Mabel Kabani, opinion editor
High school students must go through many difficulties in their everyday life such as teachers assigning loads of work, parents limiting much deserved freedoms and mean girls staring down at another’s ill-fitting jeans. Though these are all undoubtedly terrible things that students must endure in their four years at school, the all consuming lull of procrastination is a tribulation that many students, teachers and parents believe has the most dramatic and negative results of the difficulties listed above. According to healthylifestyleplus.com, procrastinating, the act of putting something off until another time, has many negative effects and is an overall bad habit. This delayance of work and productivity is a harmful act; or so students are led to believe.
I have been a procrastinator since I can remember. Ever since I was in elementary school, my mom always implored me to clean my ever-so-messy room and straighten out the rumpled sheets and blankets on my bed and I would always respond with my signature response of “Yeah, in five minutes.” My gradual introduction into the world of delaying chores and pushing deadlines led me to what I have become today: a heavy-duty procrastinator. Writing English essays the night before they’re due, gluing pictures onto a Spanish poster the morning it needs to be turned in and studying for a math test the period before it occurs are not one-time things, nor phases, but lifestyle choices.
Though procrastination causes stress, which in turn causes me to lose my hair, break out and eat jars upon jars of Nutella at night with my fingers, delaying homework and studying can also be a good thing.
Putting off chores or studying is never really a good thing if instead all you’re doing is watching reruns of “Gossip Girl” or stalking people on Facebook. However, the last-minute stress of finishing your assigned tasks can be worth it if work is put off to perhaps spend a sunny Sunday lounging outside, breathing in the fresh air high school juniors seem to be deprived of. Prioritizing is, of course, important. But it is up to each individual to decide if contemplating one’s thoughts while spending a weekend at the beach is worth staying up during the wee hours of a Tuesday night, studying.
Though procrastination seems, to many, like a form of extreme laziness, it can also be your body’s way of telling you that you need to spend more time for yourself by doing things that you like to do. Whether that is playing soccer on the field with a few friends, reading a good book with a cup of Earl Gray or even going out to the mall and splurging on shoes and belts when you find the time, spending time on your hobbies and interests is important in maintaining your sanity. Too much stress is never good, but sometimes simply not doing your Spanish poster on a Saturday night but, instead, going out to dinner with your friends is worth the extra work that is needed to be put in Sunday night, as long as you get the A.
