As a recent high school graduate, I have taken a lot of time to reflect on the last four years of hard work, milestones and procrastination.

Everyone has had to deal with it: delaying an assignment just because it is not as important or because that time is better used elsewhere (whether this is a responsible decision is completely up to the individual). Typically, procrastination has a negative connotation associated with it. Based on my own experiences, however, I would say that procrastination has benefited me much more than one would think.

One of the many lessons procrastination has taught is to learn how to prioritize. Is this reading assignment more important than this math test? Is this math homework more important than this essay? With the finite amount of time I have in a day, procrastination has allowed me to determine what is more important to focus on, as well as make me a more realistic individual.

Do I really have the time to complete all these tasks? What can finish today, and what can I leave for later on? With these lessons, I was much more calm in the face of deadlines than stressed. I can "procrastinate" on a particular assignment by leaving it for the next day, which would leave me more time in my current situation to use efficiently.

However, there have definitely been times when procrastination made everything seem like it was the end of the world. With multiple deadlines and assignments looming ahead, I was constantly fearing that I would miss a deadline. Thus, with a simple notebook and pen, I became a much more organized person. I would write down deadlines and make lists and it would ensure I would meet those deadlines.

Just writing everything down made me a calmer person because I knew I wrote those deadlines down and could always refer to them when I needed to. I did not have to worry about missing a deadline; it was one less thing to worry about.

Finally, procrastination has taught me how to relax. Personally, I cannot work continuously for hours and hours on end because that burns me out. I need a break sometimes, but with looming deadlines, that it sometimes difficult. So by leaving an assignment or project alone to return to later, I can regain my sanity and enjoy other activities that work takes time away from, such as reading, hanging out with friends,and cooking. Afterward, I can continue whatever work I had been doing with 100 percent vigor.

Procrastination is not necessarily the demon people make it out to be. It has its perks and its cons, but so does everything in life. Just remember: everything, even procrastination should be taken in moderation.