The truth about procrastination

There it is again. It’s hanging over your head like a vulture.

You want to do something about it. But at the end of the day, do you do something about it?

You choose not to do anything about it. A few days pass by, and you still haven’t done anything about it. Not only is it still hanging over your head, but now the stress begins to kick in.

When the stress kicks in, that’s when you know you should have dealt with the problem from the get-go. Why let something that could have been fixed or solved days ago cause you twice the stress of the original problem?

That is what is known as procrastination. It is an affliction that affects everyone in the world, but most of the time, college students.

I know that it sucks to do work that you don’t want to do, but it’s got to be done –– someway, somehow. It has happened to me. I did nothing but sit around and horse around, and boy, did I sure pay the piper.

Not too long afterwards, I had an interesting revelation in the form of a dream.

I was faced with many different deadlines. Did I choose to meet them accordingly or did I horse around too much?

If you picked the latter, you would be quite right. I chose to live my life this way for my remaining days in college. All I did was party way too much, spent many wasted hours binge watching some awful Netflix show and so on.

Then all of a sudden, in my dream, I flash forward ten years –– it’s a dream, anything can happen. I heard myself saying, “Welcome to McDonald’s, may I take your order?”

This dream became one of the very few nightmares I have had in my life.

I am not denigrating anyone who works at a McDonald’s for a living because, at the end of the day, all honest work is honorable. My point is, why throw everything you have going for you away just because you don’t want to do it?

If you are reading this, you are most likely a college student yourself. If you are attending college in the first place, you have truly been blessed. You have received an opportunity that many people cannot get. Don’t let it go to waste just because you’re too lazy to study.

You may think otherwise, but there definitely are constructive ways to avoid the stress associated with procrastination. You may even realize that these strategies may boost your motivation as well.

Plan ahead of time. This one may seem obvious, but what many people fail to realize is not doing this simple task is why most people tend to fall behind in the first place.

It may even be wise to invest in a planner. I’m pretty sure you can find a ton of these in the bookstore or if you’re looking for a much cheaper alternative, simply go to a dollar store. These things aren’t scarce and may just save your grade and your college life.

In the planner, simply list the things you need to do and when you need to complete them by. This way, when you decide to procrastinate again, you really don’t have an excuse to have not done it considering you had listed this in your planner quite some time ago.

Set goals for yourself –– realistic goals, mind you. Definitely make sure that goal isn’t to write a ten-page paper five hours before it is due.

But take a big assignment, see when it is due and with respect to the due date, set fair and achievable goals.

For example, on Monday you can write two pages worth of an assignment. On Tuesday, you write another two pages and so on. This way, once the deadline rolls around, you won’t have a thing in the world to fuss over, considering you finished the assignment way before the deadline.

If you’re still in that “I’m too lazy to do anything” mindset, go exercise. Go to the gym and bench press some 200 pounds or, if you’re more of a runner like myself, go on a nice, long run to clear your head.

Exercise does not only make you happier and relieve any other stress you may have, it can also motivate you to do many other things you’ve never even considered doing like that big essay due at the end of the semester.

You are in college. You are most likely an adult at this point, too. If you’re wasting your college career doing nothing that pertains to any coursework, just leave college.

I said it once before and I’m going to say it again: you have been blessed to receive the extravagant educational opportunity that is college. Don’t let it go to waste.

Matthew Ian Doyle is a staff writer and can be reached at features@ubspectrum.com.