Procrastination: A Case Study

I'm currently nearing the end of my year as a teacher candidate at a well respected Faculty of Education. In fact, by lunch time on Friday I will have finished all of my own in-class learning at the Faculty itself. Then I have a week off for March Break before heading off to my final practicum in a local high school.

However, I'll need to get through tonight before any of that happens.

As you may have already concluded, my writing here is in fact procrastination at its finest. Yes, that's right - a future teacher who has the same poor time management skills that her students will have. I actually have three different assignments due tomorrow, as well as a performance to prepare for in my Drama class. I just polished off the end of one assignment and the remaining two are both started and well on their way. In fact, one is really only in need of formal citations.

So why is it that I find myself on the internet and launching myself into the world of blogging instead of actually finishing these assignments?

In all honesty, I have absolutely no idea.

And I'm hardly the only one. As I take this break from my assignments to let my brain relax slightly I see numerous Facebook status updates that indicate the vast majority of my fellow students are also battling it out with their assignments. How is it that so many of us fail to be proactive in completing assignments earlier on when we have time so as to avoid the stress of having to rush through them last minute? What is it about the all-nighter that seems to intrigue us that we continually find ourselves seduced by it? Is it simply that we have so many other distractions or obligations that we put off anything that isn't required immediately? Or is it simply that we're lazy and we'd rather not waste our precious time unless it's absolutely necessary so we avoid things for as long as we can?

But then why is it that even with assignments I find useful and relatively enjoyable - such as create a semester plan for a high school Drama course - I still have this habit of waiting until the last minute? Am I just masochistic? Possibly, although I've also used the excuse that I do my best work under pressure.

All I know is I still have a lot to do and should probably invest some time in that work as opposed to attempting to create a witty blog entry.