Now, the title may seem like I have improved at avoiding procrastination, but it is quite the opposite. If you have ever left an assignment for the last minute and turned it in to receive an acceptable score, then you would know the feeling of accomplishment. This does not mean that I am entirely leaving every task for the last minute, but I have noticed gradual improvements in my schedule dedicated to college.
The actual root cause of my procrastination habit may have developed some time since middle school when being able to pull off these last-minute assignments solidified my procrastination. This “clutch” mindset, as I like to call it, has become part of my college schedule. Typically, procrastination is regarded as completely negative, but I don’t think that it is all the time. While not exactly considered an example of procrastination, you can think of highly competitive sports games showing examples of “clutch.” The reason I bring up sports is because I have practiced soccer for five years until I began to spend less time dedicated to the sport. Often, in my soccer games, our games would either be a complete loss or a draw. However, these draws sometimes brought out the energy in me necessary to make a finish goal. From last-minute finishing goals in soccer to last-second buzzers in basketball, there is a “clutch” moment defined in sports. I know that this competitive mindset that I have created used the “clutch” accomplishment, and somehow, this was incorporated into my academic life halfway through middle school.
Indeed, procrastinating is not a good habit to build because, most times, when the schoolwork piles up, it tends to be easier to suffocate under all the tasks. One great thing about college is the extended period granted to submit homework, which can vary from one week to a month. While this is a much easier system to work under, I still find myself leaving tasks on hold in my to-do list. It seems crazy, but one day, it is Monday, the start of the week, and then the next moment, four separate homework assignments are due at the exact same time on a Friday. Time does somehow find a way to catch up and speed right past you, and in moments like those, I tend to learn the lesson the hard way. From having to say no to family trips on the weekends to constantly worrying about the next essay deadline, I found it better to confront my procrastination habit.
This past week, I began to start on my Discrete Structures and Statistics homework, but not to finish it all in one day. That would fatigue me in an instant, so I divided the work by the days of the week, and this left me with doing two questions a day for both homework assignments. When put into this perspective, I realize that this is far better than waiting for Friday evening to catch up on my assignments in Gateway South. As a result, I find myself with more time to work on my personal projects and enjoy my hobbies. This also means that the weekend does feel like a weekend for me because I would only have to worry about finishing one assignment by the end of Friday.
At the end of the day, the schedule you make for your academic and work life represents a sport. Take it from my personal experience where I have had plenty of “clutch” moments, but I have also had disappointing fallbacks from procrastinating too much. Just like a sport, it is crucial to score as many points within the first half, than to wait for the last minute and risk winning or losing the game.
