By jessi05
9.12.2021 10:34
I actually wanted to write this tomorrow
Ah, yes. Procrastination. You’re sitting on your bed, watching Netflix. The clock tells you, it is
18:55. “In five minutes”, you think to yourself, “I will start my essay.” The next time you look at
the clock, it reads 19:01. Now we have a problem. You rattle your brain for answers, knit your
eyebrows, and a light bulb lights up in your head. The perfect solution: Start at 19:15.
Actually, I should be studying maths. Instead, I am writing this post. Maths and me, we disagree
sometimes, and I tend to avoid it when I can. Things that make me feel uncomfortable or that I
don’t really want to do, lead me to procrastinate – and I am not the only one.
Especially students are familiar with leaving assignments to the last minute or pulling an all-
nighter for an exam the next day that they couldn’t bring themselves to study for before. This
results in losing trust in oneself, moreover, feeling guilty of unfulfilled promises. Sometimes, it
can leave you feeling helpless.
But fear not, my friends, for I will give you advice on how to beat procrastination. Even though
it doesn’t feel like it, you are in control. The clock doesn’t determine when you start working, you
do. What helps, is knowing the reason why you are procrastinating. In addition, splitting the task
into smaller steps can help you see that maybe it isn’t as hard as you thought it would be. And if
you cannot seem to get started, do said task for two minutes only. The point is to make it so easy
that it would be ridiculous to avoid it.
You are like the author of a book, don’t get stuck on the first few pages. You decide what
happens next. And if you are procrastinating by reading this, well, I hope you found a reason to
continue what you were working on.
Or do it tomorrow.
Jessica Steininger 7M // December 2021
Oberstufe // Non-Fiction // Blog post about ‘procrastination’