I am just going to say it: I am good at getting stuff done. Period.
I do what I need to do and rarely procrastinate on important assignments or big exams. I don’t know whether to thank my parents or just some god-given talent for juggling school work and other activities. However it happened, I am happy to have learned:
Procrastination is never the way to go.
Surrounded by college students on the eve of finals week has pushed this lesson home more and more. I have never been more grateful for my ability to sit down and write a paper or review for a test. I see my floor-mates struggle to complete assignments the night before they are do and I just look on with pity. Pulling all-nighters with various energy drinks just turns you into a quivering mess of stress and caffeinated nerves. Why would I ever voluntarily choose to stress myself out beyond all belief when it is fully within my power to alleviate that stress and finish my work on time?
In college, professors are even better about informing students of big assignments ahead of time, and syllabi fill that obsessive-compulsive planning part of my life that remained empty in high school. There is really no reason to ever fall behind. Call me crazy or naive, but I hate loading myself down with work on the weekends. I would much prefer to catch up on Iron Chef and fifth-floor gossip.
Procrastination is always going to exist for many of us, whether as students in an academic environment or adults in the work force. But I really do think that nothing is so overwhelming that it should be put off until the very last minute. Doesn’t that just induce more stress? As a high school student my assignments were closer together and therefore it was easier to procrastinate since there was always work piling up before me. In college the work load is steady and hefty, but much more manageable since a paper is no longer due in two days, but rather a week or two, even a month.
I am really proud of my first semester in college; looking back I really believe I have adjusted to the workload without overdoing it. High school students heed my advice: Sure, college is about as fun as anything can be, but term papers are not. I promise, AP does not even compare.
Let’s get some comments! College students, do you agree with me? Or does the pressure of a deadline really drive you to do work? Adults, do you see the same trends continuing past your formal schooling?
Shaina Cavazos 
i agree, though my first semester of college hardly counts as real school (aka not one term paper to date…or any legit paper really) and while i will say i have grown lazier in college, I am counting on that it’s because of my easy freshman classes and not a general decline in my academic motivation. I am also of the “no homework on weekends” belief, and even in my laziness, I still get work done days ahead (instead of weeks) of time. It also depends on how important the assignment is. The more significant, the less I procrastinate, however if it’s just a busywork thing, then I tend to be a little more lax in my schedule.
To sum it up, procrastination is completely avoidable, though staying up late drinking coffee is hardly a punishment for me =)