Hi, I’m Eric Stoller, blogger for OnlineColleges.org! I’m known across the country as a thought leader and consultant on using social media in higher education to create connections and enhance communication. You can find out more about my professional background, and current projects 
One of my favorite t-shirts states that “Procrastinators [are] leaders of tomorrow.” The play on words makes you think as you realize that those that wait, have to wait to be a leader too. Academically speaking, procrastination is not always a bad thing. In fact, procrastination can be incredibly helpful. Let me explain…
Procrastination comes from procrastinate which is defined as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” Generally labeled as a negative behavior, from an educational standpoint, procrastination takes a lot of skill to pull of successfully without incurring dire consequences. As defined, procrastination is anything but accidental. As a student, you have to be quite intentional about the why, how, and when you put something off. It is not by chance I would argue, but by skillful manipulation of your life circumstances. Some of the most successful students that I have had the pleasure of advising academically have been habitual procrastinators. Their habit, putting things off until later, is often seen by many as been irresponsible or without careful measure. However, these successful students were being methodical with their procrastinating. They knew how much time that they had to complete an assignment and how much time it would require them to complete it. While I’m not arguing the merit of “an all nighter,” I was always pleased with their grades. They knew what many students know…procrastination can be a catalyst for amazing work and concentrated levels of productivity.
It reminds me of when I used to work in higher education health promotion. We knew that students were going to engage in underage drinking. We also knew that we could not get students to stop drinking altogether, but that encouraging moderation and safe behaviors were more realistic for programmatic goals and outcomes. Procrastination is going to happen. Saying to students that they should not procrastinate is not going to keep them from procrastinating. As a student, I bet if you were told to “procrastinate smarter,” that that would be much more approachable.
People oftentimes tend to connect someone’s work ethic with their levels of procrastination. The idea that the more you procrastinate, the less likely you are to be a hard worker. I would posit that someone’s work ethic and procrastination behaviors are not necessarily connected. Not procrastinating works really well for some students. For others, strategically placing certain tasks near the end of a term allows them to work on other things and/or to engage in actions that are necessary to their overall success.
You know your schedule. You know what works well for you in terms of studying, paper writing, and time management. Procrastination is okay as long as it does not negatively impact the quality of your academic work. If you write better in the evenings, schedule your employment hours during the day so that you can write at night. Perhaps your organizational system differs from your peers. That is okay. Learning is a highly individualist thing and so is doing, creating, and producing. Procrastinators can truly be leaders of today and tomorrow…especially when you factor in their high levels of intentionality and consistency.
