A Tahfidz Student’s Narrative of Time Management and Academic Procrastination in an Islamic Boarding School

Abstract

Academic procrastination in an Islamic boarding school may develop at the intersection of formal school assignments, Qur’an memorization targets, and residential routines. This study explores how one tahfidz student understood experiences of delay, organized competing responsibilities, and interpreted conditions that hindered or supported time management. A qualitative narrative-oriented study drew on reported semi-structured interviews, participatory observation, and documentation involving one student and a dormitory education administrator in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. The available account was organized around experiences of postponement, accumulating obligations, reflection, and attempted adjustment. The student described delaying schoolwork and memorization submissions amid fatigue, uncertainty about priorities, fear of submitting imperfect recitation, and invitations from peers. Reported responses included recording deadlines, allocating time for study and recitation, and reconsidering discretionary activities. Dormitory schedules appeared both to structure daily life and to constrain opportunities for rest. These findings illuminate perceived self-regulation strategies rather than demonstrating measured reductions in procrastination. Islamic guidance and counseling may respond through supportive planning, realistic targets, adequate rest, and nonjudgmental mentoring; longitudinal and better documented research is needed.