Freeland 1

Olivia Freeland

Prof. Johnson

English 1201-523

23 March 2020

Literature Review

The topic I am researching is procrastination. Through my research, I hope to find out

what causes procrastination and how it can be prevented. Nearly everyone has struggled with

procrastination at some point in their lives and it is important to understand what causes this in

us and how we can stop it from taking over our lives. Some believe this bad habit develops as a

result of modern technology and prolonged internet usage, while others believe procrastination

stems from an individual’s personal psychology.

Academic procrastination is the most common type of procrastination, and it is defined as

“the tendency to put off or delay tasks related to one’s studies so that they are either not fully

completed by their due dates or have to be rushed to be finished” (Orpen 73). Academic

procrastination has a direct negative impact on academic performance. As we procrastinate more

our achievements in our studies decline rapidly (Asikhia 205). In high school students,

procrastination is also connected with anxiety and low self-esteem.

One theory about the cause of academic procrastination is that prolonged internet use is

to blame. People spend extended amounts of time on the internet, which begins to interfere with

their motivation toward their studies. Problematic internet use (PIU) negatively effects students’

GPA and leads to academic procrastination (Andangsari 114). PIU can also cause adolescence

to skip school, which can lead to decreased academic performance and procrastination.
 Freeland 2

Another potential determinant of procrastination is an individual’s approach to learning.

The level of procrastination depends on the individual’s mindset towards certain topics.

According to Christopher Orpen, there are two types of approaches taken in learning tasks,

surface-level and deep-level processing (74). Typically, the more motivated students engage in

deep-level processing. They seek to understand every aspect of what they are learning and they

comprehend the importance. On the other hand, surface-level processors typically only

memorize important details and main ideas of the context. This explains why surface-level

processors are more likely to procrastinate and put off their tasks. (Orpen 74)

Simpler explanations for why people procrastinate are that many individuals are quite

lazy and have poor time management skills. Students who are assigned work at the beginning of

the week that is due at the end often do not start the assignment until the night before it is due

(Zarick 214). Many claim that they work well under pressure or that they believe they have

more time and do not need to complete their work ahead of time. However, once they wait until

Thursday night to start the work due Friday, they realize they should not have waited until the

last minute. This lack of motivation and time management is present in many high school and

college students, and it often prevents them from reaching their full academic potential.
 Freeland 3

Works Cited

Asikhia, Olubusayo A. “Academic Procrastination in Mathematics: Causes, Dangers and

Implications of Counselling for Effective Learning.” International Education

Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, Aug. 2010, pp. 205–210. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1066019&site=eds-live.

Esther Widhi Andangsari, et al. “Loneliness and Problematic Internet Use (PIU) as

Causes of Academic Procrastination.” International Journal of Social Science

Studies, no. 2, 2018, p. 133. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx

Orpen, Christopher. “The Causes and Consequences of Academic Procrastination: A

Research Note.” Westminster Studies in Education, vol. 21, no. 1, July 1998, p.

73. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/0140672980210107.

Parsons, Carol Anne, and Daniel Soucie. “Perceptions of the Causes of Procrastination by

Sport Administrators.” Journal of Sport Management, vol. 2, no. 2, July 1988, pp.

129–139. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1123/jsm.2.2.129.

Zarick, LisaM., and Robert Stonebraker. “I’ll Do It Tomorrow.” College Teaching, vol.

57, no. 4, Fall 2009, pp. 211–215. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3200/CTCH.57.4.211-215.

Freeland 4