Let’s be honest. We’ve all put something off until the last minute and just barely gotten it done on time. And then it probably isn’t our best work, and we feel bad and upset with ourselves for waiting so long to do it. But that’s life, right? Well, I’d love to say that, yes, that is life and it’s totally OK to do this and definitely not a bad thing! Sadly, though, that would be a lie. A comforting lie, but still a lie.
I honestly don’t understand the people who get everything done right away, days or even weeks before something is due. That seriously blows my mind. I’ve always wished I could be like that. But am I? No. Have I ever been? No. Could I be? Yeah, probably. But that takes effort, and it’s hard. Yet, every time I am sitting in front of my computer at four in the morning the night before something is due, hating myself for letting it get to this, I assure myself that next time I will be on top of things. But am I ever? No.
It all started when I was in elementary school. As far back as I remember, I’ve severely procrastinated with everything. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that school is not my favorite thing in the world. Or my rebellious nature and inherent need to not listen to authority. (That was a joke. I like rules and am the least rebellious person in the world.) Either way, this inexplicable desire to wait until the last minute has brought me to where I am today. This stage of my life, where I am suffering during finals week with a laundry list of things that I need to do and so little time to do it. Ah yes, the plight of the college student. Pulling an all-nighter to study for that test that you know requires more than just last minute studying, but hey, it’s too late now, right? What’s done is done.
I know that seems like an apathetic point of view, and it is. When you start to think “what if I had” or “I should have,” then you stress yourself out even more and probably end up crying in your bed about how tired you are and about how you’re going to fail your test, which at that point you probably would because you’re crying instead of studying. So at five in the morning before a test, it’s probably better to be apathetic than to rethink your life.
Now, you’re probably expecting some tips on how to not procrastinate, but sadly I do not have any of those for you. But if you have some for me, I would gladly hear them. What I would like to say, however, is that you can change! Yes! There is hope for us yet! We can’t have the mindset of “Well it will always be like this, always suffering” because then we are quitters. I may be a procrastinator, but I am no quitter. I guess my only tip is to just actually try and not be lazy. When you think of the project or paper, literally just write a sentence or Google search one thing. This way, you will at least have it started and won’t feel like a complete failure! Baby steps. So, in the future, I will strive to not procrastinate. Even if it means that all I do is write a sentence of a paper the day before the day before it is due.
