Procrastination is a word that’s usually equated to laziness and poor grades. Regardless of the negative connotations, it’s an epidemic among college students, myself included. I can’t speak for everyone, but most college students will end up being in the library until something like 4 a.m. at least once a semester.
Especially now, during finals — arguably the hardest few weeks of the academic year — it hits a lot of us just how much we’ve screwed over our own sleep schedules. No matter your opinion on the nature of procrastination and what it says about a person - it’s real, and I’m not the only one who struggles with it. I always get things done, and do them well, but my main reason for procrastinating is that somehow I’m wired to be nocturnal.
I’m a classic night owl. Despite my 8 a.m. classes, way too often I’ll end up being awake until 2 or 3 a.m. finishing a paper. That’s just how my brain works, and it’s a characteristic I’ve always had. My mom likes to joke that it’s because I was born at 3:30 a.m., and hey, she could be onto something there. In all seriousness, though, I see it as a blessing and a curse, and I think fellow night owls will agree.
On one hand, the later it gets, the more exhausted I’ll be. Plus, being awake into the a.m. hours isn’t the healthiest choice I could be making. On the other hand, being up late can feel poetic and even ethereal. For me, it’s like I’m at a different level of awareness while it’s still dark outside. As cheesy as that may sound, it’s meditative for me - and that can sometimes make it tempting to stay up late and face an all-nighter.
“But Chloe,” you might say, “Aren’t assignments that are done late at night usually lower-quality, since you’re basically falling asleep the entire time?” Well, in my experience, no. I’ve gotten some of the best feedback I’ve ever received on assignments that I finished the night before. I’m not exactly recommending this, since a well-developed project is hard to come by at 2 a.m. with a Red Bull, but it’s certainly doable. I can’t figure out why, but I think I work even better under the pressure of a deadline that’s mere hours away. Something about the removal of the pressure of the day brings a rush of innovative thought that’s coherent and relevant to my assignment. I’m not the only one, either.
I think it has a lot to do with students’ ability to be distracted. During the day, we’re bombarded with practices and rehearsals, seeing our friends and being in class — all of which are necessary and enriching parts of life. But when hardly anything is going on around us, we can more easily focus on work and let our brains run wild with ideas. A clear head generally makes for a better paper or project, as long as the work is polished, too.
Personally, being an English major also helps; the majority of my work is writing, and even when that’s a research paper, creative thought plays a huge part. Thankfully, that’s what I’m best at, and being up late doesn’t hinder this except for physically. It’s risky because you never know when your late-night work will be interrupted by your need for sleep, but I’ve had to deal with it enough times to know it’s possible to be successful that way.
If you’re someone who can get through the day being highly productive and consistently get a good night’s sleep, that’s awesome and I commend you. I don’t recommend living the late-night life all the time, but I don’t think there’s any shame in having a night like one of these guys every once in a while:
