What’s the number one tip for people trying to be productive? Stop procrastinating. There’s a seemingly infinite number of articles about how to beat procrastination. For a long time, I’ve been able to follow that advice — starting my assignments in advance, planning project work out over a period of several days, and never leaving work to the last minute.
And then, my last semester at UMass started, and all of that motivation was just, well, disappeared. With burnout setting in and most of my time being spent on my thesis, I simply didn’t have the energy to start assignments a week in advance. That’s not to say that I don’t care about my school work; it’s just that it’s harder than ever to get myself to work on my assignments, let alone start them far in advance. I became what I always tried to avoid: a procrastinator.
But you know what? It hasn’t made me miserable or ruined the quality of my work as everyone seems to believe. In fact, procrastination has been strangely less stressful than fighting with myself to start work before I’m ready. I’ve accepted that I’m going to do any small assignments a day before they’re due (at best). I enjoy the free time I have before I need to do work, but when the deadline approaches, I know that I need to do the work, and I get it done in time. This is so much better for me than trying and failing to get the work done ahead of time, before I’m ready.
Working in this way has been a major mindset shift for me. Rather than feeling disappointed because I did an online quiz at the last minute instead of a day or two before the due date, I feel good about getting the quiz done on time. There’s nothing inherently moral about being a planner, and there’s nothing wrong with being a procrastinator if that’s what works for you. Procrastinating has actually made me more productive in some ways. The pressure of an approaching deadline makes me focus and get things done.
Maybe you have a bad case of senioritis like me, you’re feeling burnt out after a long year, or you’re just ready to enjoy the warm weather that should be arriving soon. Whatever your reason, it’s okay to procrastinate. You should let yourself do your work in whatever way works for you, and not force yourself to be a bullet journaling, color-coordinating planner if that doesn’t help you. Instead of beating ourselves up about not being a ‘perfect’ student, we need to realize that everyone has different ways of getting through the semester, and none of those ways are wrong.
So, let yourself procrastinate a little if you want. And if you’re reading this to procrastinate whatever homework is open in another tab, then I’m happy to have helped. If you’re looking to continue avoiding work, I highly recommend watching Tim Urban’s hilarious and insightful Ted Talk, Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator. It might just the be beginning of a wonderful YouTube spiral for you.
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