Merriam-Webster defines "procrastinate" as delaying something until a later time because you do not want to do it, or because you are lazy. Urban Dictionary defines a "procrastinator" as one who will do anything to get out of doing work. Together these create the perfect definition of what I and many others do on a daily basis. It may not even be laziness, it's just the fact that when there is free time to get things done, the most pressing things are the ones that are due in the next few hours, the next day, or watching the newest episode of "Game of Thrones." Nothing else.
It's like an innate need to completely avoid what you know you need to do. In this avoidance, you can be at your most productive, though. In putting off this article itself, I got a million other things done, from my resume to actual school work. The irony is not lost on me.
This is called "productive procrastination," which means that while the act of putting things off is innately a bad thing, the product it creates is your dedication to just about everything else. That time itself is not being wasted, just being repurposed for something that is slightly less urgent but also less stressful (depending on how you delegate). If the work that needs to get done gets done at some point, without going past deadlines there should be no reason to worry.
It is all a game of deciding which tasks are the urgent ones, and which are the menial tasks that don't require as much thought or work. Then it is delegating where the give and take, or task and rewards, lie. Personally -- and I believe it's generally what everyone does -- I will put off big things and do the smaller more insignificant or daily work in its place for a while until deadlines come closer. Then comes the moment to do the big work and get into the zone of legitimate dedication, and in the process of getting to that task, you get literally everything else done. It's almost like a reverse reward system where you give yourself the easier thing before you actually put the work in.
Lazy? Maybe. Does it work? Uh, yeah.
Now, granted, one could take this to the extreme and put off the work to the point of not doing it, but this would actually be pure laziness and just being a bad student. You won't be in college long doing that.
Being smart with your time while straddling the line of failing is just about every college student's specialty. You'll be fine.
