By Breanna Adams
Terror and panic.
I’ve experienced both of these emotions every single time I realize that my deadline has arrived. I start to sweat and I feel as if my life is coming to an end. There is one culprit that is to blame: procrastination.
Let’s start with Monday and Tuesday. That’s when I try to fool myself into believing that the weekend has not come to an end. Wednesday looks me in the face and says “We still have another day!” After this, Thursday makes an entrance and I realize the hammer has come down and that essay that’s worth 20 percent of my grade is due tomorrow and I haven’t even begun to think about it.
Friday shakes its head in sorrow and Saturday and Sunday are always too far off to see.
I have come across this same issue year after year during my schooling and it doesn’t matter what level of education I’m in, I still find myself procrastinating despite how many times I try to fight it.
I find myself, even as I write this, looking around my room. There is a mess of clothes on the floor that hasn’t bothered me but now I have the urge to actually clean it up. Anything to put off the inevitable.
Is my stomach rumbling? Maybe I should eat.
There is a chip in my nail polish and I cannot concentrate until it’s fixed.
Maybe my mom is missing me. I should probably call her.
These are the woes of procrastination. It makes me feel like I have OCD and that I need everything to be perfect.
I ask what people do when they find themselves procrastinating. They usually are doing the same thing: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Even if the clock is ticking in their faces.
Perhaps this is the reason I’ve decided to be a journalist. I’ve become so used to deadlines and stress that it has ceased to faze me and I’m now a professional at working under pressure.
I am a diehard Harry Potter fan, I’ve even been to Universal Studios in Orlando. I’ve visited Hogsmeade, the Three Broomsticks restaurant, bought Voldemort’s wand and went to Hogwarts. If you have read or watched the third installment, The Prisoner of Azkaban, you will remember Hermione’s necklace. The one that lets her go back in time.
This is what I need. A time-turner that can let me procrastinate as much as I want. This way when the time comes for me to hand in my final draft I can just spin it and be able to put it off even longer.
The term “guesstimating” is one I find myself using frequently. I “guesstimate” the time it will take me to write something compared to the amount of time I have to do it. An hour out of a week is nothing! So why is it so difficult to do?
If you thought reading this would show you the answer to procrastination, I’m sorry to disappoint you. If I ever find the answer I’ll be sure to write about it. For now however, I’m pretty sure I’m overdue to procrastinate my next task.