Procrastination problem can wait

I am probably the world’s worst procrastinator. If something is not due right then and there, I absolutely cannot get my mind focused enough to do it.

I have been like this pretty much all my life, and it doesn’t always get me into trouble. But sometimes it really does.

For instance, in college we would be given a syllabus at the very beginning of the semester outlining all the assignments and papers we had to turn in over the course of that class.

Even though the due dates for these assignments would clearly be there in black and white, I would inevitably be working on whatever assignment it happened to be the night before it was due.

I would toil away at my computer in my little dorm room on the campus of UNA until my eyes were blurry and crossing, my head was aching and spinning, and all the words on the screen ran together and ceased to make any sense at all.

Then I would finally crash, my body refusing to function any longer, and sleep for a couple of hours before dragging my self out of bed and trudging to my class to turn in the bothersome assignment that made me look like a haggard, bleary-eyed maniac stumbling across campus.

After such a ridiculous encounter, you would think I wouldn’t do that to myself anymore. I’m not a night owl or a morning person, so the whole experience left me feeling awful and took me days to recover.

Each new semester, I would promise myself it would be different. I would start researching my research papers that very first day. I would gather sources, make outlines and rough drafts… I was going to get ahead.

But I would always wind up in the same late-night dash to the finish line with the same haggard and ridiculous look on my face the day after.

I did this time after time after time, without fail. I just couldn’t seem to help it.

Once I graduated from college and became a “grown-up,” I figured my silly habit of procrastination would cease to exist and I would magically transform into the type of person who gets things done months ahead of time. Someone who’s always ahead of schedule and “on the ball,” as my daddy would say.

After my recent run-in with deadlines and due dates for our Progress edition that comes out in the paper today, I realized I’m still waiting for that day to come.

I was rushing around right up until the last minute getting interviews done, stories written and pictures taken until I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief last Friday when I finished my part and we sent the thing to be printed.

But I have promised myself that next year will be different. I will get everything done early so I won’t be a stressed out crazy woman the week everything has to be turned in.

I guess we’ll see if that actually happens. There’s a first time for everything, right?