According to an article in Psychology Today, 20 percent of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators.

Procrastination is simply “putting things off” or waiting until the last minute to work on something before it needs to be finished.

Procrastination can severely hinder the academic performance of college students. Procrastinating is so easy and becomes a normal habit among students, who claim many reasons to procrastinate.

Students may procrastinate because they become overwhelmed by their workload. Distractions are another culprit of blame many times, while in other cases, students might just be plain lazy.

Whatever the reason may be, it is no secret that procrastination creates more stressful lives and lowers the quality of work.

Procrastination is commonly caused when someone has something urgent to do like a paper to write or a test to study for. Students would rather do something like hang out with friends or watch TV, so the more important task is put off.

Cyndy Swanson, a teacher at Colorado Springs Christian Schools, recommends several strategies to combat procrastination.

“It helps to develop a list of daily tasks that you write down on a piece of paper and cross off after you finish each one,” Swanson recommends. “It’s also good to have a calendar and set your deadlines a week before they are due, that way you can trick yourself into getting things done ahead of time.”

“It’s good to set small goals for yourself, oftentimes breaking what you need to do down into smaller parts can help you lose that feeling of being overwhelmed,” Swanson continues. “Take a 10 minute break when you’re done and do something you want to do, but be sure to set an alarm to get back to work!”

“It might help to make plans with your friends the night before something is due that you know you will procrastinate,” Swanson explained. “This will force you to get it done ahead of time and also gives you something to look forward to.”

“Procrastination is easy to fight when you set your mind to it,” she said. “You just have to figure out what will motivate you.”