By Will Eichler
I should probably get rid of my PlayStation. Or at the very least I should actually try to be strict regarding when I actually allow myself to sit down and play it. I really like video games, have since I was a kid, and when I find one I really enjoy, odds are my productivity is about to hit a hilarious low. I still get things done now and then, but I’ve always been a chronic procrastinator, someone who will say “a few more minutes can’t hurt,” someone who hits the snooze button far too many times when their alarm wakes them up in the morning. I still get my work done, and I like to think that it is done well, but that has not changed the fact that I would probably deal with far less stress if I were to simply, not procrastinate. I’ve tried a lot of different things to help with this: I’ve bought multiple planners, tried to make use of my phone’s calendar and reminders apps, and I’ve told my roommate to force me to do productive things before I start goofing off. So far, none of them have worked. Instead, I allow the deadlines to hang over my head like the Sword of Damocles, and as they draw closer, as the string holding the sword above my head frays, I am finally able to bring myself to focus on the work that needs to be done. In some cases, I will finish it in record time, but in others, I will be forced to return it late, to ask for more time, and I will feel guilty for doing so. Even this blog post was written the day before it was needed to be posted, causing our webmaster, Dakota, to wonder where it might be. While this procrastination did lead to some measure of inspiration in regards to what I would be writing about, I’m sure Dakota would have appreciated it if I had submitted it to him a few days or weeks in advance. But here we are. Thankfully, I have managed to master the skill of writing a lot in a fairly short amount of time, and that is a skill I am grateful to have. And there is no set limit on how long good writing takes, but I have to say, I should definitely still work on not getting distracted so much.