The Problem

A research study conducted by the Psychological Bulletin in 2007 by Piers Steel revealed that roughly 80-95 percent of college students engage in procrastination. One of the causes, indicated by the research, is distractibility. Online videos, Web surfing, iPods and Blackberries are some venues of distractions in the tech-savvy culture today, according to an article in USA Today.

Cal State Fullerton staff and students recognize procrastination as a problem that needs to be battled. Although this is a large problem, both parties provide hope that developing new habits can prevent procrastination.

The Suggestion

Peggy Bockman, the assistant dean for Student Affairs, suggests students do more than time management.

"What I think is important is self-management," Bockman said. "[Self-management] is where people need to assess themselves and their surroundings and figure out how they are going to prioritize based on their own individual experience."

Bockman oversees the advising center and through her years working with an eclectic range of students, from careful planners to confused plotters, she has found it is more important for students to balance the different responsibilities in their lives as a whole.

Although she sees the need for self-management and planning for the semester, she also understands sometimes life is just hard. Therefore, she compassionately works with students on academic probation.

"I approach academic advising to that special population from the vantage point that something has gotten in the way of their doing their best work," Bockman said.

She sees the need to care for the discouraged, but at the same time encourage others to plan and manage their lives. She believes self-management should be an ongoing practice for an individual's life.

Brenda Garcia, a senior Spanish major, has found that being married, having a part-time job and being a student requires her to create a detailed calendar.

"The calendar is my best friend," Garcia said.

Garcia only has the nighttime to study after doing certain house chores.

"I usually leave time at the end of the day to study and review for the class I had that particular day," Garcia said.

Garcia is fortunate to be able to manage those weighty tasks, but that doesn't mean everyone has developed an effective way to balance their lives.

The Consensus

Business Academic Adviser Michelle Lucio believes that incurring too many classes and responsibilities at a time could actually be detrimental.

"The thing I emphasize to students is to be realistic about how much they can handle not only in terms of school but in their personal lives," Lucio said. "Most of the time when I see students struggling, they have taken on too much."

Lucio advises students who work 40 hours a week to take no more than 2 or 3 classes a semester. This is to prevent them from an overbearing schedule.

In addition to taking fewer classes, she encourages those with a busy life to be diligent in organizing their schedule.

Lucio remembers carefully organizing her schedule during her student years in order to juggle the multiple responsibilities she had during college.

She also believes that a student needs to understand his or her circumstances in order to progress into diligent planning.

The Big Picture

Lucio's role as adviser causes her to view the problem of procrastination from the vantage point of graduation.

She notices business majors put off certain classes like calculus, which is an important prerequisite to other classes.

"The main reason I see students putting things off is because they are afraid of the subject," Lucio said. "They are afraid they are going to fail."

She exhorts students in general to face their fears head-on and go to the resources available on campus to help them, like the professor, the tutoring center and academic advisers.

"I think it is a good practice to see an adviser at least once a semester," Lucio said.

Lucio believes the advising staff of every department is more than happy to help students to make sure they don't put off classes or misunderstand the road to graduation.

"We are all here to serve the students and to make sure they meet their goal of being successful graduates of Cal State Fullerton."