Did I procrastinate this column? Yes, I did. Should I have? Probably not.
Lindsay Trombly | Argonaut
Procrastination is something people tend to do without thinking. But in the long run, it won’t have the best effects on your health.
There are many reasons for procrastination, according to Psychology today. Sometimes we might feel sluggish, averse or just have too much on our plates to even think about completing a single task.
This past week wasn’t a typical syllabus week for me taking upper level division courses. I was assigned a large workload the first day of my junior year. This wasn’t an ideal situation, but it needed to be done.
Even though that homework was assigned to me and there was a hard deadline attached, it still took a few days for me to get to it. Extracurricular activities distracted me, and then I became too tired to do my homework.
That’s no excuse for procrastination fever. So, I began to work on stuff four days before it was due.
After the fact, my nerves calmed down and I ended up feeling relieved. I realized that what my professor assigned took more time than I originally thought a few hours on a Sunday would accomplish.
As much as we convince ourselves that procrastination is the answer to your problems, it isn’t. If students got our work done ahead of time, things would be much easier. Life would be easier.
I admire people that don’t procrastinate. People that don’t procrastinate aren’t as stressed and likely have more free time on their hands.
Procrastination leads to having tasks loom over your brain every second of the day. It never goes away until your tasks are complete.
Earlier in the week, my stress led to a migraine. This stress was from procrastination. My mind kept rambling on non-stop with no off-switch.
It’s just bad for your health.
The way to avoid procrastination is to not overstress yourself. Put enough tasks on your plate that you know you can accomplish in a timely manner.
Not procrastinating is easier said than done, but it’s worth a shot.
When you have work, do it ahead of time. Do homework the day it’s assigned, work on homework between classes and just do it when you have free time. Then, you’ll have more time for fun activities that you enjoy.
Everyone is guilty of procrastination in one form or another.
My column deadline showed up faster than the week flew by. If I hadn’t procrastinated, my stress levels would have fallen dramatically.
Remember, it’s all about time management. It’s something we can all improve on.
Did you procrastinate this week? Probably. Should you have? Probably not.
Lindsay Trombly can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lindsay_trombly