There comes a time in every student’s life when he or she faces an ultimatum with any assignment: finish it now or push it off till later? However, this is not always an easy decision. Like many others, I also fall into the trap of procrastination. Sometimes, an assignment or impending exam is just too daunting to start. Other times, we simply can’t figure out how to get from point A to B. Nonetheless, extreme procrastination happens to the best of us in a series of events, detailed below.
1. The assignment.
Either this is announced in class or on the professor’s syllabus. On paper, it doesn't seem too difficult of a task. And, of course, there’s always the “don't wait until the last minute” warning on your way out of class. You ignore that recommendation anyway.
2. Productive Procrastination
You're ready to take this assignment head-on. As you walk out of class, you think how you'll do this part on Monday, the next half by Tuesday and so on until it's due date. You have a plan! What could go wrong? But first, you remember that you have laundry to do. Your room is a mess and didn’t you say you were going to reorganize your desk? Obviously, those priorities come first.
3. The Internet Intervention
You finally sit down in the library, spreading out various textbooks, notebooks and pens — you're all ready to start. But what about that Facebook notification you received in class? Or the email you said you’d respond to once you had a chance? Suddenly, you find yourself immersed in something completely unrelated to the assignment.
4. Fear
It slaps you right in the face. You quickly realize that the past hour of browsing cat videos on Facebook has done nothing for your assignment. You think of all the other people surrounding you in the library and how productive they must have been while you were wasting time. You panic, close all browsers and get straight to work. After all, you didn’t walk all the way to the library for nothing.
5. The Reward
An hour of wasting time for half an hour of hard work? You've definitely earned another study break. Go ahead, spend another hour or two doing absolutely nothing — maybe grab a bite to eat. At this rate, maybe your assignment will be done by the end of the week?
6. Acceptance of the All-Nighter
As the library begins to empty and you are one of the few stragglers left, you realize how much time you've spent doing absolutely nothing. You vow to stay at the library for the rest of the night, sacrificing precious sleep for productivity. This gives you another six or seven hours to work! You've got plenty of time. Your brain (or work) definitely won’t suffer from the sleep deprivation.
7. Going into Hyperdrive
At this point, you're in the final stretch. You have an hour left before you call it quits, and the assignment is almost finished. The quality of your work is most definitely questionable, but at this point, you simply don't care.
8. Completion and Collapse
You’ve done it. You've written the last word, finished the last problem, studied the last chapter. You have crossed the mental finish line, a small victory. You're never going to put off an assignment like that again. That is, until you remember there are still three other major assignments left in the class. Whatever, you say — you'll do that next week.
