It is 11 p.m., you sit at your desk typing an essay due the next day. It is not the first time. Facing the deadline, you think of your old friend – Procrastination.

“I don’t think procrastination is so serious. I just don’t want to do homework now and I know it will be finished eventually,” junior Eugenia Pang said.

Historically, procrastination has not been regarded as a bad thing. In the book “Wait: The Art and Science of Delay,” author Frank Partnoy said the Greeks and Romans generally regarded procrastination highly. The wisest leaders embraced procrastination and would basically sit around and think and not do anything unless they absolutely had to.

The author also mentioned that people nowadays are more successful and happier when they manage delay. Procrastination is just a universal state of being for humans. We will always have more things to do than we can possibly do, so we will always be imposing some sort of unwarranted delay on some tasks. He wrote that “the question is not whether we are procrastinating, it is whether we are procrastinating well.”

“I still have the habit of delaying things and I don’t think procrastination can affect you too much if you know what you are doing,” college student David Wang said.

Wang studies in California now and has a good GPA. Procrastination confused him too, but he now knows how to make use of it wisely. He said everyone has had the time when he or she did not want to do the tasks which should be done at that moment.

“Then don’t do it, since you will have a low efficiency and a bad mood. But also keep in mind that you can’t escape from it. Try making yourself willing to finish the assignments,” Wang said.

Think of the tasks positively. Believe you can learn and benefit from it. Or set some rewards for completing the assignments, like watching a movie or going shopping.

As Wang said, “Never lie to yourself, then procrastination can eat up your life little by little. Usually, it’s just a call from your heart.”

Do you have an experience with procrastination?  Tell us about it.