Catherine Glueck struggles to stay focused in class with Facebook constantly updating in the background on her computer.People spend more time on Facebook than any other Web site, with 87.25 million users in the U.S. spending an average of more than four hours throughout the month on the site, according to a Nielsen Online poll conducted in summer 2009 — but as the semester rolls on, students like Glueck are left desperately trying to separate their Internet social lives from their school work.”It’s pretty addicting,” undecided freshman Glueck said of her two-hour-a-day habit. “[It] definitely cuts down on my drive to study.”Procrastination — whether through Facebook, playing video games or talking on the phone — is a multi-pronged problem hand-in-hand with motivation issues, time management problems and generally being prepared for classes, said Melissa Brocato, Center for Academic Success director.”Some of it has to do with confidence and feeling prepared and feeling that you’re able to tackle something,” Brocato said. “If you feel overwhelmed and like you’re not able to tackle it, it’s so much easier to say, ‘Let me go mess around.'”To prevent feeling overwhelmed, Brocato recommended students clearly establish goals, use positive and motivating self talk, begin studying in advance and reward themselves for studying.For instance, students who typically use Facebook as a procrastination method should spend about 10 minutes on Facebook for every hour spent studying, Brocato said. The same can apply to other procrastination methods.Alex Lacy, textiles, apparel and merchandising sophomore, said she finds herself checking Facebook throughout the day — sometimes unintentionally.”[No matter what] I’m supposed to be doing, I get on and check Facebook somehow,” Lacy said. “If I did any of the other [social networking Web sites], I wouldn’t have any time during the day.”A time management problem is one of the largest contributors to procrastination, Brocato said. Students who wait until a couple of days before a test to study will be unable to commit the information to their long-term memory.Additionally, once a student fails the first round of tests, they may have positioned themselves for a cycle of failure, Brocato said.”Once you fail that first round of tests, then you start with that negative self-talk,” Brocato said. “It can turn into a downward spiral of negative talk and negative feelings. That can really contribute to procrastination, once you have a negative outlook, then you’re like, ‘What’s the point?'”Or, rather than attempting to use Facebook as a reward, students like Savana Abbott, animal sciences sophomore, can choose to cut it out of their lives completely.”Freshman year, I used to be on it all the time,” Abbott said. “Occasionally, I get on there just to chat with friends from other states. It’s just kind of a waste [of time] going on.”–Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]