduced for data collecting, and most scary STATISTICS!!!!). This led to her starting to hide how dreadful she felt every day trying to smile and say everything was okay when anybody asked her how her studies were going. She started to face anxiety and delayed anything to study for as long as she could if it meant that her anxiety wouldn't trouble her. Months before exams she didn't even read a word from her textbook until the day before her exams and her assignments weren't submitted either as they were being postponed for another day. It was a very painful sight to see such a bright student succumbing to procrastination as a coping mechanism for avoiding the stress that she was going through. Her exams didn't go well as a result and during semester 2 she started going to therapy to try working on her problem but a few weeks after going in she withdrew her decision. As she had decided to give up on her master's to choose another career path because it was taking a toll on her mental health and was visibly noticing herself procrastinating every task relating to her studies, Riti was blaming herself for becoming such a disappointment to her family, she couldn't believe how she had changed so much. Riti informed her mother and her family about her decision. Her mother was so supportive of her that she embraced Riti and told her that if something was making her so anxious she shouldn't let that thing destroy her and told her to do something that was of interest to her like learning another language and pursuing a diploma in it or doing some courses in the meantime and later on in her life if she felt like doing masters she could do so. Riti's family all gave a very big hug and told her that she didn't ever become a failure in their lives and they also said: "You not doing master's immediately or dropping out midway is not a sin, sometimes we find right paths later in life don't beat yourself over it, sweetie." Riti cried tears of happiness that day as she embraced her family back.

Riti's story is one out of 80-95 percent of college students who procrastinate but not many have a supporting family or environment. It affects a person so much that their self-efficacy, self-esteem, and confidence start to dwindle and they start considering themselves a failure in their own eyes and of the people they are close to. A managing person can become a victim of procrastinating at times in their lives. If we see someone struggling like this we should always extend a helping hand towards them and ask them to open up about what they are going through. Never label them as "dropouts" or " you're an embarrassment to me!". Spreading love and kindness should be every person's motto. A basic emotion called empathy is all that is required to be an understanding human.