As I write this article that I have already procrastinated, I’m currently procrastinating about 6 other pressing things as well.
The way my brain functions, I'm usually always pressed for time, because I save things until the very last minute to complete them. This is something people around me have always scolded me for. I understand that when I’m sitting around refreshing my Facebook feed for the 12th time, or staring at the wall, I could realistically be doing work that isn’t immediately due, so I don’t have to go into a stress induced panic while finishing it all last minute. But it’s hard for me to explain to these people that this is just not how my brain works. I function better when I know that there’s no other possible time for me to push the work back, so it will have to be done in that very moment and no later. I know this sounds silly, but after all this time in school, this is one of the only ways my brain functions.
I’m quite aware of all the dangers and stress and anxious feelings that procrastination can cause in a person. I’ve experienced it first hand in myself and many other people on countless occasions. Even for big assignments that I’ve had months to work on, I still push them back as far as possible. My brain understands that if it isn’t due immediately, or my work isn’t being checked along the way, that I don’t actually need to be doing it at this very moment. And for me, procrastination comes in stages. Most times I’ll procrastinate my work, and a lot of the time I'll choose to procrastinate doing school work by doing other tasks that have also been pushed aside. For example, I’ll typically resort to cleaning my room, cooing, doing laundry, etc., before choosing to do any school work.
This also goes for short term things as well. For instance, even in a daily routine, I’ll find myself procrastinating everything. I'm aware that this may come off as laziness, and it probably is laziness in a way. I'm also aware that this is frustrating to other people to watch, or listen to me complain about. However, up until now, this strategy has worked pretty well, and I'm almost halfway done with my junior year of college. It may not be a system that works for everyone at all times, but I can tell you that for the most part it works for me.
My procrastination habit tends to lead me to late nights and trying to find ways to keep myself engaged in what I'm doing so it definitely gets done. This means going to the library, eating candy to stay awake, and playing random alpha waves music that has no words or distracting tones. It tends to mean I'm going to be more tired the next day, or maybe it means I give myself a few minor breakdowns along the way-kicking myself for pushing it off, and telling myself I’ll do better next time. But we all know this is not how it works. If you’re used to putting things off until the last minute, then its only natural that you will continue in that way. Let's face it, we all know that finding dog outfits with pizza designs on them is way more interesting that than 6 page paper you have due next week. So as for my procrastination habit… that’s something I’ll take care of later.
