People’s delaying the things they are supposed to do is a very old human behavior and struggle for time management by people dates back to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics even 1400 B.C. In 1750s when time and using it effectively became key terms due to developed production process, Dr. Samuel Johnson who prepared the first comprehensive American English dictionary (1751) described “procrastination” as "The folly of allowing ourselves to delay what we know cannot be finally escaped” and researches point out people procrastinate in six different aspects/domains of life: academic and work, everyday routines and obligations, health, leisure, family and partnership, and social contacts 1. Individuals might procrastinate various things, and this can be delighting at the beginning. For the students of today, the amount of information to be learned increases day by day together with the number and accessibility of distractors like online games, social media, game platforms etc. which might steal their time. Current distractors like social media have become an addiction among undergraduates 2 and this might be an important factor in their academic procrastination. Research reveal that students do not take notice of short periods of time and as a result are overwhelmed with the common cliché “scarcity of time” and they should be warned that if they plan these short periods of time well then, the other tasks will be easier 3.

Academic procrastination which is a kind of procrastination includes delaying school based tasks and can be described as procrastinating academic tasks due to some reason 4. Assignments that are not done or tasks that are not fulfilled can cause negative consequences such as disturbed sleep, stress, anxiety to manage time effectively and might result in giving up or partially fulfilling the task.5 Klingsieck (2013) describes academic procrastination as postponing an academic task that is to be done voluntarily or necessarily and/or which is personally important although a person is aware of possible positive short-term consequences will be overwhelmed by long-term negative ones. In another way, it is described as delaying the completion of an academic task/assignment or postponing to study for the examinations and this is very common among the students all over the world. 6

Although it is common nowadays, it not a new issue. Ellis and Knaus (1977) estimate that 95% of college students engage in procrastination and their tendency increases together with the time they spend in college. Time management is another common and one of the most important problems in the modern world. Examining many various definitions in the literature, Claessens, Van Eerde, Rutte and Roe (2007) define the time management as behaviours that intend to use the time effectively while performing certain goal directed activities which emphasize that the use of time is not the aim itself, but it is like a “tool” while fulfilling a work or academic task 7.

Successful time management which can be explained as realizing the best use of time in the highest level in a way that will provide productivity, balance and self-satisfaction can be really compelling because of foreseeing an insufficient amount of time to complete their duties/responsibilities or preferring the completion of short-term tasks with less gain to long-term but with more gain ones (Oettingen, Kappes, Guttenberg, & Gollwitzer, 2015) 8. According to the findings in the literature, academic procrastination behavior is common among undergraduates and insufficient time management skills is thought to be one of the possible reasons of it. Academic Procrastination is a commonest problem among the students, which is basically related to self-regulation, which is realized as deferral of the beginning and completing the important, necessary assignments. It may produce important negative consequences such as anxiety and depression, regarding the personality. This is the problem of this research.

The researcher adopted the quantitative research approach for the study. Quasi experimental research design was adopted with Convenient sampling technique. The setting of the study was faculty of nursing, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana. The present study's sample included 60 nursing students. The tool used in this study was organized into 2 sections. Section A included the Demographic profile of nursing students. Section-B includes the Semi structured questionnaire. It consists of 15 items that assess level of academic procrastination and time management skills among students. Semi structured questionnaire calculated using the Cronbach's Alpha formula. Reliability was found to be 0.93. The tool was found to be reliable for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used.

Ethical considerations: In this study, A research study approval letter was obtained from the authority of Faculty of nursing), SGT university, Gurugram, Haryana. Following that, each participant signed an informed consent form. A commitment to confidentiality was made to study participants. Data was collected between 20/01/2024 and 30/01/2024.

The data presented in Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage distribution of nursing students by their Socio-demographic profile with regard to the age. There are 12 (40%) of study students in the age group 18-20years, 15 (50%) in 21-22 years and 23-25 in 3 (10%) in the experimental group. Whereas in the control group 16 (53.3%) of study students are in age group of 18-20 years, 12 (40%) in the age group of 21-22 years and 2 (6.7%) in the age group of 22-25 years. Majority of study students- 19 (63.3%) are females in the experimental group and 11 (66.7%) females in control group where as 20 (66.7%) of study subject students are males in experimental group and 10 (33.3%) males are in control group. In the year of study students B.Sc. Nursing 4^th semester none of them in experimental group and 30 (100%) in control group. Whereas in B.Sc. Nursing 6^th semester 30 (100%) in experimental group and none of them in control group with regard to percentage of marks in previous semester study students 10 (33.3%) had less than 60% marks, 60-70% of marks in 16 (53.4 %), 70-80% of marks in 3 (10%) and more than 80% of marks in 1 (3.3%) in the experimental group. Whereas in the control group less than 60% marks are in 6 (20%), 60-70% of marks are in 14 (46.7%), 70-80% marks are in 9 (30%) and more than 80% was same in 1 (3.3%). By the time duration to reach home after college in the experimental group less than in 1-hour 17 (56%) study students, in between 1-2 hours 12 (40.0%) students and more than 3 hours are in 1 (3.3%). Whereas in control group less than 1-hour 14 (46.7) in between of 1–2-hour 9 (30%) study students and more than 3 hour 7 (23.3%) are there.

Based on the Figure 1, depicting the frequency distribution by their pre-test level of academic procrastination and time management skills among experimental and control group.In Experimental Group, 2 (6.67%) nursing students was having mild pre test level of academic procrastination and time management skills, 27(90%)nursing students was falling into moderate pre test level of academic procrastination and time management skills and only 1 (3.3%) nursing students falling into the category of severe pre test level of academic procrastination and time management skills. In the control group there are only 2 (6.67%) nursing students in mild category. There are 24 (80%) nursing students was having moderate pre test level of academic procrastination and time management and only 04 (13%) participants was having severe pre test level of academic procrastination and time management skills.

Based on the Table 2, depicting the frequency distribution by their Post-test level of academic procrastination and time management skills among experimental and control group.In Experimental Group, 2 (6.67%) nursing students was having mild post test level of academic procrastination and time management skills, 28 (93%) nursing students was falling into moderate post test level of academic procrastination and time management skills and no one is falling into the category of severe. In the Control Group there are only 2 (6.67%) nursing students in mild category. There are 23 (76%) nursing students was having moderate post test level of academic procrastination and time management and only 05 (1.66) participants were having severe post test level of academic procrastination and time management skills.

The data presented in Table 3 reveals that obtained ‘t’ value in pre-test of experimental group and control group is 0.484 which is less than table value (2.009). As in post-test t- value is 5.413 which is more than the table value and is significant which shows that intervention was effective.

Data presented in Table 4 displays the chi square value that describes the sample characteristics of B.Sc. Nursing students by means of frequency and percentage distribution in terms of Age in year, Gender, Year of study, Percentage of marks in previous semester, Time duration to reach home after college as tabulated value (2.412), (0.300), (60.00), (5.393), (6.300). The year of study and time duration to reach home after college significant at 0.05 level of significance which conclude that level of academic procrastination varies with year of study and time duration to reach home after college.

The study on academic procrastination and time management skills among students highlights the intricate relationship between these two critical factors influencing academic performance. This research sheds light on the pervasive issue of academic procrastination and its multifaceted nature. Through a comprehensive analysis of procrastination behavior among students, several key insights have emerged. By implementing targeted interventions aimed at enhancing self-regulation skills, promoting adaptive coping strategies. Students get better understanding of academic procrastination.

The current findings of the study consistent with the study adopted by Ghasempour, S, et. al. In this study, 96.1% of the students experienced moderate to severe levels of academic procrastination, and 80% of the students reported high and very high levels of self-esteem. 9

The results related to comparison of pre test and post test academic procrastination and time managements skills shows that, the pre test mean score (39) and standard deviation (7.2) in experimental group and pret test mean score is 37 with SD (9.1) in control group and after the intervention the post test mean score (50) and standard deviation (3.8) in experimental group and the post test mean score (39) and standard deviation (9.8) in contol group. The obtained ‘t’ value in pre-test of experimental group and control group is 0.484 which is less than table value (2.009). As in post-test t- value is 5.413 which is more than the table value and is significant which shows that intervention was effective.

The current findings of the study are in line with the study adopted by assess the differences between the mean scores (Pretest 1, Pretest 2, Posttest 1, and Posttest 2), repeated-measures ANOVA was used. The results show that there was a significant effect of writing group program on procrastination F (2.065, 39.226) = 7.854, p = 0.001. The results of post tests showed a significant difference in academic procrastination levels between Pretest 2 and Posttest 1 (MD = p = 0.004), between Posttest 1 and Posttest 2 (MD = p = 0.01), and between Pretest 2 and Posttest 2 (MD = p = 0.001). This indicated that the intervention program significantly reduced academic procrastination. Additionally, there was no significant difference between Pretest 1 and Pretest 2 (MD = 3.00, p = 0.049), which indicated there were no threats to internal validity, i.e., maturation and regression artifact 10.

The result related to association with selected demographic variables shows that the year of study and time duration to reach home after college significant at o.o5 level of significance which conclude that level of academic procrastination varies with year of study and time duration to reach home after college. The current findings of the study are contrary with this study adopted by Murat Balkıs, Pamukkale, The results of the analysis indicate that the effects of age, gender, and the time period on procrastination behavior variance are significant (F (4-575) = 25.718, p<.001. All the variables can explain nearly 23.7 % of procrastination behavior variance 11.

The research underscores the importance of addressing procrastination through targeted interventions that promote better time management practices. Educators and academic institutions can play a pivotal role by incorporating time management training into their curricula and offering resources that help students develop strategies to overcome procrastination. Techniques such as goal setting, prioritization, and the use of time management tools can significantly enhance students' ability to manage their academic responsibilities efficiently.