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Global Change: An Overview
Human population growth and consumption, energy use, land use changes, and pollution are driving forces of global change. How do these factors impact ecological systems and human societies?
 

The Best Definition Of Procrastination 
Procrastination is the act of putting off work for no particular reason. Some guides and experts say that you’re procrastinating when you’re not doing a task that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline. 
That’s a false definition. It implies that we’re not procrastinating as long as we get the work done. If that’s true, most people don’t procrastinate. Which is of course not true. 
In fact, a recent study I did with 2,219 respondents showed that 88% of all people admit to procrastinating at least one hour a day. That’s more accurate. Why? Because we all delay or postpone a task for no reason. Sometimes, we start a task or project, but we end up delaying the work. We don’t get it done.
Examples Of Procrastination
When you delay work for a good reason, you’re not procrastinating. What’s a good reason? When your work improves with the delay. Think of someone who needs to write a report but runs into a new challenge that must be included in the report. One can argue that the work will be better by spending more time on researching the new challenge.
However, most of our work does not get better by delaying it. If you want to go to the gym, your performance will not be better tomorrow. It will probably be worse because of entropy. 
Two years ago, I gave a talk at Stenden University in The Netherlands. I mentioned my findings on procrastination to the professor who invited me. When I met him recently to discuss my next talk at the University, he shared a graph with me that says everything about a student’s behavior:
The University has an online application for students to practice for exams. The above graph shows how students at the beginning of the semester almost don’t practice at all. 
You see a few spikes in the beginning, probably because the professor explained the online application. But after the initial period, the number of online exercises a student completes is zero. 
Until four days before the exam. That’s when the exam comes close, which is when most students start panicking. Now, most of us form this behavior in college and remain working this way long after we’re graduated.
In the workplace, we procrastinate in the same way. How often have you delayed work on a project until the last minute? Again, this pattern is not only limited to education and work. In our personal lives, we do the same.
When are you submitting your yearly income taxes? Exactly, on the last day. Will we do a better job with our taxes on the last day? Probably not. I argue that we’re even more likely to make mistakes because of the time pressure. 
Some people say that they love deadlines and claim that’s what fuels them to do good work. I know journalists who swear by it. But it’s not a sustainable way of living and working. When you’re close to your deadline, and you haven’t done anything, you experience more stress. While stress may improve your concentration, it also has negative effects on your long-term well-being. 
Long-term, or chronic stress, can lead to depression, anxiety, heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, obesity, eating disorders, and a handful of other health problems1. Procrastination is not a problem we should take lightly.
Benefits Of Beating Procrastination
Procrastination is an inner struggle that can seriously destroy our overall well-being. There are three main benefits to beating procrastination:

Lower anxiety2—The more we procrastinate, and the longer we wait to get started with important things, the more anxiety and stress we have. Doing work is never easy. And if you wait until tomorrow, you will only feel more anxious about getting started. If you overcome procrastination and take immediate action, you will get things done. You remove the anxiety from that task before it gets to you. 
Higher self-discipline3—Research shows that procrastination is not only a time-management problem. One of the biggest reasons we procrastinate is low self-discipline. The main benefit of beating procrastination is that you automatically increase your self-discipline. 
Better work4—People who don’t procrastinate accomplish better work. When you work with less stress, anxiety, and high self-discipline, you give yourself the chance to do better work. 

Most scientific research into procrastination focuses on the downside. The negative effects are clear. But the benefits are often not talked about. It should be clear that overcoming procrastination is the foundation of all achievement in life. Delaying important things is a destructive habit. In contrast, when you don’t delay tasks and take instant action, your well-being and work will improve.

Turn your school into a supportive educational environment, where your educators and staff work as effective teams within a smoothly running administrative system. We can advise you in developing your school policies, regulations, and procedures in ways that benefit all of your stakeholders and create the right conditions for your institution to flourish. You can design and develop your entire school system with Beyond Learning. We base our educational consultation on research as well as on your particular needs. Our foundations in strategic leadership and educational management give us the experience we need to provide consultation that actually helps. 
Turn your school into a supportive educational environment, where your educators and staff work as effective teams within a smoothly running administrative system. We can advise you in developing your school policies, regulations, and procedures in ways that benefit all of your stakeholders and create the right conditions for your institution to flourish. You can design and develop your entire school system with Beyond Learning. We base our educational consultation on research as well as on your particular needs. Our foundations in strategic leadership and educational management give us the experience we need to provide consultation that actually helps.
 

Turn your school into a supportive educational environment, where your educators and staff work as effective teams within a smoothly running administrative system. We can advise you in developing your school policies, regulations, and procedures in ways that benefit all of your stakeholders and create the right conditions for your institution to flourish. You can design and develop your entire school system with Beyond Learning. We base our educational consultation on research as well as on your particular needs. Our foundations in strategic leadership and educational management give us the experience we need to provide consultation that actually helps.
 
 
Turn your school into a supportive educational environment, where your educators and staff work as effective teams within a smoothly running administrative system. We can advise you in developing your school policies, regulations, and procedures in ways that benefit all of your stakeholders and create the right conditions for your institution to flourish. You can design and develop your entire school system with Beyond Learning. We base our educational consultation on research as well as on your particular needs. Our foundations in strategic leadership and educational management give us the experience we need to provide consultation that actually helps.