‘#160;
The clock strikes 2 a.m. and your 10 page philosophy paper is due in six hours. Sound familiar?
You sit entranced by the eerie glow radiating from your computer screen, which displays only a blinking cursor. The cursor taunts you as you recall receiving the assignment over two weeks ago.
You have officially approached “last minute” territory and you do what anyone in your shoes would do. You procrastinate some more.
While I have no empirical data to support my claim, I think it is fairly safe to say that when it comes to completing schoolwork, everyone is guilty of procrastination.
Perhaps not always, but it just seems natural to put off until tomorrow what you’d rather not do today.
And though some may frown upon procrastination, I would have to support it. There is nothing wrong with procrastinating in my book, granted you actually accomplish what you need to.
In order to do this, procrastinating requires that we manage our time, which is funny considering that procrastinating is often an ineffective use of time.
In other words, if we put off finishing a task, we still need to complete it. It just ends up taking longer because we do other activities first.
And have you ever noticed that these activities can be rather trivial? Some of the things we do while procrastinating are just pointless.
Example 1: Compulsive away message checking. Chances are if you know what I’m talking about, you’re guilty. And if you don’t, I’m going to assume you live under a rock. How is checking away messages productive when writing a paper?
If you have an answer, please let me know. But what I’m more interested in is why we proceed to check away messages for a fifth time.
Do we think that somehow in the 11.7 seconds between our fourth and fifth check that the message will magically change itself?
Example 2: Facebook. Need I say more? The creation of this “stalker’s paradise” can easily keep you busy for hours on end.
Again, in no way, shape or form does adding friends to your profile count as research for a paper.
For that matter, do we even know some of the people we confirm as friends? Furthermore, would we even remember the birthdays of our closest friends if Facebook didn’t remind us?
But I digress.
Example 3: Interpretive Dance. Come on, is there a purpose?
Now, I’m not knocking interpretive dance. I, myself, enjoy a good interpretive dance session every now and then. For example, just yesterday I performed a spirited version of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” (complete with dove release at the end for those of you wondering).
All I’m saying is it didn’t help me get my astronomy done any quicker.
The fact is, students will do anything in order to put off homework. Whether it be the economics homework that you just don’t understand, the reading for your literature class that takes forever and a day, or the seven page psychology paper that you have yet to start, odds are you’d rather do something else.
As long as you get around to your work eventually, there’s no reason why you can’t do something else first.
But if you are going to procrastinate, why not make it worth your while?
Don’t check your e-mail ten times every hour, rather go outside and exercise.
Fight the urge to count the holes in the ceiling tiles and take a nap instead.
Then, come back to the assignment refreshed.
It is easy to put your work off until tomorrow. Just realize that tomorrow will soon become today and procrastinate now, don’t wait!
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