Before delving into the advantages and limitations of this practice, it must first be addressed that there isn’t just a single type of procrastination. In reality, there are two types common among all people: passive procrastination and active procrastination.
The classic idea of procrastination is known as passive procrastination. Characterized by the inability to stop putting off tasks, it causes many to struggle to complete assignments within the desired time frame.
On the contrary, active procrastination is the more positive relative of stereotypical procrastination. Active procrastination is deliberately putting off tasks to create positive stress, which makes an environment with just enough pressure to enable quick and efficient work. Often, this also allows smaller assignments to be done in the meantime.
“I’ve seen positive stress, where students can manage it and use it to their advantage and perform at a high level. But I’ve also seen some very negative stress that habilitates to a point where anxiety takes over, and they can’t function,” Principal Ralph Crame said.
According to “The Journal of Social Psychology“ by Angela Hsin Chun Chu and Jin Nam Choi, active procrastination can allow those wielding its powers to “achieve as much as possible in the least possible time.” And, when compared to traditional procrastinators, active procrastinators “showed higher levels of purposive use of time and time control.”
Many students like Sam Jones, a Carlmont junior, were unaware of the different types of procrastination. However, Jones wonders how accurate these claims really are.
“I’m not sure how beneficial active procrastination would really be. I guess I’m just so used to trying to avoid it that I never really thought about how it could help me,” Jones said.
