I thought that with the advent of college, I would finally develop a set of study skills that would enable me to finish my work in a timely manner.
Oh goodness. I was so naïve a mere two months ago.
Procrastination has taken on an entirely new meaning for me. In high school, procrastination was waiting until the night before a paper was due to actually write it. That meant going to bed at the late hour of midnight or even 1 a.m. Now however, waiting until the day a paper is due means staying up until the unseemly hour of 5 a.m. (sorry Mom, it won’t happen again!). Of course, the simple answer could be to just stop procrastinating. But as any member of the procrastination nation will tell you, this is easier said than done, in fact why don’t we start tomorrow.
The simple reason for this advanced state of procrastination is simply that I have so many more distractions than I did before. In high school, it was checking Facebook every five minutes or texting. Now, I have that plus talking to whichever one of my hall mates drops by for a visit, hanging out with my roommate, watching TV shows that I’ve missed or making a “quick” ice cream run to the dining hall. It doesn’t help that despite the AP credits I brought with me, I am still taking some Gen-Eds that don’t interest me. So, I really am not interested in the work I have to do.
Unfortunately, this means that I am sliding down a slippery slope. It’s easy to fall into a rut and I would not recommend the lifestyle to anyone. There’s the stress in trying to remember if you’ve submitted an assignment by the midnight deadline or that moment of panic when your computer decides to die at 2 a.m. in the middle of writing an essay. Once in awhile, I stop and ask myself if I really want my professors to see the timestamp on the emails I send them, but then I decide that they’ll surely understand. After all, I can’t be the only one living like this.
Procrastination is a terrible habit that I’m trying to break. Every weekend I convince myself that the new week will bring a change in my study habits. But now, I’m serious. I would be happier not facing that choice of going to bed at 5 a.m. or just staying up because waking up after only a few hours of sleep is painful. But I really am serious, I am going to break this procrastination streak. Starting today.
