ah Procrastination, we meet again...

[spydar]

So...I have 2 essays due friday and a midterm tomorrow (tomorrow meaning in 14 hours)...and I haven't really done much for any of it. but luckily I have every desperate university student's secret weapons: obscene amounts of caffeine and a predisposition toward insomnia.

but why do we do this to ourselves? are procrastinators self-destructive? poor time managers? or just plain ol dumb and lazy? thoughts????

[Jorath Calar]

Dumb and lazy I'd say... have a report due on tuesday... not even started on it.

[Arledrian]

Hey no worries Spydar, we all do it, and so long as we get our stuff done on time, there's no reason to stress about it.

I procrastinate like nothing and nobody else. Right now I'm writing a paper for my class tomorrow morning - it's now 4am and the lecture is at 11am. I'm not going to sleep at all, I'm just going to finish this essay, hand in my paper, sit in class for an hour bug-eyed and miserable, then come home and crash the rest of the day. Whatever works, right? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Jaradu]

I'm not sure exactly why they give us deadlines - you can't squeeze talent out of artists, just gotta let it flow at it's own rate . Anyway, you have to be in the right mood for working. That mood? Last minute panic... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[The Hierophant]

Different people procrastinate for different reasons. I often do it because of the way I view 'work'. I often view my university assignments as a chore, rather than as a priviledge or interesting undertaking. As a result, I try to avoid doing them for as long as humanly possible. Whereas, I find myself constantly thinking about drinking, hanging out, playing computer games because I classify them as stress-free fun.

It's not that I'm lazy, or that i dont think, I just don't think about the things that will get me academic marks. I could easily write a 20,000 word dissertation on Baldur's Gate, in fact, it'd be a pleasure, because I associate that particular game with pleasure.

Associate your studies with pleasure, and they cease to be work. You no longer avoid them, but actually WANT to get stuck into them. It's really hard to do at first, but eventually it becomes habit. And, if you find that you just can't get enthusiastic about whatever you're studying, then maybe you need to ask yourself if you really want to be taking your life in this direction anyway.

[Skippy1]

Hmmm.........deep........

Just get on with it you idle little toe-rags! It's for your own benefit to put the effort in, and your parents money is paying for you to have the privilege of a college (Uni) education. So do the right thing by your parents and put the effort in.

Rant over.......

[spydar]

I got a tight schedule to fulfill. I'm more or less a third of the way through one paper, can't get myself to concentrate on the other, and have four articles to read for my test. it is now 3:15 am, test is at 2 pm. so the plan is: finish all my studying for this test, write it, crash for a few hours, wake up at 9 pm or so, finish one essay by 1 or 2 am, finish the other (which will be roughly 1000 words less than the first, hence doing it last) whenever, crash for another few hours, hand in the papers, nap if there's time, and then go to work at 5 pm till 12, go home and craaaaaash. I may be a little delirious and uncoordinated, but I've done it many times before and will do it many times again.
and people tell me I have no time managment skills


I'm convinced that my best work is done in the wee morning hours the night before the due date. that's when I'm smartest, when everything makes sense. ask me a question at 2 pm and I'll stare blankly, ask me the same question at 2 am and I'll be able to give you not only an explanation but 5 examples.


and here's a little paradox for my fellow procrastinators to ponder: If my life's ambition is to become a world-class procrastinator, can I ever fulfill it?

[ 04-01-2004, 05:34 AM: Message edited by: spydar ]

[dplax]

IMO students always leave stuff like this for the last moment, because they don't like doing it, and they shall only start doing it when they feel that it is worth avoiding the negative consequences.

BTW I as a student also leave everything to the last minute (day, hour, week, etc.).

[Kakero]

When I was still a student, I then to finished up my assignment/ school project as early as possible. However, much to my annoyment other students will copy my whole work. For example while I was in Senior 1 and we got this Geography Project to do. I was the first to finish it ( as usual ). You know the entire Senior 1 students go and photostat my work and copy straight without any changes. [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img]

So I suppose there is an advantage of doing things in the last minute. No one would copy up your work.

[Arvon]

I was gonna ansewer this, but I never got around to it.