The famous “I’ll do it in 5 minutes”s or the “I got time's" are all very well known to students. Whether you can admit it or not, many of us know how this works. You have an assignment due the next day, and even though the teacher assigned it a month ago, you only start the day before. As students, even if we convince ourselves that we don’t, procrastination does incorporate several stressful stages. Thankfully the cast of “Friends” can understand. Here are 8 stages of procrastination as told by the cast of “Friends”.
1.The Refusal Stage
Hey, you’re probably doing this right now as you’re reading this article! This is when you convince yourself that you have absolutely nothing to do. Despite the fact that you may have a paper due in two days, you convince yourself that there couldn’t possibly be anything for you to do. Freedom at last! Your mom may even check on you and ask you again, “Don’t you have any homework to do?” Of course, you do...you have a paper due in two days! But you deny having any work, and you continue to enjoy your “free time."
2. The “I Can Do It” Stage
Of course, while in refusal, you may even agree to do things that you actually don’t have time to do. This usually happens the day or two before the assignment is due. For example, going out with your friends, watching a movie, binge-watching tv on Netflix or shopping. All encompass the multitudinous options you have to procrastinate in writing that paper. Because even if your instincts are screaming “no," you’re most likely going to answer with a “yes."
3. The Anger Stage
The day before the big paper, you look at the rubric for the first time and you realize that you have your work cut out for you. This is usually when you start hating this class, hating the teacher and hating everything about the school. We’ve all sent that one text to our friends, which usually consists something along the lines of “I hate school so much right now." Even if you know that this situation is 100% your fault, you still feel that anger.
4. The Drift Stage
After realizing how much work you have, you may try to do everything but your work. This stage is not to be confused with the “I can do it” stage; this stage is solely for when you sit down at the table to start, but you can’t seem to focus on your paper. This includes watching Netflix, online shopping, jamming to your favorite music, etc.
5. The “Oh No, There Is More” Stage
6. The Regretting Stage
You’ve now realized how much valuable time you have just wasted. And the stress starts to kick in along with this regret. Why did I choose to procrastinate? How am I going to finish a paper and a project? This is probably the most stressful stage of all.
7. The Crunch Time Stage
8. The “Why Did I Procrastinate” Stage
Why didn’t I just finish it earlier? Why did I wait until the last minute? Though this may not be a part of procrastination, it is important to address the fact that many of the students ,who procrastinate ask this question at the end of their journey of procrastination.
Hopefully, you submitted the paper and project successfully so that you are ready to start the process all over again with the next piece of work.
