"There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back."
WHY do we all procrastinate when we know early enough when things are to be done by?! WHY?! Yeah yeah...everyone says that they work best under pressure (at the last minute), but really? Isn't that just an excuse?
Just imagine how amazing your [paper, Power Point, etc.] would be if you spent a few hours every week on it. Your research would be more thorough. Your presentation would be memorized. Everything would be in order. You would be calm the last few hours...right?
I have some random stories I can remember at the moment that I'd like to share--
Summer before 11th grade, I had a lot of homework. All summer, I decided that I'd spend the last week of vacation doing it because that would be plenty of time. The night before "my week" officially started, Mom & Dad call Nick & I upstairs and tell us to pack because we are going to Canada, Ohio, Maryland & New Jersey and we won't be back until the night before school starts. ...you've GOT to be kidding me. So now, I was with my cousins READING and doing homework when I could be having a blast because I really had no choice. It REALLY sucked.
So I should have learned from that, right? Uhh...not really. Senior year, I remember being up until 5:30 (yes, that's when I woke up for school) writing a paper for something. Although I can't remember what it was for, I know for a fact that I could and should have done it earlier-but I didn't. What's great is that I remember most of my friends being up that night with me...sigh.
So then did I learn? Again, no. Last semester, I remember being at the suites til God knows what time trying to get help for my Wiley homework. Let me tell you that I was given those problems in September, and it was December at this time. WHY did I wait so long? I still don't know.
And have I learned yet? Eh, maybe. This semester I've been trying to get things done early but does that mean that I always do so? Nope. I'm still in the process of changing myself because procrastination really does become a habit. And you know what? For those of you that actually do well at the last minute, that's good for you. I am one of those people, so I know it feels great realizing that procrastination isn't that bad. But seriously...I still think it's a bad habit. Twenty years from now, you're going to be a parent, a spouse, a doctor/business person/lawyer--you are going to have so many responsibilities. How will you wait til the last minute to cook? To drive your child to their event? To do the laundry? To contact your patient/client?
You know what's going to happen then? If you are still a procrastinator, you are going to end up doing all of the above last minute and because of it, you will be the friend that cancels all coffee dates and parties because you won't be able to keep up with it. Slowly, you'll realize how you haven't been able to keep in touch with your friends, and it's really going to hurt. Am I being too pessimistic? Maybe. But it's the truth.
And...do you think that you'll automatically stop procrastinating once you're older? Didn't you think that about college when you were in high school? And high school when you were in middle school? And middle school when you learned about the word in elementary school? ...so has it "naturally" come to you yet? I doubt it-I'm sure you still procrastinate. So how about now we take a stance to try procrastinating less. How? Pick ONE class and make sure you never procrastinate in this class. See how it goes! Let me know!
[If you don't procrastinate already, that is sooooo awesome! Let me know HOW!]
Oh. I am totally procrastinating right now by writing this and not doing my research, but I'm about to do it now. Good luck!
So long <3
WHY do we all procrastinate when we know early enough when things are to be done by?! WHY?! Yeah yeah...everyone says that they work best under pressure (at the last minute), but really? Isn't that just an excuse?
Just imagine how amazing your [paper, Power Point, etc.] would be if you spent a few hours every week on it. Your research would be more thorough. Your presentation would be memorized. Everything would be in order. You would be calm the last few hours...right?
I have some random stories I can remember at the moment that I'd like to share--
Summer before 11th grade, I had a lot of homework. All summer, I decided that I'd spend the last week of vacation doing it because that would be plenty of time. The night before "my week" officially started, Mom & Dad call Nick & I upstairs and tell us to pack because we are going to Canada, Ohio, Maryland & New Jersey and we won't be back until the night before school starts. ...you've GOT to be kidding me. So now, I was with my cousins READING and doing homework when I could be having a blast because I really had no choice. It REALLY sucked.
So I should have learned from that, right? Uhh...not really. Senior year, I remember being up until 5:30 (yes, that's when I woke up for school) writing a paper for something. Although I can't remember what it was for, I know for a fact that I could and should have done it earlier-but I didn't. What's great is that I remember most of my friends being up that night with me...sigh.
So then did I learn? Again, no. Last semester, I remember being at the suites til God knows what time trying to get help for my Wiley homework. Let me tell you that I was given those problems in September, and it was December at this time. WHY did I wait so long? I still don't know.
And have I learned yet? Eh, maybe. This semester I've been trying to get things done early but does that mean that I always do so? Nope. I'm still in the process of changing myself because procrastination really does become a habit. And you know what? For those of you that actually do well at the last minute, that's good for you. I am one of those people, so I know it feels great realizing that procrastination isn't that bad. But seriously...I still think it's a bad habit. Twenty years from now, you're going to be a parent, a spouse, a doctor/business person/lawyer--you are going to have so many responsibilities. How will you wait til the last minute to cook? To drive your child to their event? To do the laundry? To contact your patient/client?
You know what's going to happen then? If you are still a procrastinator, you are going to end up doing all of the above last minute and because of it, you will be the friend that cancels all coffee dates and parties because you won't be able to keep up with it. Slowly, you'll realize how you haven't been able to keep in touch with your friends, and it's really going to hurt. Am I being too pessimistic? Maybe. But it's the truth.
And...do you think that you'll automatically stop procrastinating once you're older? Didn't you think that about college when you were in high school? And high school when you were in middle school? And middle school when you learned about the word in elementary school? ...so has it "naturally" come to you yet? I doubt it-I'm sure you still procrastinate. So how about now we take a stance to try procrastinating less. How? Pick ONE class and make sure you never procrastinate in this class. See how it goes! Let me know!
[If you don't procrastinate already, that is sooooo awesome! Let me know HOW!]
Oh. I am totally procrastinating right now by writing this and not doing my research, but I'm about to do it now. Good luck!
So long <3
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