Jacobs & Hyman Case

Chapter 2: Literature review

2.0 Introduction

Various emphasise has been made when it comes to identifying the main reason behind the deteriorating academic performance among college and university students. Those who lack that knowledge find themselves stuck when it comes to harnessing good time management. Many of these young adults are questioned at some point on how well they know about time management as they often encounter stress related problems which lead to failure in exams.

2.1 Causes

2.1.1 Stress

Based on a survey conducted on the reasons of stress among first year students of Management and Science University (MSU), Shah Alam, Malaysia (2009) it was concluded that the major causes of stress were lack of sleep, academic work loads and social problems. This indirectly shows the lack of time management among students as these problems will be less likely to occur if their time were managed well. However it is not just the time management method the students fail to notice. The groups of students most prone to these problems are first year college students who are new to the environment, therefore more vulnerable to the changes from their high school. In college, students are bound to the illusion whereby there is an abundant source of time due to flexible time-tables, lengthy dead line for assignments and less daunting teachers (Katie Hern,2010).

2.1.2 Procrastination

This causes procrastination which is the main catalyst for their failure in managing time. An analysis was done by York University (2010) which states that 40% of students from any university or college find procrastination a problem where they let important task get in the away with least important ones. Students would rather spend time hanging out with friends or at social networking sites after making short plan of what task they are supposed to do ( Yaakub,2000). Many of the students who fall prey to such habit are unaware of how much time is wasted.

2.1.3 Failure in priorities

Various psychological factors are involved when college students fail to commit themselves with managing their time carefully. According to Ferrari (1995), that there are five cognitive distortions which prevent students from completing their scheduled task. Two of it is that students often overestimate the time left to finish of their work. Unlike high school, the times spent on lectures are limited and the extra time presented is usually plenty but this ends up clouding their perceptions. When they finally brought themselves to the brink of the due date, procrastination still occurs as they de-motivate themselves from doing it.

2.2 Effects

2.2.1 Distracted from objectives

This proves that those who fail in time management knows what they need and must do but the distractions from their environment drains their ability to say 'No'. Socializing is their biggest weakness where they are easily influenced to go to the movies with friends too often. Their new lifestyle brought a false sense of freedom to them and they slot in activities more than they could even handle (Jacobs & Hyman 2010, p.25). This means