This is for you, fellow procrastinator

I’ve written before about how much college has already taught me and I’d like to just reiterate that no one should worry. From different ways to enjoy food, find adventures, make new friends and ways to sleep in class, ways to do my laundry, ways to not do my laundry, ways to study, laugh, joke, and smile, I’ve learned an entirely new variety of enjoying life.

Something in particular that I’ve learned is how skilled college students are at the art of procrastination, and how unappreciative those who do not understand it are.

Please take note that I call procrastination an art after careful consideration. Procrastination uses a strategy that I have been perfecting since it was first introduced to me at the beginning of my high school career.

There is truly a skill in delaying something until the last minute. Especially in college, we know nothing would get done if it weren’t for the last minute.

I’m okay in admitting this since I know I’m not alone. If you’re like me, a chronic procrastinator, once you fire up the computer to check your email, you are immediately at risk for spending the whole afternoon on the internet, doing increasingly useless things.

A friend on the social networking site shares their favorite music video. You watch it. It was filmed in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. You didn’t even know where that country was and that was after you figured out it was a country. You read the Wikipedia article. Which leads you to the Acrocanthosaurus: you’ve learned a lot about the Caribbean Sea and large reptiles, but haven’t even finished checking your email yet. Let alone, start your research paper. But then you remember that it’s not due until the day AFTER tomorrow, so it’s still okay.

Although not alone, I still think I’m the best. I am an enduring straggler, which is especially frightening, because it’s the beginning of the semester and there are already large essays and projects to finish.

Sometimes when I have an assignment, I do other random things to avoid doing what I actually need to do. Once I washed my dishes. Twice. Then, I sharpened all the pencils I could find in my desk. I don’t even use pencils, thus there is no need to sharpen any, regardless I spent a while looking for some pencils, or other things to test in my sharpener. Don’t worry, when I was done with that I didn’t start my assignment quite yet, rather I continued to clean and organize and color code my desk’s contents. Of course, that was all extremely necessary. This week alone, I’ve used fourteen different procrastinating strategies. Now argue with me that procrastination isn’t an art.

I’d like to make it clear that this skill of procrastinating is no easy art to master. A day in the life of a procrastinator can actually be quite complex:

Around 10am: Loll around.

Around 11am: Diddle daddle.

Around 1pm: Linger.

Around 5pm: Lollygag.

Around 7pm: Mosey.

Around 10pm: Lounge. Goof off. Maybe a little lounging and loitering.

In college, we just don’t get the recognition of skill we deserve. Our professors have heard it all:

“It’s just not the right time.”

“I’ve just got a lot going on…Oh, you know…stuff.”

“Me? A procrastinator? I’ll prove you wrong someday. Just wait and see.”

“I just save my homework until the last minute, because then I’m older, therefore wiser.”

There seems to be no denying that we college students really put the pro in procrastination.

This skill is such second nature that sometimes I’m not even sure if I’m studying or procrastinating.

The truth we all know is that, although, there is pride and enjoyment that can be had within being a prized procrastinator, we may need to change a little, in order to accomplish those extremely significant and impactful things that we will someday do.

Of course it’ll have to be after we lose 20 pounds, polish up our high school French, write that novel and finally doing that laundry.

Many claim procrastination is a flaw; however, I’m prepared to argue alongside my fellow procrastinating family. We should look into the claim of those who argue we need to change. Tomorrow. Today, stay strong. We may lose our sleep and social life, but we will always have our ability to procrastinate.