Less Than Zero and Other Things You Cant Believe Happened to Your GPA
Sep 03 '00
It is one of the great myths of my life. Everyone believed it in high school, the delusion continued in college, and the myth continues to this very day. However, it has never been true. It has all been a grand lie and I can’t bear to hold onto it any longer.
So, here it goes …
My name is Cate and I am a procrastinator. There. It’s out.
I have never been able to do anything ahead of schedule. If a paper was assigned at the start of the semester, I would start writing it two days before it was due. But one thing I can say and that is that I am an organized procrastinator. All my life, people would comment on how organized and prepared I was. Never leaving anything until the last minute, they would say. Ah, the web of lies I wove so intricately.
But as much as I put off things until the last minute, I have never missed a deadline or handed in a project late. I procrastinate not so much because I don’t want to do the work but because I like working at the edge of deadlines. I get an adrenaline rush that nothing can beat (well, almost nothing. But that’s not really the discussion here, is it? Ahem.) I like the pressure and the idea of standing on the precipice of possible failure. However, there hasn’t been failure because I have planned out my procrastination. That may sound like a contradiction but it’s not.
College is all about juggling more classes, more projects, more presentations, more everything than you want to. So, in an effort to not have anyone fall off any cliffs, I am going to give you my method for time management. Hopefully, you will use it a little more wisely than I have.
(Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for any injuries, physical, psychological or emotional, that may arise from the use of her time management method. The proceeding recommendations are suggestions only and should not be taken as a guarantee that you will not fall off any edges, precipices, or any formation, natural or man-made. By reading this article, you are agreeing to these terms.)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Syllabus (But Were Afraid To Ask)
You walk in on that first day of class (Yes, you’re supposed to show up) and your professor will probably hand out their plan for the semester – the syllabus. For many professors, this is their Bible. They will follow this plan down to the last period on the page and others will use it as a loose guideline. Whatever their method, don’t disregard this handout. I know it’s the first day of class but your professors want you to hit the ground running. Use the syllabus as your guideline for that course. Some syllabi are more detailed than others and will feature the readings or discussions for each session. Plan for each session and assume that, if the professor doesn’t mention an assignment for the next class, it is whatever the syllabus says is next.
Some professors will not remind you when a paper or project is due. They may mention it in passing but that may be the only forewarning that you are going to get. And, if you forget or plead “no warning,” your professor will simply point to the syllabus.
Organizing Your Vegetable Crisper and Other Fun Things You Can Do With Your Free Time
As I said earlier in this review, college is all about having more to do than you have time for. I personally love to cook and run (no, they are not related. I excuse you for thinking that). I could spend hours doing both but I have to plan a time for when I can do them. Yes, it’s true. I plan my free time and I do it a week ahead of schedule. You may think I’m sad but, despite the time-consuming nature of law school, I was able to go to Preservation Hall twice this week and have a long run through Tulane and Audubon Park. And I was able to do those things because I sat down a week last Sunday and decided what I needed to do and what I wanted to do. It does take time to formulate but it works and my life is a great deal more relaxed and interesting than it would otherwise be (Not that being a law student isn’t interesting in itself. Because it is. I swear (with crossed fingers behind her back as she says it).
What does help to make this scheduling a little easier is having a set schedule before you sit down to plan for the specifics – a study period, a dinner period, a free time period, etc… . Then, you can tailor that default schedule to what you need to do during the forthcoming week.
Reading is Fundamental and Other Things You Learned From Robert Fulghum
The Hybrid Procrastinator. That’s me. Part slacker, part anal-retentive planner. Some of the allure of procrastination, as I said earlier, was the rush I got from trying to beat a deadline. I especially enjoy writing a twenty-five page paper in one evening (I know. I’m weird. It’s not like I haven’t been told that before.) However, all I do is the writing. Not the researching. That is something that I always do ahead of time. No matter how good a writer you are, nothing will sink a paper faster than sloppy research. Depending on the size and depth of the project, you should spend between a week and a month researching your project. Again, this is where that weekly planning session comes in to good use. Soon, you’ll be putting off papers and projects like a professional.
She’s Not a Procrastinator But She Plays One On Epinions.com
I know what some of you may be thinking: “How can she be a procrastinator? She plans everything.” I know that I’m not a procrastinator in the truest sense of the word. But I put off things often enough and close enough to the deadline to know what it feels like to try to beat the clock. Because, when I procrastinate, I do it with style. And, in the end, isn’t that what being in college is all about?
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Epinions.com ID:
nylawgirl
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 38
Trusted by: 129 members
About Me:
Giving my unsolicited opinion since October 1977. Being paid for it since April 2000.
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