A Modest Proposal Essay
A Modest Proposal to Mrs. Beckham regarding procrastinating through high school The art of procrastination has troubled high school kids for quite some time now. Im sitting here typing my own essay at the eleventh hour, hoping that as the deadline approaches I can piece together an essay to save my grade. “Procrastination is for the efficient at heart”, this quote captures the procrastinators only strength: the ability to make the most out of the time they have. Most students will crack as the pressure of meeting the deadline with quality work overbears them, as they regretfully wish they spent their time wiser. Few will rise up to the challenge and meet the standards, but what separates the students who succeed and those who miserably fail?
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Knowing what you can and can't do. The only way to solve this is learning how to find a healthy balance of using the fear of missing the deadline to motivate us, basically performing when you know failure is not an option. This hinges on your time management skills and putting yourself in the right spot to create the best work that you can.
Recently, Daniel Joseph tweeted “ Perhaps the greatest thief of time, and life, is procrastination”, this shows just what can happen if we allow laziness to dictate how we procrastinate. We need to figure out how to utilize the adrenaline we get from putting something off until the last hour, that rush when you wake up the morning it's due and have no other option than to succeed. Some might see that it’s ironic that the best way to brainstorm is to not take action at all, but think of it this way. Why force meaningless words on a blank piece of paper when you can wait for inspiration to come that will spur powerful sentences that convey what you truly wanted to express? Artists don't sit in front of a blank canvas until an idea manifests itself into a painting, they allow the idea to come natural, and in order to master the art of procrastination this part is essential. It boils down to being able to use your weakness to your greatest advantage, and I know just as well as anyone that this approach has its pros and cons. Putting things off simply just is relaxing the brain, and when you allow for your brain to relax when it isn't, it puts you in a
better position to provide better material when the time comes. This unconventional approach is not for everyone, and in certain cases the early doer that finishes his assignment as soon as possible triumphs sometimes over those who wait, but the truth is not everyone is that conventional of a student. Our education system is done producing 9-5 workers that punch the clock, the world we live in craves outside the box thinkers. In the Sunday News, Adam grant describes procrastinating as letting your mind wander, and “that gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns”. As procrastinators, energy is our biggest resource, we choose to save it until the last minute possible and release it all at once hoping it will be enough to meet the rubric. As a firm believer in this process i know the rebuttal to this argument all too well. In certain scenarios this “approach” can become subject to laziness and therefore hurt your grade in the long run. This method will always run the risk of putting off too long, not giving yourself enough time to do the assignment, and the number one problem of a procrastinator: forgetting about the assignment completely. In order to truly let your mind put something off a lot of the time it is easier to forget about. In a live interview with my classmate Thomas Jordan, he explained the biggest reason he didn’t put things off ,”procrastinate”, was because he will end up totally forgetting about it. The only possible way to go about a big project in this manner is to be mistake free, we must stay diligent in our efforts or else we fulfill the stereotype that laziness is our only motivation behind this approach. Once again, I reiterate that this tactic isn't for everyone, in fact it's not for most. In an AP environment most of the students go about their work in a way that they know will guarantee the grade that they need. I'm not writing to identify with those who sit down as soon as they get home and finish all of their homework. I'm writing to the two or three that have grown up being ridiculed and called lethargic their whole life. Under the right conditions, we can thrive and produce work more original work than the ordinary student. “Procrastination is for the efficient at heart”, within this quote lies the biggest ally and enemy of procrastinators, the race against time. The challenge that is only open to those who can beat the clock. The race all procrastinators run.
Knowing what you can and can't do. The only way to solve this is learning how to find a healthy balance of using the fear of missing the deadline to motivate us, basically performing when you know failure is not an option. This hinges on your time management skills and putting yourself in the right spot to create the best work that you can.
Recently, Daniel Joseph tweeted “ Perhaps the greatest thief of time, and life, is procrastination”, this shows just what can happen if we allow laziness to dictate how we procrastinate. We need to figure out how to utilize the adrenaline we get from putting something off until the last hour, that rush when you wake up the morning it's due and have no other option than to succeed. Some might see that it’s ironic that the best way to brainstorm is to not take action at all, but think of it this way. Why force meaningless words on a blank piece of paper when you can wait for inspiration to come that will spur powerful sentences that convey what you truly wanted to express? Artists don't sit in front of a blank canvas until an idea manifests itself into a painting, they allow the idea to come natural, and in order to master the art of procrastination this part is essential. It boils down to being able to use your weakness to your greatest advantage, and I know just as well as anyone that this approach has its pros and cons. Putting things off simply just is relaxing the brain, and when you allow for your brain to relax when it isn't, it puts you in a
better position to provide better material when the time comes. This unconventional approach is not for everyone, and in certain cases the early doer that finishes his assignment as soon as possible triumphs sometimes over those who wait, but the truth is not everyone is that conventional of a student. Our education system is done producing 9-5 workers that punch the clock, the world we live in craves outside the box thinkers. In the Sunday News, Adam grant describes procrastinating as letting your mind wander, and “that gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns”. As procrastinators, energy is our biggest resource, we choose to save it until the last minute possible and release it all at once hoping it will be enough to meet the rubric. As a firm believer in this process i know the rebuttal to this argument all too well. In certain scenarios this “approach” can become subject to laziness and therefore hurt your grade in the long run. This method will always run the risk of putting off too long, not giving yourself enough time to do the assignment, and the number one problem of a procrastinator: forgetting about the assignment completely. In order to truly let your mind put something off a lot of the time it is easier to forget about. In a live interview with my classmate Thomas Jordan, he explained the biggest reason he didn’t put things off ,”procrastinate”, was because he will end up totally forgetting about it. The only possible way to go about a big project in this manner is to be mistake free, we must stay diligent in our efforts or else we fulfill the stereotype that laziness is our only motivation behind this approach. Once again, I reiterate that this tactic isn't for everyone, in fact it's not for most. In an AP environment most of the students go about their work in a way that they know will guarantee the grade that they need. I'm not writing to identify with those who sit down as soon as they get home and finish all of their homework. I'm writing to the two or three that have grown up being ridiculed and called lethargic their whole life. Under the right conditions, we can thrive and produce work more original work than the ordinary student. “Procrastination is for the efficient at heart”, within this quote lies the biggest ally and enemy of procrastinators, the race against time. The challenge that is only open to those who can beat the clock. The race all procrastinators run.