College. A lot of us have done it. A bunch of us are going to do it. If there's anything that we all have in common — well, besides the uncomfortable amount of stress — it's the stress specifically caused by the procrastination that we have all done at least once. Don't lie. We've all done it. The usual process? Sort of goes a little like this:
1. You are informed of the deadline of an essay assignment by your professor.
Sometimes, thoughts of actively procrastinating arise right here at the get-go.
2. Do some rough outlining for your paper.
(Most skip this step. I personally do not, because... well, I mean, it feels like I did something.)
3. Put the essay in the back of your mind.
Seriously. You somehow convinced yourself that you'll finish it before the due date without any issue.
4. Go out to a few parties.
Spend a little bit longer talking in the dining hall. Watch Netflix. Essentially, do anything to avoid finishing this paper.
5. Five. AKA, the number of days left until the due date.
The stress just starts to hit you, but not quite at it's full force, freaking out stage. You just convince yourself you still have time to write a pretty good paper.
6. It's three days before the paper is due.
You find the paper outlining the due date and required points needed in your paper to receive credit in the back of your folder. Panic hits. You might ask any classmates what they are up to in their paper in an attempt to calm your nerves. It probably doesn't; they're more than halfway done.
7. Between classes and cat naps, you down a cup of black coffee — the black resembling the darkness of your future if you bomb this paper.
8. Desperation.
You play with the idea of pleading with your professor for an extension, thinking about making up some lame excuse about how you got a cold. Maybe you will actually try it, and the professor might actually take the excuse.
9. Or your professor totally just rejected the idea of an extension.
So you're a little bit SOL for that option.
You tap the home button on your iPhone — the time reads 3 a.m. You're probably really existential, and regretting whatever you did to get to this point. But you're there — you're three quarters of the way done putting together this mess of a paper.
10. It's 8 a.m.
Your eyes are bloodshot from the caffeine and exhaustion. You attach the essay as a file to your professor, and send it. You tell yourself that you are never going to do that again. You head back to your dorm and take a mid-day nap.
11. Forget what a mess procrastinating caused.
Repeat for essay #2.
