Why do today that which you can put off til tomorrow?
No matter how you look at it or justify it, procrastination is stupid! I can't think of a better way to live in constant stress and anxiety, fearing the moment that the axe drops and you have to actually do what you are putting off. Sure, it seems logical that you might actually work faster under the gun of a deadline, but is the worry and stress worth it?
Well, you'd better consider these musings me talking to myself rather than a lecture, or I'm definitely a hypocrite. Because instead of working on my brief that is due tomorrow, I'm procrastinating it and blogging about procrastination instead (I guess that still makes me a hypocrite, but oh well).
I think everyone has at least one thing in life that is so torturous to do that it gets stuffed into the far corners of their mind and calendar. I could think of at least a dozen things that could fall into that category: washing dishes, applying for jobs, studying for a test, etc. But the thing that easily tops my list is writing (obviously excluding blogging). And every time I have a new paper coming up, I try to avoid the last minute stress by blocking out time to work on it and really trying to put it first. But inevitably, as soon as I sit down with my laptop open, my motivation is gone. It doesn't matter how bad I know the night before the due date will be or how much time I'll waste by not working on it when I clearly could be. I still can't do it.
Well, today I came up with a brilliant plan. I would motivate myself through music and get in such a good mood that I couldn't help but want to be productive. So I went to a quiet spot in the law library, put in my headphones and cranked up "The Final Countdown." Of course I had to also put in a game of Spider Solitaire...or two...or three. And now here I sit, listening to the exact same time for at least the 8th time in a row and I've written a total of six words for my brief. Oh well, at least I'm in a good mood. And even better, I am being productive (if you can consider blogging productive - I suppose it beats out Spider Solitaire at least).
So to my fellow law students and other co-procrastinators, here's to stress and anxiety...later.
