While being a college student, the idea of procrastination isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s rather common. College is full of so many distractions from Netflix to naps. We live in this fantasy world that tells us waiting to do something until later is okay. We know that it would be more practical to get something done immediately, yet we wait anyway. Why is that? Also, every time we procrastinate we say, “I’m never going to do that again.” But guess what? We do it over and over. It’s like we forget the consequences of waiting until the last minute. Procrastination, especially as a student, is dangerous and here’s why.

1. Stress, stress, and more stress

I believe that procrastination is what leads to the most stress in our academic careers. College naturally causes enough stress as it is, so why would we only add to that stress? Procrastination doesn’t mean that we don’t do the work; it just means that it’s postponed until later… much later. So much later that the deadline is smacking us in the face, yet we still think we have time for another episode of How I Met Your Mother. After our Netflix binge is over, and we actually begin the assignment, we start to realize the error in our ways. It’s the, “Oh my gosh how on Earth am I going to finish this…” feeling you get. The pressure starts to build, the stress starts growing, and the time starts dwindling. Stress is at an all time high, then went the assignment is turned it, it’s like it never happened. We need to understand that stress is harmful and that we need to do our best to reduce it by doing our assignments early.

2. It doesn't allow much time for accidents to happen

Let’s be honest here, I have the worst luck in the world. For some reason, the universe enjoys seeing my Microsoft documents mysteriously disappear or my laptop dying for reasons unknown to man. If you’re as unlucky as me (which I sincerely hope you’re not) then waiting until the last minute to do anything is a disaster waiting to happen. There will be days where Blackboard will crash the day before your project is due, or a day where you feel absolutely awful and can’t get out of bed. You need to anticipate things like this happening, and the only way to do that is to get it done ASAP. Your professor is not going to be happy if you email him/her the night before saying your paper didn’t save because of technical issues. You know what they’re going to say? “Well you should have done it earlier.” Try and avoid this from happening, I promise that it will make your college experience much easier.

3. You will never do your best work

When we start an assignment the day before it’s due, it’s obvious that there isn’t much time left to finish it. Due to the time crunch, there isn’t enough time for creative freedom to flow or our best ideas to be represented. We may be excellent writers or brilliant mathematicians, but would our work represent that? Would that professor be able to see how amazing you are solely based on what you submitted? No, absolutely not. College is a platform that requires us to perform at our highest potential every single day. Slacking off on one paper could do detrimental effects to your grade and your future… Yeah, it’s that serious. You will never ever do your best if you procrastinate on your assignment. Your professors may schedule it in advanced because it requires you to do extensive research and planning, not so you can ignore it until it becomes necessary. Do yourself a favor and allow enough time for your genius to be represented, you deserve it.

We as students are capable of so much greatness, and we all have the ability to succeed in incredible ways. It’s time that we allow ourselves that opportunity to succeed by ending our procrastination addiction. We CAN do it, it IS possible, and the outcome will be greater than you ever imagined. So put down the Netflix, open a book, and start planning your next triumph. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor. (Sorry, the Hunger Games reference was necessary. Cue iconic whistle.)