Opinions by MiaButler and ScarlettHenery

PRODUCTIVE

After a long day of school, the gym, making some returns, stopping at Baker’s, cooking family dinner, reorganizing my bathroom cabinets, and packing my lunch for the next day, I can finally settle in for the night and start my homework. 

This routine might seem backwards for most, but for me, it’s the only way I know how to function. With an overwhelming amount of homework and dreadful assignments, the thought of doing my homework becomes so daunting that I distract myself with anything else in sight. I’m also convinced that I do my best work on a time crunch, which is probably false, but I doubt I will ever do an assignment with enough time to find out differently, so for now, I sit hesitantly with ignorant bliss. 

Now, I’m certain that teachers won’t agree with this, and I promise you my parents won’t, but I truly think this procrastination style is harmless, aside from the toll it takes on my sleep. When most people start to wind down, I am starting my load; my second wave of energy bursts around 10 p.m., sometimes 9:30 if I’m lucky, and that’s when I can fully focus on homework. 

At that hour, stores are closed; I have to be quiet, my friends are asleep and there’s nobody to talk to or hang out with. Therefore, I quite literally have nothing to do, forcefully making schoolwork my last resort. 

As much as I am a procrastinator, I am vulnerably honest. I procrastinate with other things because they are mindlessly easy, whereas Canvas takes motivation. Plus, homework is far from enjoyable. There is no reason I need to paint my nails nightly, but it is an easy, enjoyable task and makes my time-wasting feel productive. 

That is the whole basis of this chronic procrastination style: the desire to feel productive out of guilt. Although I like how productive procrastination forces me to accomplish things, I detest how I can feel creeping deadlines in the meanwhile. No amount of meal prepping or vacuuming my car can blind me from the reality that I must, at some point, start my homework. 

And so, when I should be washing my face and brushing my teeth like most, I instead open my iPad, greeted by the blue light torture of emails and assignments. 

Like I mentioned above, I like to keep it honest, so truthfully, my procrastination doesn’t stop here since it’s 10 p.m. I cycle in and out of my motivation and focus, as I seek distraction no matter the hour. And thus, 1 a.m. rolls around, and I am finally done with my homework.

Although it takes me longer to find something to distract myself with than it would for me to just power through the assignment, I feel accomplished knowing I had a versatile day. 

I used to view my procrastination as lazy, however, I now realize that it’s the furthest thing from that. I use productivity to dwindle the guilt that procrastination brings me. That way, I can reflect on my day with pride knowing that I did more than sit at school for eight hours and homework for four hours. 

Despite the loss of sleep and guilt I feel with productive procrastination, I always successfully finish my work before deadlines. I am oddly content with this style. So, for now, I will just keep grocery shopping and working out until procrastinating is no longer an option. 

ANXIOUS

Everyone knows that feeling of anxiety over the extreme amount of homework waiting for you to do once you get home. Some people create a schedule, others might distract themselves with other tasks, some might not even think twice about what they have to do. Me on the other hand, I sit and proceed to be anxious about it while actively doing nothing to try and get my work done. This toxic behavior is known as anxious procrastination. The best way I can describe it is putting off any daunting or difficult task due to it making you feel anxious at the thought of it. This is obviously very counterproductive since simply putting it off more and more will only add to the stress when I inevitably need to get it done. 

When that clock strikes 3, I know that the best thing for me to do would be to sit at my dining room table, pop in my AirPods, give my phone to my mom and grind out my AP government notes. Is that what I do? No, of course not. I, in turn, get home, spend an oh so “productive” hour on TikTok, and don’t get my homework started ’til 9 p.m. 

This cycle has even gotten so bad as to avoid homework until the morning it’s due, and wake up before school to get it done. This anxiety has often caused me to wait until the last minute to get assignments or studying done, putting my grades at serious risk. I’ve decided to make a change and I’ll be sharing some of my ways to combat this anxious feeling and get my work done quicker. 

My first piece of advice is to use spare class time wisely. In fact, right now I am using my spare anatomy class to write this story for the Network. See, I’m improving already. This class time will allow you to build some momentum on the assignment, making it easier to finish later on. With even a little bit of work started, it makes the task less daunting. 

The next piece of wisdom I have to share is to limit your distractions. When I’m trying to do my homework, the constant notifications from my phone, noise of the TV, and excessive questions from my parents tend to keep me from getting anything done. This is why lately I have been handing over my phone to my parents and telling them that I need to study alone for a few hours. This forces me to do my work and I don’t feel tempted to look at chats or notifications. 

My final piece of advice is to have a reward system to keep you incentivized to keep working. Say I am dying to watch the new episode of “The Bachelor,” I will make a deal with myself that if I finish my gov notes, I can do exactly that. Make it seem like doing your homework is going to get you something in return. These deals can be as simple as saying you’ll get to go to bed early, you’ll go get ice cream, or you’ll thank yourself later when you get a good grade on the test. Making these incentives to do your work will not only make it easier to get done, but also distract your anxiety by giving yourself something else to focus on.