A TIDSOPTIMIST, a Swedish word which means “time optimist,” is someone who is habitually late because they think that they have more time than they actually do.
Day in and day out, around 30 percent of the youth worldwide ensnare themselves in the web for an average of three hours, and 60 percent of the time spent by an average teenager on the internet is not school-related.
Because of the “pleasure” that they get from scrolling through their social networking accounts, young people have willed themselves to believe that they still have time to catch their deadlines and do their projects later, until later becomes tomorrow, and tomorrow becomes the day after that.
The tidsoptimism brought about by these distractions has propagated one of the most common patterns of behavior that most high school and college students are guilty of—cramming.
The “due tomorrow, do tomorrow” culture rampant in most universities is seen as the root cause of failure. Although there are some who thrive in it, who see pressure as a triggering factor for their creativity, most students who are committed to not doing their tasks on time are almost always just lazy.
The most common reason why students cram is their over-committed schedules. This is especially apparent for students who have active social lives or many extra-curricular affiliations. Their tidsoptimism, coupled with their tendency to be game for anything, lessens their time to meet deadlines and complete tasks and so they end up with poor grades
It also increases stress levels and causes anxiety and frustration. It also defeats the purpose of learning because it doesn’t give the brain enough time to process information and make critical connections.
In other words, not only does it leave you over-fatigued, it also does nothing to improve your academic performance. Luckily, this downward spiral into regret and self-loathing isn’t forever.
The most common and underrated way to counter tidsoptimism and cramming is to manage your time properly and there is no better way to do that than to map out your day-to-day activities. Being able to follow a specific plan will help you monitor how much time it takes for you to accomplish each task and help you adjust to the timeframe.
Another would be to study each chapter gradually rather than trying to memorize the entire book in a span of how many hours. Giving yourself time to digest the information presented can help input these ideas into memory therefore making it easier for you to recall what you have studied when it’s finally time for you to take the test.
Finally, eliminate your perception of having more time than you actually do by being more goal-oriented. For example, if you want to watch a television show, hardwire your brain into doing your homework first. Not only will this make you productive, but it will also make you feel rewarded when you finally binge-watch the series later on.
Our belief of endless tomorrows wastes the time and potential to do something productive. Being an optimist is fine, but being too much of it—and on the aspect of time, no less—brings us no good. (Mina Michaela M. Limbaga)