The life of a student is defined with one word: Procrastination. We all hate it, but we do it anyway. It's almost like a bad hangover, you know you're going to regret taking that last shot, but you do it all the same. Procrastination is an art for which you do not need much skill. It comes naturally and once you have the skill it can be hard to let it go. Here's a guide to the time efficient skills of a successful college student.
1. The "False Security" Stage
It's 3 weeks before your paper is due. You don't have a care in the world because it takes you a maximum of two hours to get it done, so why worry? When you get home you decide it's a good idea to binge watch Netflix for a bit and then go hang out with the squad. The assignment is not even in the back of your head.
2. The "Laid Back" Stage
You are two weeks closer to your paper's due date and now you kind of start thinking about it. "Hmm...maybe I should do it Wednesday because I don't have much to do that day. I will just get it out of the way," you think to yourself. When you get home and see your roommate is curled up in bed watching movies you go "Meeeh, it's been a busy week. I need to take a break. I still have two weeks, so really I don't need to do this now," and suddenly you find yourself in your PJs, making some popcorn and ordering some Insomnia. This stage is crucial, for it will define how the other stages will turn out.
3. The "Getting Concerned" Stage
Alas, your paper is one week away and things start to get a little hectic. You regret it just a little that you ordered Insomnia and watched Netflix last week rather than cranking out that paper. You find out you have a quiz and exam due this week, but whatever, you just shrug it off. It's all good, sleep is for the weak anyway, right?
4. Crisis Stage
You're there. The due date for your paper is tomorrow and you're just about an introduction in to it. You start freaking out and thinking whether it's a good idea to pay your friend to do it for you. You really start hating yourself for not taking it seriously before. You just want to scream because you're drowning in school work. "Maybe I can just drop the class or switch majors. Nope! Too late to do that." You start contemplating on the idea that you should drop out of school. Irrationality takes over the sanity.
5. The "Crank-it-Out" Stage
It's a couple of hours before due time. You finally regain your brain from it's little psychotic breakdown and decide your only option now is to crank out this paper. It all starts coming to you and the words flow onto the paper like never before. You feel like a superhero. YOU GOT THIS!
6. The "Relief" Stage
Congratulations, you're a real trooper. You turned it in and now you just want to skip all the way home and go order some more Insomnia to reward yourself for being awesome and responsible.
7. The "Never-Ending" Cycle
I decided to call this the "never-ending" stage because it does not matter how much we say we're never doing this again, it happens. This may not be some of our proudest moments in our four years here, but the reality is that, as college students, we get distracted very easily and we think we're invincible. We can do it all. We think studying for an exam will take us three hours and it ends up taking eight. As young adults, in the end, we do what we want when we want, which is why it's so hard to break this cycle.
Here's some advice from one struggling student to another:
When I came to college my dad told me a saying that goes "La luz de a lante es la que alumbra."
This means that whenever you have the free-time to get stuff done, DO IT! You will never know what complications will develop along the way, and the truth is it feels so much better when you do things on time. I know every now and then you'll fall into the cycle, and that's fine (we're busy! I get it!) but try to avoid it. Keep this in mind.
I wish you good luck!
