In almost every class from freshman year of high school throughout your college career, teachers will tell you, “Do your work ahead of time, and never put it off until the last minute.” You’ll hear ominous warnings about how they will be able to tell if you’ve written something last minute, and how A papers are clearly never constructed the night before they’re due.
Well, I’m here to tell you that that’s not always the case. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve done some of my best work under the pressure of a quickly approaching deadline. As contradictory as it may seem, procrastination produces some of the best work from those who have learned to become Masters of the Last Minute. So for those of you who also love to put off homework and tedious tasks for as long as possible, rejoice and don't let procrastination's bad rep worry you -- perhaps your “bad” habit isn’t so bad after all.
I’ve been a professional procrastinator for pretty much as long as I can remember. And though I’ve always performed well in school, I used to constantly feel this nagging anxiety and shame over my “horrible” study routine. Because of what we’ve been told time and time again, procrastination has a very negative connotation that implies that whoever succumbs to it must be a bad student. But this is an assumption that does not always, nor even often, hold true for everyone. There are plenty of successful, capable students who thrive when procrastinating, and believe it or not, there are even some hidden benefits to this tabooed study habit.
Whenever I have tried to get papers done ahead of time, I end up wasting a lot of time—I go to a study spot, I sit down with my laptop to write, and I end up watching YouTube videos of guilty dogs (they’re so sorry and so cute) or scrolling through my Facebook feed aimlessly. Though there are many people who are able to focus and work efficiently long before a deadline is in sight, this is just not the case for some of us. Knowing I only have X amount of hours before an assignment is due, and X being a small number, motivates me to stay focused and work quickly. I can do the same amount of work in an hour that would take me twice that long if I had the luxury of letting myself get distracted. When you know that the short distance between you and that deadline is shrinking with every passing minute, you really learn how to prioritize the important tasks before the rest.
Even better, procrastinating keeps you wide awake in a way that few things besides multiple cups of coffee do. The focus and drive that come from being on a time crunch fuel a type of competitive, energetic rush. Trust me, there are no sleepy snoozing urges when you’re rushing to beat an approaching deadline. And as much as it may seem that procrastination experts are horrible at time management, that’s not exactly the case. We just know we work better when we put things off until we actually have to do them. Plus, you’re surprisingly efficient when you are trying to make excuses not to do homework -- laundry? Done. Room cleaned? Spotless. Going to the gym? For once, yes. Filling out your planner, becoming fluent in Valyrian, ordering random stuff online because you’ve run out of chores? Done, done and done.
Some people work better if they spread out their workload -- but, the opposite is also possible. Procrastination nation isn’t for everyone, but if you find that you like to procrastinate and that it actually makes you do better rather than worse, then don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re “doing it wrong.” Figure out whatever works for you, and if that means you find yourself turning in some papers at 11:59 p.m. then so be it. Take it from someone who literally just turned in a paper at 11:59 p.m. (seriously, the time stamp was actually 11:59 p.m.); sometimes pressure is the best motivator for good results. After all, pressure makes diamonds.
