Sunday, April 05, 2009

On Procrastination

Once upon a time, there was an assignment. It was a short paper of an assignment, with some additional reading required before the paper could be written. This paper was due in two days, and the writer was not finished reading. She turned down invitations to outings, griped about the meeting she could not skip, and was thrilled when the child in her charge was happy to be cared for elsewhere to give the writer time to write.

What time did the writer get to work on the paper? Half an hour here, half an hour there, and a final half an hour after she had brushed her teeth and prepared for bed.

All day, and she's not much closer than she was yesterday. Her hope? That her 5 pages of notes will miraculously transform themselves into a comprehensive treatment of the subject at hand, and be quite satisfactorily turned into the professor on time. Which happily is 11:59 PM on the date due.

Secrets for procrastination that you can adopt to put off your own assignments:
- spend time on the other things that have been left for the last minute, like a lesson to be taught the next morning.
- spend quality time with your child because you've missed having her around all day (or because you appreciate her more after not having her around all day??)
- finish your novel so it is no longer a draw away from study.
- play a game or three to exercise your mind and get it ready to work.
- catch up on the blogs you've been neglecting, because it is Saturday, after all.

Tune in again to hear the (as yet unwritten) finale of the story of the (as yet unwritten) little assignment!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another procrastination tip- call your sister to chat because it has been a while since you've talked to her.

Carolyn Ward said...

Ha ha... yeah, I forgot, I did that too...

Denise said...

I think I actually work better under pressure ;) But I can't do it on a regular basis. Perhaps that's why papers are only due every once in a while...

MOM said...

You sound too much like me for your own good. At least you are smart enough to carry off these last minute papers. Not sure I ever was or am - not that I do papers now but there are other jobs and things that still have to be done NOW!