2023 started few months ago, and with a new beginning, all of us tend to define specific goals to achieve by the end of the year, the so-called New Year’s Resolutions. Some of these goals are really common: get organized, eat healthy, spend less money and all that jazz. And what about the students? Their goal, which is repeated every year, as regular as clockwork (I can guarantee!), is to study on time, not waiting until last minute and to control the phenomenon of procrastination.
Procrastination is common among students (and people in general), but when it becomes serious, it might represent a real problem and bring consequences. Many institutions understand the sensibility of this topic, and consequently provide students with meetings with experts who can help through recommendations, tips or, simply, by giving an explanation of how the process of procrastination works. This was the case for first year BTO students, who had the great pleasure to attend a masterclass on Dec. 7Th 2022, taught by Martijn van der Spoel and titled “Focus and Procrastination”.
The professor, who is an expert in helping students in developing effective study habits, started the class with an interesting metaphor: ‘the eagle has an incredible overview, but the level of detail it can achieve is equally impressive’. The effort used to focus on something is subjective and, fortunately, improvable. Between all the tips we received, one made an impact among the students present in the classroom (maybe because it was the most philosophical one!): BE CURIOUS. The desire to know makes us ask questions and actively participate in what we want to focus on. On the other hand, when focus is not enough, procrastination may gain the upper hand. It can be compared, according to van der Spoel, to a chain, composed by growing rings, that become harder to cut at the end, rather than at the beginning. It is important that people, and especially students because of their young age, are given the knowledge and the instruments to stop procrastinating before it might become a serious problem, just as Prof. van de Spoel was able to do with BTO students.
