We all have those days where we can’t seem to do anything but procrastinate. But the thing is, procrastination is your friend. And it’s not called “lazy” if you get the job done.

1. Deadlines are but mere dates/times

You essentially understand that deadlines are really just guidelines. Or even the starting line for work. “Ready, set, start your work!” And at that point, you’re in a race – with time – and you just know you have to do your best and be the best. And after an intense sprint, you come out a champion.

2.You are well aware you can do pretty much anything at the last minute

With the anxiety of not completing something due pumping you up, you waste very little time dilly dallying and just do everything with the fervency of a high-schooler waiting for the last bell. “This assignment should take you about a week—", No, it won’t; challenge accepted. If you’ve ever started a major assignment at the very last minute and come out alive, you know that if you don’t take your time and smell the grass, the work gets done faster. And if you like high stress and anxiety, it’s plenty exciting too! Live dangerously while you still can.

3. You become super creative

We have to consider the possibility that you won’t get your work in on time. Not an issue. Procrastination accounts for back up plans too. Only when you’re peaking the procrastination scale can you come up with the most brilliant excuses out of anything. Only those who truly understand the hardships of life can come up with anything meaningful (or in this case, creative).

4. You probably read faster, and can extract important information well

You approach an assignment/task knowing exactly what you need to know because you’re in a pickle. Once you really get into it, sentences are but strings of words. You learn that you can live life just by reading key words, and then just figure everything else out as you go.

5. You can function well with high feelings of anxiety

You’ve only done it like, a million times. Anxiety can be your friend if you spend enough time with it. You learn that it’ll come, and it’ll go. It’s all about understanding that some intense feelings that we have to deal with aren’t always bad, and it can help you if you let it. Any true procrastinator knows that anxiety is key for high performance, and for slowing down time. When you’re that pressed for time, while you’re fixated on the usual stresses in life, you have an immediate goal (your task/assignment) that prevents you from letting your anxiety from consuming you for the worse. It’s really about channeling your energy the right way.

6. You have more time to do all the other things you want to do

When you realize how much time you don’t need to complete something and therefore spend very little time on everything, you have plenty of time to do all sorts of other things! There are some things that just won’t wait, and if you never procrastinate and do things quickly, you’ll miss it.

7. You do things when you want to do it

If you ever have to procrastinate, it’s probably because you have a lot of other things you’d much rather be doing (which includes doing nothing, of course). So you deliberately allocate time for doing specific things and never compromise on what you actually want to do. You can even apply this in life.

8. You know what’s important

Like sleep. And if you’re a regular procrastinator, you know to work when it’s easy to work. For me, I know exactly when I should be paying attention in class (when we’re discussing what’s coming out for exams) and when I can autopilot. Procrastination is about doing work efficiently and making it work at your own time.

9. You make decisions faster

Tick tock, tick tock! You can miraculously make decisions better and rationalize them with more efficiency. And whatever your decision is, you learn that at the end of the day, there’s really no such thing as a bad decision – it’s about what you do with it.

10. Your senses are heightened – you’re essentially a mutant.

Because of all the stress and lack of time, you’re mind goes into overdrive, and you suddenly remember all the important things you need to know. Seasoned procrastinators know to look at all the random things scribbled on their notes that must have been stressed on a million times in class to know that it needs to be included/learned for the next assignment. It’s all know-how.

11. You always get the greatest feelings of accomplishment at the very end.

Nothing says “job well done” like an intense marathon/sprint to complete your assignment in a new record time. You walk out feeling like a champion and ready for the next race.