I have a procrastination problem. I think it first began when I was in high school. I would often go to work at the local grocery store after volleyball practice. By the time I got home, it would usually be 9 or 10, sometimes later depending on the night. I would sit down to do homework, and I would end up watching tv, surfing the web, or playing with my dog. In between these activities, I would complete my work, usually doing my English or French homework first and saving the dreaded Math, Science, or History homework for last. If I had a paper to write, you’d better believe I waited until the night before it was due to complete it.
None of this has changed during my time at college or grad school, except that my dog still lives at home. I also haven’t taken a Math, Science, or History course in YEARS, thank goodness, but they’ve been replaced with courses focusing on different teaching styles and theories.
Yesterday I had a full day of class, which finally ended at 7:30. I had to hop on a bus to get to a different campus for a program I was supervising at work, which I didn’t anticipate ending until 10. Then I had a staff meeting. I figured, given the buses and anticipated snow mess, I probably wouldn’t be home until 11 or 11:30. I knew I had a paper to write, an educational blog to post, and a few discussions to comment on. Lucky (?) for me, things ended early and I was able to get a ride home from my boss. I ended up staring at Facebook for awhile, watching Jimmy Kimmel, and realizing that none of my assignments were due until 7pm today, and that my paper wasn’t due until 11:59PM.
Cue the procrastination.
Instead of pulling my anticipated all-nighter, I pulled the blanket over my head and went to sleep. I ended up sleeping in, and, 6 hours later, I’ve only accomplished the assignments due at 7. (I have roughly ten hours to write my paper, but I need to subtract 4 or 5 hours from that to go to class.)
Coffee was supposed to help me function. Emphasis on the supposed to.
My mind started wandering, as it often does, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have had such a procrastination problem if I was in college and grad school ten years ago. That would bring us back to 2003, which I was 13. The internet was dial-up, Facebook wasn’t in my life, and I only used the desktop computer for typing essays, playing The Sims, and checking email. Oh, and AIM.
Forget ten years ago. AIM was a very big distraction back in the day.
If I went to college and grad school in 1993 would I still be a procrastinator? Seeing as I was barely potty-trained at that time, I can’t tell you much about the technology then. Looking back at it, the root of all evils, the internet, wouldn’t have been that big of a distraction, but magazines, books, the radio, and television would have.
I guess, no matter what time period I went to college and grad school, I still would have been distracted and a terrible procrastinator.
But, just putting it out there, I’d be spending a lot less time on the internet.
I guess I should stop procrastinating and get back to working on my paper. But first, watch a video of a hedgehog meeting a kitten. (This is what my generation uses the internet for.)
