Let me first state the obvious. College is hard. There’s a lot going on. All. The. Time. Devoting the amount of time your professors expect you to dedicate to your school work is nearly impossible. There is more going on at school than academia. Therefore, procrastination is something we are all familiar with.
Even while writing this article (Sunday evening), I find myself scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, taking BuzzFeed quizzes, and checking in on my Sims. I am not going to tell you that this is abnormal for me – I am a first-tier procrastinator.
I would say I am sorry, but I’m probably not going to change my behavior, so I won’t lie to you all.
Procrastination has many forms, but they all have one common goal: to keep us from doing… whatever it is we’re supposed to be doing. Whether the task is class assignments, chores, or an actual job, procrastination is everywhere, and it will find you.
Most of my procrastination habits revolve around schoolwork. Reading an article for class? Better check your Facebook newsfeed before you start. Wait, please internet, tell me more about the 31 Unbelievable Facts That Make the Harry Potter Movies Even More Magical! That is obviously so much more useful in real life than an Intro to Urban Studies reading. Writing a paper? Why not lead an orca whale around a white screen with your mouse for half an hour instead? That’s definitely a better use of your time.
Procrastination happens when deadlines seem distant. Every time a teacher says, “You can’t write this paper the night before,” some little part of my brain takes it as a personal challenge. What? You think I can’t finish this ten-page research paper in a day? Try me. DO NOT DO THIS. IT HURTS. And when that day comes, you will look back at the weeks before, while you relaxed and put off your paper until the last minute, and you will be sad. You probably won’t change much, but you’ll regret it. It happens to the best of us. And the worst of us. All of us, really.
When you finally do sit down to do all of the work that has no doubt accumulated into an almost unmanageable mass, you will probably finish it, and then look back, again, at the time you spent procrastinating and think, “Wow, I could have finished this all a lot sooner and not stressed out about it while I was procrastinating”. And again, you probably still won’t change, unless you found some extreme willpower in that moment – in which case, you probably weren’t procrastinating in the first place.
As a procrastinator like me, you’ve probably asked classmates how they’re doing on papers or projects, secretly hoping against hope to hear that coveted phrase, “Oh, I haven’t started yet”. You probably nod along, feeling a sense of relief settle over you because you are not the only procrastinator. This conversation will end in one of two things: you will either decide to start the project right away, knowing that at least you’ll be ahead of one person, or (more likely) you will feel validated by your classmate’s procrastination and use this as an excuse to rewatch an entire season of Friday Night Lights.
Then comes the lie that is “study planning”. Starting your study session by planning out every single thing you need to accomplish, and the amount of time allotted for each individual assignment is its own kind of procrastination. You’re not actually doing anything. And we’ve all told ourselves that were definitely starting our homework at 7 P.M., only to have 7:02 roll around, so of course we should wait until 8 P.M. now, right? Well, now, I have time to read about the latest Game of Thrones theory.
You may have also experienced the confusing situation that is productive procrastination. When I have a big assignment coming due, my room is spotless, my dishes and laundry are done, and I probably called my mom at least twice. You’re getting things done, right? So why is nothing getting done? This illusion is productivity can be reassuring at first, but once you run out of chores to do, there is nothing left but dread (and homework).
I’d really like to thank BuzzFeed, Netflix, and Tumblr for all of their help "brainstorming" for this article, and for granting me so much insight into the world of procrastinators. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all of you.
No, really, I wouldn’t be here. I’d probably have finished all my work and planned something fun for Labor Day weekend.
In all honestly, procrastination happens. No one is perfect. We get it, procrastination isn’t great – but it’s not the end of the world either. We make it work.
As long as we accept that procrastination exists, we can at least try to fight it.
(But probably after dinner).
