Students love to look at their work load and say to themselves, “I’ve got time,” but they soon find out how quickly their “time” disappears. Procrastination, more specifically cramming, is a major problem among youths around the high school and college years. Its affects to the procrastinator are often overlooked because it just seems to happen. People just like to focus on the present and forget the future which inevitably causes negative outcomes as a result of the cramming. Cramming does not only affect the grades of the person cramming, but also health related issues such as addictions and anxiety. It seems that cramming may be the solution for people who cannot manage to find time to regularly study, however, in actuality it is nowhere near a good substitute for actual studying. Studying is an underrated task that people take for granted until their scores come back and they have received a C or a D.

Students’ lives are so full of commitments or outside factors that eventually leads them to begin the habit of cramming within their academic careers. They tend to put their other activities over actually taking time to do their school work to the fullest potential. Their priorities begin to become mixed up resulting in cramming. One article said that, “Over-committed schedules can lead to little or no time to study” (Logsdon). The over-committed schedules cause the students to be less willing to study periodically. From this the habit of procrastinating begins to form. However, there is the other end of the spectrum where people with disabilities or people who just don’t understand the material feel too ashamed to study. As one article said, “A fear of failure arises because of a learning disability” (Logsdon). Unfortunately, it is not easily treated because no matter the effort, retaining the information will be tough. Whether they study five days before or the night before they feel like there is no difference. What they have to realize is that there can be a difference if they put in those extra efforts. It is hard to retain information with so many activities or with mental issues, but no matter the person it is better to practice regularly than to just accept having average or below scores.

One may feel like an expert on the subject at hand while they are studying it the night before, but once the exam is passed out it feels like all the information from studying has disappeared. People like to feel that if they just study all the key points before an exam then it will be no problem to remember them for a couple hours or a night. Unfortunately, that is not how our brains work. As one article explains, “When the test comes the next morning or a few hours later, the information has left your brain” (Marx). On some tests there are so many main points to remember that memorizing them in such a short amount of time causes confusion. Also, people just try to remember the basic and most straight forward facts. Most of the time in the last years of high school and college it is required to know more details about a certain subject. It was said how, “You will need to know more than just the facts’ you will also need to be able to apply the facts to the subject at hand” (Marx). It takes people a while to figure out that outside information on a subject is essential to success. Knowing about something is not the same as knowing how to apply that something. Once people do realize that they don’t know enough then they begin to panic. Anxiety is one of the most common outcomes of being a procrastinator and cramming for something.

People do not understand that most of the stress they feel in their lives is brought upon by what they do in their daily lives. If they chose to be a hard worker then they will have more stress and more rewards to lessen their stress. However, if people wish to slack then they will have more stress but nothing to relieve them of that stress. Students who decide to study days before will have the confidence and capability that they need to perform well on the exam. Those who do not begin to worry and to panic and to become stressed out by what they failed to do. One article expressed that, “You may find yourself panicking because you know that you haven’t spent enough time studying” (Meilan). Fear of failure and anxiety begin to take hold of the slacker causing their performance to be under what their potential is. It gets to the point where they are physically draining themselves of all their energy to spend hours the night before or the morning of so they can study at the last minute. Then because they are tired it causes their performance to become even worse. Another article stated how, “Reading fatigue during studying and low energy levels during testing can lead to lower test marks, anxiety, and frustration” (Logsdon). The level of ability is weakened causing less of a quality performance. Then because the student has to work these tough hours they begin to take stimulants. The stimulants might be coffee, energy drinks, or even drugs; but the point is that an unnecessary addiction is created because of their procrastination. Unfortunately, these kinds of habits are not so easy to break.

Over fifty percent of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis in the morning. That is how over half of our country’s citizens wake up in the morning. They feel that they will not be able to have the energy to care on with their daily lives without it. Then there are the students who think that cramming the night before or the morning of is a good idea. If they feel drained then they are going to need something to stay awake, and as previously written it will be out 1 in 2. Unfortunately, procrastination will never be able to be overcome. As stated by one article, “Procrastination seems to be a way of life for many high school and college students” (Marx). Hopefully, if they do resort to a stimulant that it is only coffee. It would be unfortunate if they began doing energy drinks or drugs that are harmful to the body. They are so many safer ways to study for a test that stimulants shouldn’t have to be an option. However as one article states, “Students might take stimulants to help them stay awake through the night” (Marx). It is such a dangerous gamble to create a terrible habit to keep one from completely failing a test. If they would just put in only half an hour everyday then they would not have to cram the night before or take stimulants. Yet, it is easier said than done. Breaking the habit of procrastination and cramming is extremely difficult even though it is proven to that waiting till the last minute to study causes academic performances to be worse.

Cramming has been shown to not only affect a student’s grades, but also their physical and mental health. Taking things one step at a time is the easiest way to do something. Don’t look at it as one big project, but as a bunch of little steps that are easy to accomplish. It is better to slowly get things done than to wait to the last minute and do everything at once. Those who wait begin to feel overwhelmed and they panic over their workload. One shouldn’t have to feel that kind of pressure because it definitely is overwhelming for one person to feel. Start somewhere. Don’t feel that there is time in the future to get it done because it will become the present and the past sooner than expected.