For many Norwich students, getting work done on time is easier said than done.
“I am a procrastinator, I can almost never just sit down and do my homework, I will do anything and everything to put it off to the last minute,” said Jeff Hill, 19, a sophomore accounting major from Canajoharie, N.Y.
Students say there are so many distractions at college that it’s extremely easy to put a project off until the night before.
“I get distracted really easily, I will play Call Of Duty (a video game) every night and play for hours putting off my homework until as late as possible,” said Dan Unright, 21, a junior health science major from Delmar, N.Y.
“I usually will start my homework around 11 or 12 at night and won’t finish until around 2 or 3 in the morning, not because it’s hard but because I am playing video games or watching a movie while I do it,” said Collin Greenwood, 20, a junior health science major, from Lyndon, Vt.
In the new South Hall dorm there is a study room designed to help students get away from the distractions like video games.
“I don’t think that room could help me because the problem is starting the work. If I procrastinate the work I am just going to procrastinate going into the study room,” Hill said.
“If I really want to get the work done I wouldn’t be able to go to the study room because I would still see people and get distracted,” said Unright, “so if I go anywhere to do my work it would have to be the library.”
One of the major differences between high school and college is the independent work, and so the need for time management skills. Many students find time-management skills are hard to learn – but acknowledge they have to learn them eventually.
“I know I will have to stop procrastinating at some point and be able to do things right away,” said Marden.
Some students control their distractions by making sure they are not in their room.
“I don’t own an Xbox 360 so I can’t just play it all night, but I will go over to my friend’s room almost every night and still play all night,” said Chris Marden, 20, a junior criminal justice major from Laconia, N.H. “But there are still some nights where I can’t play whether it’s because my friends don’t want to or I am on the Internet. I still find ways to procrastinate.”