We all do it. Procrastination. Waiting until the literal last minute to finish assignments we have known about for weeks in advance (please ignore the fact that I just stopped doing my work to scroll through Twitter for ten minutes. It’s midnight and this is due tomorrow). We stare off into space rather than complete homework, doodle on worksheets to avoid using any brainpower whatsoever, and get lost in our phones (which seem to be much more interesting than class, apparently).

Personally, I find it quite ridiculous that we procrastinate. Can we really put all the blame on the constant lure of Social Media or our own pathetic excuses for attention spans? We actually believe it when we tell ourselves that “we can wait until later, it’s no big deal.” Please, do not fall for it. Just use basic time management techniques.

As a seasoned procrastinator myself, I can guarantee that in the past four years, I have continued to put off important assignments under the impression that “I work better under pressure.” Guess what. You don’t. The all-nighters are not worth it. NOT WORTH IT, I TELL YOU! No amount of coffee will make your circadian rhythm forgive you for the atrocities you have committed.

Too many times have I heard the dramatic horror stories of exhausted classmates and their dreaded sleep-loss. On their desks sit a mess of half-crumpled papers with scribbled letters that look more like hieroglyphs than coherent sentences. Dark bags droop below their blood-shot eyes as misplaced hairs stick out in odd directions.

It is absurdly easy to lose track of time and look at the clock, swearing that the last time you checked it was 7:30, not 11:00. Usually, this lost time is dedicated to scrolling, swiping, and clicking rather than typing, writing, and thinking. However, I cannot just incriminate phones as the only culprit.

Family, friends, and surprise adventures can severely dwindle the time available for completing homework. From constant nagging to being literally dragged away from my two-page essay, six worksheets, and various articles (just me?) in order to eat dinner, it seems impossible to ever finish anything on time and without procrastinating.

In an attempt to block out any distractions, I listen to music with headphones, but that tends to be counterproductive when a vaguely familiar song comes on and suddenly, it’s not in the background anymore, it is center-stage. Podcasts are no different and complete silence makes me hyper-aware of every little sound. The whispers of dialogue from the TV and faint music coming from downstairs are immediately amplified.

Perhaps locking myself in my room with a note written in magazine cut-outs saying “EnTEr aT YoUR owN rIsK” attached the door is the right way to go. Who knows.

Well, this just turned out to be an unnecessarily long list of excuses and complaints that really cannot be solved. (And yet, I still have those aforementioned worksheets, essays, and *ahem* other articles to write).