When it comes to learning, it’s pretty obvious that some of the tasks involved can become monotonous, laborious, or just plain boring. Note-taking, studying, writing papers, and research can be grueling activities to engage in week after week. Because of this, college students will often avoid work. They will have a challenging time getting themselves to sit down, get started, and stay on task. Let’s examine some of the reasons this happens.
Anxiety: Some students experience anxiety that can cause them to avoid. For some students, writing a paper is incredibly difficult. The anticipation and worry associated with this type of assignment can drive up a student’s anxiety. The same goes for exams or projects. It can be so scary and intimidating that it causes students to completely ignore their work, which eventually creates more problems.
Procrastination: I most often associate procrastination with challenges initiating. Students will have a difficult time getting started, especially well in advance, on an assignment. They put it off longer and longer until their stress starts to increase. By waiting to get started, students will open the door for more emotional struggles and produce lower quality work.
Confidence: Some students will avoid work because they don’t think that they are able to complete the assignment. They may think they’re not as smart as others in the class or may doubt their ability to stay on task and work effectively. Regardless, when students struggle with confidence, or self-esteem, it will lead to more avoidance of work.
Isolation- Isolation takes away a student’s ability to connect with others. When students start to wall themselves off, they go to class less, interact less, and complete less work. I have seen students begin to go outside less and less. Eventually, weeks can pass with them barely leaving their dorm room. These students start to avoid more and more work as they lose touch with the outside world and become more immobile.
Working with an academic coach can help students break out of these cycles. A coach can help a student by analyzing and identifying the challenges students are facing and then helping the student set weekly goals. These goals will revolve around productivity and activity. By utilizing a coach, a student can drive up their effectiveness and sidestep the contributors that can lead to work avoidance.