Procrastination is the silent-but-deadly monster that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
At first you’re just watching some harmless TV, convincing yourself that it’s only 3:00 p.m., and you have plenty of time to do all your homework. But then next thing you know, it’s 12:00 a.m., and you haven’t opened your backpack all day, and you think to yourself: “Why the heck did I just do that?”
Edward Young said, “Procrastination is a thief a time,” and I couldn’t agree more. Procrastination just keeps stealing valuable time that we’ll never get back. Time that could be spent towards finding out how to cure Ebola, but is instead used to watch funny cat videos or to paint your toenails upside down or something (Yes I actually did try to do that.)
Even though I think procrastination is the worst thing a student can do, I understand where the motivation behind it comes from. I’m guessing that the main reason for procrastination is this: if we don’t think about what we have to do, maybe it will go away. This mindset is very similar to the Freudian defense mechanism called repression. Repression is when an individual represses or conveniently forgets about what is causing them anxiety. But unfortunately, I think this defense mechanism just makes it worse.
No matter how much we want to forget about the work we have, it’s not going away. There is no magic button that vaporizes all our problems instantly, and no, you may not use your work time to figure out how to invent this. The fact is, the only way to get things done is to do them. I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s true.
Think about all the time we would save if we just worked, and cut out all the procrastination. So rip off the Band-Aid, and just do it. You don’t want to be that person crying on a Sunday night because you left everything until the last minute. Trust me, I’ve been there. Procrastination just makes everything harder, and although you may not want to, it is better to get things done right away, and that’s just the way it is.
