Procrastinating is dumb. Don’t do it.

My name is Jessie, and I… am a recovering serial procrastinator.

A few weeks ago, I spent one long morning driving from Austin to Houston after spending the week with one of my best girlfriends. I was exhausted when I made it to my home in Houston, so naturally I took a nap. Then, I woke up equally as tired (if not more so). I shook it off, sat at my computer, fiddled around on social media, read the news, G-chatted with some folks, and then realized that two hours had gone by, and I’d still done nothing productive. I knew that I had a lot on my to do list (including writing three lengthy articles), and I knew that if I didn’t get those things checked off that I would only be screwing myself over.

I thought about it… I dwelled on it… I wasted more time as I thought about how I knew I should get my work done, but just didn’t have the energy to make it happen… and then I metaphorically decided to slap myself in the face and just do it. And you know what? I got it done! Afterwards, I felt amazing.

I had just given myself the gift of a free weekend by writing those articles that night. 

It’s the same thing when it comes to working out. You only regret the workouts that you don’t do, right? So do the work out! Write the article. Don’t put off til tomorrow what you can get done today. [Tweet this]

This is not a new problem, by the way. I have always had this little habit.

When I was in college, I wrote a similar blog post about procrastinating around finals time. Without fail, I would always wait until 24 hours before the exam to begin studying. I would pull the all-nighter, hopped up on Redbull, and then crash immediately after taking the exam. I was miserable. I was not only shaking from the caffeine high, but I was stressed out to the max! Every. Single. Semester. You’d think I would have learned back then. But, I guess it’s better late than never… (spoken like a true procrastinator).

Pulling all-nighters in the library to study for finals. Most college kids do this, and we know it will be painful, but we do it anyways. I think procrastination feels good in some way. Once we are actually finished with the studying and we take the test, it almost feels like a weight lifted off our shoulders. It is quite empowering – it tells us that “Wow, I just crammed a whole semester of material into less than a 24 hour period – I am the smartest person alive.” However, I always imagine what if I gave myself more than 24 hours. What if I studied for an hour/day throughout the semester – imagine how smart I would be then. And then I think, “Meh, too late now. I’ll do that next semester.” -  Me in 2010

The procrastinating-on-finals problem was never remedied. However, it’s not too late for me (and you) to change habits now.

If you’re a procrastinator, consider this your wake up call! QUIT IT! [Tweet this]

Just a friendly reminder,

Jessie Spielvogel :)

(Photo from LVK Photography)