I’ll Do It Tomorrow, by Trisha Gur

In the article, “I’ll Do It Tomorrow”, by Trisha Gura explains how procrastinating causes problems to careers, health, and saving accounts. Gura uses statistics, examples, and other sources to support her arguments. The author uses evidence from old times like the agrarian age, the industrial revolution, and others. The evidence that Gura uses is so that the reader can understand what procrastination is and how is damaging our lives.

The author’s argument is that procrastination is a problem. Procrastination is learned, people can pick up that habit. Gura explains how the contemporary society offers different form of distraction. One of the big types is technology. The more we give our attention to technologies like video games, we move more away from our tasks. Gura said that the metal analysis by Steel reported 80 to 95 percent of college students procrastinate. College students have packed schedule with school. So, if they have anything that distracts them from their tasks, they won’t find the time to do it. This can bring consequences their grades, GPA, and even their future careers.

To support her argument that procrastination causes health problems, the author uses references from epidemiologist Cynthia Morris and her colleagues. They reported that the adults who procrastinated have high stress and other acute health problems. If an individual keep delaying their tasks, then when it comes to turn it in, they will feel stress. Or someone studying for an exam last minute, they will be overwhelming to remember the information in a short amount of time. Gura pointed out how there are certain personality traits that can have an influence on delaying work. Gura points out how a certain amount of time before an assignment is due can have an influence on someone procrastinating. With having so much time, sometimes people will do other things and put the assignment aside until the due date gets closer. Based on the article, Richmond and his team did an experiment on monkeys. In the trial, they trained the monkeys to release a lever when they see a spot in the computer screen turn red or green. Just like humans, earlier in the experimentation the animals slacked off. Which created many issues.

When a reward came closer, they get on task and complete it. The neurotransmitter dopamine can explain this behavior. Whenever a person, or animal, gets a reward for a task they do then they will most likely repeat that action again. The author does good in communicating her points. To understand her view point, she uses supporting evidence. Gura pulls out facts and statistics and opinions from researchers. At the end of the article, the author gives helpful tips on how to prevent procrastination.

While reading this article I learned about a few things. Procrastination is a hard habit to break. Breaking bad habits is not that easy because it gets ingrain in the brain. There habits that you do unconsciously, or unaware. I think one of the reasons for that is Dopamine, one of the main chemicals in the brain that regulates pleasure. For example, if a person smokes a cigarette, the chemical sends signals to the brain. When Dopamine sends signal to the brain, it’s kind of says that it feels good. The person will start doing it more until they get that pleasurable feeing or relief. Then it turns into a habit and it is sometimes hard to stop. Learning about how many people procrastinate and what it can do to your health was interesting to learn. I knew procrastination can lead consequences to your career, but I did not know it can have a big effect on your health and saving accounts. Another thing that I found interesting was the trial Richmond and his team did on the monkeys.

When the monkeys started slacking off, it created issues. But when they see the reward, they stay on task and made fewer mistakes. In my opinion, I think that rewards can be one of the ways to prevent procrastination. The article was very useful because there was information that I did not know about procrastination. It does apply to my life. When I have a lot of time before an assignment is due, I have the tendency to procrastinate. Learning about what it can do to my health was very helpful. I try to find ways to prevent it from getting worse. I post sticky notes on my wall with assignments and their due dates. Every time I complete an assignment, I cross it out. The author helps me have a better understanding about why procrastination is bad for me.