Destination Procrastination

It’s the root of all evil, but procrastination is a part of our daily lives, whether we like it or not. Rarely does a day pass by when we don’t dawdle over some decision or defer something we’re too lazy to do, and that is not likely to change any time soon. It’s not a big deal really, unless, of course, you are a student, where procrastination has the power to consume you on a day-to-day basis…

Put yourself in the mind of the student for a second. An assignment is set and you are told that you have three weeks to complete it. You conjure an early plan, with the best of intentions, to gradually work away at it over the course of the next three weeks. However, distractions come in all shapes and sizes, and the due date is so far away that you decide to take a well-earned hiatus.

The weeks fly by, and nothing is achieved. Out of nowhere, Monday arrives and the assignment is due on Friday morning. Though you do not know it yet, you are about to settle into 3-4 days of champion procrastination. There is a high probability that you will watch all six series of The Soprano’s, and it’s very likely that you will get addicted to some terrible Playstation game that you found under the couch. You will do lots of things during this period, but that assignment will certainly not be one of them.

Those glorious few days will unfortunately come to an end and you will not enjoy going to sleep on Wednesday night, that much I can assure you. Once those lights go out and you’re left alone with your thoughts, you will realise that you’ve pissed away the last three weeks and now you have one day to do the entire assignment. That all too familiar heat will begin to consume you, and it will seem as though there is no way out. If there is a hell down below us, this is most definitely what it feels like.

Thursday morning will arrive and you will conveniently forget all about the demons that plagued you the previous night. A large proportion of the day will seemingly pass you by until evening arrives and affirmative action is needed. Once you actually start, things will begin to mellow until a rhythm is found. Several hours will pass by before you will find yourself staring at a completed assignment, to a relatively acceptable standard. This will lend to a great deal of satisfaction, having ‘beaten the system’ once again.

Upon reflection, you'll realise that the doing of the assignment was actually the easy part and that the days you spent thinking and worrying about it was what made it seem like torture. At this stage, you will solemnly promise that you will not allow yourself to be consumed by the heat ever again.

The following week you will be handed another assignment, a tougher one this time. Will you learn from your previous experiences? You will not.