Only a month and a few days left for the end of the semester, and no, this is not an April fools joke.
The semester seems to have flown right by my very eyes without bothering to say, “hey stupid, get to work!”
I know you know what I am talking about…it is only natural for students to procrastinate and instead of doing that paper we all very well know is due tomorrow, we find ourselves watching reruns of Law & Order and Will & Grace (I don’t doubt that not everybody watches these two shows so kindly insert your favorite two shows in place of mine).
This isn’t another stop procrastinating and get to work articles…it is more of a question to God: “God why do we procrastinate?”
Why is it that instead of working on something that could mean the difference between passing and failing, we choose to go off into the night and get drunk off our asses? We choose to settle for the choice that will land us into the land of hangover hell instead of smarty-pants done my homework land. Why is that?
Is it because we are lazy? That could very well be the case, but have you ever noticed how much work goes into going out? I mean from choosing what to wear (which can take a good 15 to 30 minutes and don’t try to tell me that you are not guilty of this, you know you are) to the final stare down the mirror; it takes work! Let’s not leave out the whole baking in the sun to get that perfect tan so that when we go out, others can marvel as to how great our skin looks and other little things like that. I think that very much proves my point and if you are not fully convinced about this, you are welcome to go hang out with some of my friends that take up to two hours doing their hair to get that perfect going out look.
Ok, so the lazy argument is out the door…what else is the reason? I can’t seem to understand this very common human behavior. Is procrastination Darwin’s survival of the fittest final test on humanity? Are those of us that procrastinate too much doomed to ending up washing the dust off of the luxury vehicles of those that don’t procrastinate? Will my future boss be a non-procrastinator that looks down on us procrasties? I want to know!
And what about the non-procrastinators…why don’t you give us, procrastinators, a tip or two on how not to procrastinate? I don’t see doctors rushing out to make some sort of pill to help us lessen this illness (that is what it is) either! (They of coarse are too busy perfecting Viagra or something like.) I am truly baffled by this problem.
I know professors know when we procrastinate…in fact, I can probably wager some pretty good bets on a yes to this.
So what is it going to take for us to march our butts up and do some work for class?
The worst part about procrastination is that it is not limited to just school work…once you are a procrasty (my term for one that is infected with procrastination) you are doomed. It spreads throughout all parts of your daily routine. An example: I am trying to quit smoking. You would imagine that I just stopped and attempted to quit the very day I decided to do this? Nope, I procrastinated on quitting smoking as I procrastinated on taking a quiz; get that!
Nothing in your life is safe from procrastination. It is one of the end all of all end alls.
All I can do now is wish luck and courage to all you procrasties out there and pray that the cure is soon to come around.
These are my thoughts, let’s hear yours. Write to me at:
bridgeeditor@tamiu.edu
“How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.” – Fred Brooks