Are you reading this article instead of writing your essay for English? Would you rather watch all those 90’s Netflix movies (I’m a sucker for Clueless and Pulp Fiction) or binge watch all of those DVR’d episodes of Pretty Little Liars instead of review notes for that test on Friday? I still need to know who  A is, my grade can wait.

Most of us are all for doing a good job and never blowing off responsibility completely, but if there’s a 35 minute sliver of free-time in the day, students tend to stray off task.

“I’ll be listening to music or something that has nothing to do with school,” said Tiffany Pough, a senior.

That’s the truth with most of us, we make the choice to procrastinate and later, have no one to blame but ourselves for the overwhelming feeling to have to rush a project.

“I lay down, sleep and relax,” said Carrie Christie, a junior. “After work is when I do my homework.”

Chillin‘ is very appealing to most teens – especially when it seems we should be working and studying.

I even procrastinated writing this article, but as with all things that are due, they must be done.

As the end of the nine weeks on Friday, October 17th approaches, students scram to get late work in to their teachers. As a result, students spend numerous nights and early mornings drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee while fighting to stay up in class or not showing up to class all together. This is extremely dangerous, not only the effects of regular coffee-consumption at a young age (however, I’m in love with pumpkin spice coffee in the mornings with a croissant and Nutella) but also the stress and lack of sleep induced by procrastinating until the wee hours of the morning.

Not all teens are like this though. When asked what she would do with a 35 minute sliver of free time:

“I would do school work.” said Tremetrica Nobles, a senior.

If you’re anything like me, people who seem to be proactive, organized and have the ability to motivate themselves to get work done cause my self esteem to plummet to the deep academic abyss of a slacker.

Procrastination can cause strain, but you don’t have to feel bad about yourself if you’re a habitual procrastinator (but no one’s going to compliment you on your procrastination skills anytime soon). Procrastinating, however, is innate to the human condition. Procrastination can stem from procrastinating on eating an egg roll to procrastinating on checking out an Earth Space Science textbook. It’s in our DNA but when it becomes chronic it’s stressful.

Realisticallly, kicking the habit of procrastination is the only way to escape the evil and stressful 11th hour encountered when procrastinating.

Tips and tricks of the procrastinating trade:

1. Break the project into smaller, manageable tasks.

Allow yourself to dedicate your efforts to equal sections of work for a few minutes a day. If it’s a longer project, think of getting to it early as an investment and that will free up your night to dilly-dallying until it’s time to sleep. Sleeping with a mind of unfinished projects is not sleeping at all.

2. Be accountable.

A common excuse for not doing assignments is wanting to have a “social life.” If that’s the case, use your friends to hold you accountable for your work. Share your academic goals with your friends and allow them to keep you in check and in return, you do the same for them. Although they will help, don’t rely solely on them. Download a reminder app on your smart phone and input in all the things you’ll need to get done this week. Another idea is to go prehistoric and buy a planner keep it at the edge of your desk and place every task due.

3. Find a productive environment to work.

It’s easy to become distracted when you work from your couch in your living room right in front of the TV. I recommend visiting the library, Starbucks, or any quiet building. Find a table in the corner, bring a laptop, and connect to the WiFi or a notebook and textbook to study.

Procrastination is inevitable and the only way to kick it is to attack it head on.