The Positive and Negative Aspects of Procrastination in College Students

Abstract

Procrastination is a standard behavior among university students because they are pressured to achieve high academic standards in their courses while having other responsibilities, such as work or extracurricular activities outside of school. The stress of achieving high academic standards while simultaneously having other faults can cause students to put off tasks until close to the deadline. The article examines the factors that affect college students’ procrastination at various levels and objectively describes the impact of procrastination on college students from both positive and negative perspectives. On the positive side, aggressive procrastination can help increase productivity and creativity, as deadlines approach. This last-minute rush can also lead to a sense of achievement and pride in completing tasks under pressure. How to enable college students to overcome negative procrastination behaviors and how to use positive procrastination behaviors to improve college students' learning and productivity are discussed in this literature review. There are also some limitations in recent studies, such small sample size. Future studies should incorporate these factors into the experimental design. This review can provide some insights for the design of relevant college intervention programs.