As soon as I got the assignment for my second writing paper, I immediately started thinking of ideas for it.

I have never had problems coming up with topics to write about or to produce for a project, it’s the execution itself that I have found myself constantly pushing off. Even as I type these words, I am listening to music, hanging out with my roommate, depositing checks online and have maybe seven browsers open on my computer, all of which are unrelated to this assignment.

Technology has made it particularly easy to sidetrack us from our responsibilities and even human interaction. After transferring from a commuter school in my hometown to USC, I have recognized a significant difference in the amount of procrastination I did at home versus being on my own. While the two schools are completely different, being in an environment where you have full control over what you do and how you budget your time versus commuting to class and living at home.

By interacting with Woebot, determined how effective mobile CBT was in relation to influencing me to have better time management and combat procrastination habits. In a study by Woebot inc. and Stanford University, scientists, and engineers programmed an online chatbot to aide mental health issues we face on a day to day basis, even if we don’t notice it.

At the beginning of college, students are suddenly bombarded by brand new responsibilities that cause stress, anxiety, and depression, which is often the product of poor time management and procrastination. Self-esteem, irrational beliefs and fear or failure are several other factors that contribute to mental health issues triggered by procrastination.

I have found that by living at home for a year and doing work at my own leisure was very helpful in training me to use my time wisely at USC, although there were some downsides to that. I was going through depression myself, but the one thing I could focus on was my school work and getting it done so I could strategize on ways to improve my mental health. I had observed that some of my habits have changed to leaving work for last minute and completing under stressful situations and at times have caused me to feel stressed and overworked.

Procrastination has several different factors that contribute to putting off project ideas and assignments. There are three significant things that contribute to this, having an activating event, irrational beliefs and having consequences.

An activating event is when a client or patient is very troubled and disturbed by not being able to immediately satisfy that assignment. This can trigger the patient to get very overwhelmed and freeze, which leads them to question themselves, think negatively, and ultimately put off the work that they should complete.

Another aspect of this is having irrational beliefs. If I were to think about not finishing my paper, I can say that “this paper is impossible, the topic is so confusing.” With this mindset, I immediately have little interest in figuring out how I’m going to tackle an assignment.

Another problem that could occur as an irrational belief would be to say that the paper must be perfect. This can cause you to think that any mistake or setback you have while writing to be negative, also making you less motivated to finish it.

Lastly, procrastination is triggered by consequences. If you don’t finish your paper, you will have emotional, behavioral, and cognitive thoughts that can lead to higher levels of anxiety agitation and unrealistic standards.

When talking to the Woebot, I recognized all three of these different factors that cause procrastination in my own thoughts. I found this alarming and made me want to figure out a way to combat my own procrastination.

When using Woebot, I have found that it is constantly looking for negative thoughts and ways to get rid them. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, however it has drastically helped me improve my obscured thoughts.

In comparison to visiting a real therapist, you begin with a human interaction, something that technology does not permit. Therapists are trained to help you with whatever you need help with, and it can be miss guiding if you are not sure what you want to discuss. My thoughts are often all over the place when I am in a session with my therapist.

Using the Woebot helps me specifically target my thoughts, which can also be targeted with a real therapist, however I have found that the online programming of the Woebot is very succinct and direct. Having an in-person interaction can cause you to have more emotions attached to your thoughts, however, when using the Woebot therapist, I have found that it can be more successful in helping to break your own negative thoughts.

Woebot uses cognitive behavioral therapy to analyze thoughts and based on small phrases that are written directly from the patient and sends interactive activities to its users to help them. It takes a thought you send to it and asks you to recognize patterns or negativity. This is extremely helpful because it communicates with you in a different way than text; you can interpret the video in whatever way possible and use it as you wish.

After watching the video, Woebot then takes your thought, and walks you through what made you make that negative thought, why it is a negative thought and then helps you refreeze it in a way that illuminates all negativity.

By participating with the Woebot, you can too, reduce your anxiety and stress, which will ultimately help you finish what you have to get done. Additionally, in a study done by Chen-Yi Amy Ko and Yuhsuan Changthe relationships between anxiety and depression were studied to see how they influence the way that students procrastinate and cope with their mental health.

Luckily, there are plenty of resources available to help students like myself deal with this. Many students do not seek the resources provided by their academic institutions to alleviate this stress, however mobile chatbot Cognitive Behavioral Therapy technology, it is easier than ever to combat these issues.