By Wan Nurul Huda
GOMBAK, 4 December 2019: Approaching the end of semester, a forum “Coping with Procrastination”, held on Monday (2 December) provided a useful discussion on how students can manage their workload and prepare themselves for the upcoming final exam week.
The forum that took place at Lecture Theatre Hall 2, Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences (KENMS), featured two young panelists, Farhan Suhaimi, a known speaker and content creator for ML Studio, and Anisah Musa, a first-class honours degree holder and a master’s candidate in economics at IIUM.
The discussion which was moderated by former vice-president of Harmoni Club IIUM, Raja Nur Hanisah, highlighted constant conflicts faced by the students with procrastination.
Most students see procrastination as a normal thing. They are not aware of what could lead them to procrastinate and when they did it they could not find a way to deal with the consequences, the forum was told.
Someone might be prone to procrastinate due to some reasons such as distractions, laziness, lack of drive or motivation, or overwhelmed by seemingly difficult tasks and too much workloads.
“Sometimes, a person procrastinates because he wants to focus on other things that are more important. Another reason would be because he or she feels the need to have a break after doing some work and consider it as a reward,” said Anisah.
“However, the second reason often leads to the person unintentionally spending a long break and the work turns out to be delayed,” she added.
The discussion also talked about how students can cope with procrastination by discovering their own capability and learn how to organise work according to its priority.
“It is important for us to know ourselves. We need to discover our interest and ability in doing a particular thing so that we will know which one for us is easier to do or which one is harder,” said Farhan.
He added, “It is not wrong to procrastinate. The main concern here is how you prioritise things by realising your ability and then work on them slowly but continuously.”
“By knowing your own capability, you will know which one to focus on and has more priority. You can also create a schedule or notes to keep updated with your work progress,” said Anisah.
Besides coping with procrastination, students were told they should also be aware of the consequences of making procrastination as a habit.
“Based on my observation, most people tend to be frustrated, anxious, and sad when they procrastinate. They feel that they could do better and be excellent if they do the work earlier. This then affects their psychological well-being and academic performance,” said Anisah.
The forum ended with all speakers agreeing with the idea that procrastination should not be a normal practice especially among students. Students were told they should learn how to manage their work accordingly in order for them to excel in their study.
Organised by Harmoni Club IIUM, this forum was one of the initiatives by its Intellectual and Academic Bureau to improve the academic performance of the members and non-members of the club.
The forum provided a good platform for discussion on important issues like procrastination which is believed to have not received much attention from the students themselves.***