Procrastination
 

My day job involves teaching young people. When I started out, I wanted to be the cool TA, who doesn't care too much about deadlines and other such formalities. With time, I saw the drawbacks of this: I was enabling those students who were inclined toward procrastination.

In the digital era, most of us face some issues with procrastination, but it doesn't mean we let it derail our lives. There's usually one type that's more inclined to it than others: male, opinionated, outspoken, filled with resentment, often overweight. When you see a pattern repeating year after year and causing failure and self-loathing, you want to help.

Except I don't know how (the fact that since the pandemic I haven't been exactly immune to it myself aside... hence this forum). I hate the aspirational language of the self-help industry and can't sit through a YT video of one of those life coaches, so I'm in no position to draw on it or recommend any of it to others.

What can you say to people who you see are being eaten inside by the self-loathing laziness causes, whether they admit it or not? "Clean your room, bucko, because Jungian archetypes" is apparently one option. Is there something else, perhaps less painfully stupid?

You don't really seem like a fatherly type. Leave empathy to others, maybe their families or psychologists. As far as I understand, you teach college students, at this point in their life they should more or less have their **** together. Those that don't are beyond reasoning or persuasion. I figure. :/

Lol that's true


Too harsh for my taste. It's never too late to improve one's self, surely not in college! I believe that several well-chosen words can help turn your life around, even if I'm not a person suited for that role.

I feel attacked.

I'll get around to writing a good response to this eventually.

But, like, in a good way?

Nice one, Trollheart

Quebec sucks.

I disagree. If you're not the fatherly type, that's all the more reason to develop that side of yourself. Any person improves enormously by engaging more with empathy, and actually I don't think jadis is unemphatic, despite not being fatherly or gentle.
Also college students often do not have their **** together at all, and while I hate the increasing schoolishness and lowering of expectations I see at universities, giving students support and advice can really help

I don't really have advice about procrastination though I think, it has always been an issue for me too

My point was more that people who procrastinate at the college level simply have that kind of personality. I also procrastinate. It's just how I am. I manage it. Not because anyone in particular ever taught me a lesson. Life did.

Also, we're talking philosophy students. :/

Yeah they're already failing at life.