Well it’s here! That time of the year where you’ve settled into all of your classes, where the last of the New Year’s resolutions are dwindling away and it is now 2 a.m. mid-February and you are sitting in your dorm room with an endless list of things to do sitting next to you as you scroll on Twitter, Tumblr, or whatever other website you choose to waste your time on. Look, we get it: it’s cold out; the readings for your classes are boring and studying for the quiz you have at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning just doesn’t seem appealing. And let’s be real, Netflix is the real priority in the grand scheme of things here. So where does that leave us? This is when we find ourselves falling down the hole of procrastination. Here are the stages we all go through when we really, really, really do not want to do that homework.
Stage 1: Productive Procrastination
This stage is probably the best one and depending on the person, this stage could last a very long time or well, a few minutes. This is the stage where we make our To-Do lists (pretending like we are actually going to complete it), start your laundry, pick up your room, make your bed, call your parents, grandma, second cousin twice removed…really anything to make you feel like you’re actually doing something.
Stage 2: Scrolling
Your parents have hung up, your laundry is almost finished at this point, your room is possibly spotless (probably not), and your To-Do list still sits untouched, but what do we start to do? Scroll. You scroll on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, check everyones Snapchat stories, pin some things for organizing and how to not procrastinate on Pinterest, and finally Facebook because you “really should catch up with your friends from high school.”
Stage 3: Netflix
The third and possibly most dangerous stage is Netflix. With it being the New Year there are SO MANY shows that you can watch and series you need to catch up on. First it starts with you telling yourself that you’ll just keep it on in the background, but then the episode gets really good and that quiz just became really irrelevant because it’s possible your favorite character could die at any second!
Stage 4: Panic
Two seasons later and you realize you have yet to cross anything off your list and the sun is possibly rising and the panic sets in. Your chest tightens as you realize your eyes are heavy and your roommate’s light has been off for hours. You try to get everything together and you FINALLY start that homework.
Stage 5: Sleep
About 20 minutes to an hour passes, but it feels like days. You can barely keep your eyes open and you are now looking at your schedule for the next day, trying to figure out where you can fit in doing this homework before class. You’re telling yourself that it’ll be better if you get some sleep now to have more energy to do it in the morning. You’ll definitely wake up early and finish it. You set your alarm for much earlier than normal and you pass out giving up on the many things you planned to do that night. Oh well, maybe tomorrow!
Even though we may procrastinate, we always do seem to get our work done and handed in, it just may not be the most efficient way. Maybe one day that list thing will work. Happy procrastinating!