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Have you ever procrastinated on a project?

I am very proud to admit that I am a huge procrastination freak, almost a bit masochistic with the idea. In fact, as you are reading this, you are witnessing me, Jay Buno, write an article as the pressures of a deadline loom at my door. No worries, I’m not letting him in just yet, but he sure is mad!

Procrastinating isn’t just a me problem; you may also suffer from it. And generally, it’s a problem you probably think it’s part of normal life. But for me, it happens way too often (like right now)!

However, I’d like to tell a tale about procrastination, so let me take it back to March 12, 2018…

The moral ambiguity of my actions were finally catching up to me. My bloodshot eyes were feeling weighed down as I gazed at the blank white canvas that sat in front of me. My palms were sweaty, my knees were weak, my arms were heavy, insert overused joke here. 

All I knew was two things: this English project on “The War Between the Colours” was due tomorrow, and that I was… totally screwed. 

But, there was no time. I decided in a whim to retell the entire story in visual form.

Then, like famous German procrastinator and conductor Johannes Brahms, I picked up a fancy stick and masterfully conducted a symphony of words and pictures out of my heart and on the paper. I wrote, and drew, and drew, and wrote, and drew… and then my mom saw me at 3 AM and told me to get to bed. 

…And then I woke up the next morning and wrote, and drew, and wrote until it was all finished. A collection of vital highlights from all over the book, symbols that are related to the characters and events, and to top it all off, a revolutionary fist right in the middle of the paper. It. Was. A. Masterpiece- And I realized that I needed to colour it. Don’t worry, I coloured it at school with the help of my friend, but whatever.

Yes, procrastination is bad if not utilized correctly. It can harm us mentally and our grades can suffer as a result. 

However, this Grade 8 English project due the day before Spring Break proved how procrastination can be a benefit to myself and probably you as well. I wouldn’t have thought as creatively as I did when working regularly, I grew to become a person who realizes that work should probably be finished before I do other things (which is ironic, considering this article is written in a deadline), and it made me lower my expectations to put me in a spot where I was proud to show off my work without prior worries. I feel like this can apply to you, and I feel that you can take something from your own procrastination sessions! 

Don’t think that all of your procrastinating isn’t going to benefit you, because sometimes, it can enlighten you! 

And now with spring break over, I returned to the English classroom to find out what mark I got. I didn’t care that I rushed it, I only cared that I did it and completed it and-

“Hey, is it okay for me to keep your project for future use?”

Somehow I always get lucky. Maybe not for this article, but you know what, I think I’ll just say that procrastination isn’t as bad as people say. Just utilize that energy to its potential.