By Chloe Y. (7th Grade)
Imagine it’s 1 in the morning. You’re sitting hunched over your desk, eyes burning, struggling to stay awake. However, you know sleep is not an option. Your science project is due at 8:30 AM, and it’s worth 60% of your grade.
We’ve all been there. Haven’t we?.
It starts out not a big deal: school ends, you check Instagram and snap your friends, and suddenly hours turn into endless doomscrolling. Every time you say “I’ll do it later” but you never do it and it turns into cramming at midnight, yet again. But it doesn’t have to stay this way. Productivity isn’t just about working hard, it’s about working smarter, so you get more done in less time.
So, today, I’m going to tell you 3 reasons to start being productive:
1. to actually enjoy your free time without feeling guilty,
2. to give yourself a career that you actually want, and
3. to avoid future consequences of procrastination.
First, I want you to think about the last time you tried to relax while knowing you had homework due. Maybe you sat down to watch TV or went to hang out with friends, but that little voice in your head never shut up. “You still have that English assignment due tomorrow” That’s not free time, it’s delayed stress and you’re setting yourself up for procrastination. Dr. Timothy Pychyl, professor of psychology at Carleton University, put it this way: “Procrastination is the misregulation of emotion. We think that by putting things off, we’re going to feel better.” In other words, when something feels boring or stressful our brain tries to escape that feeling by not working. But that homework won’t just disappear into thin air, and neither will the stress until you finish your work. However, staying productive means you can finish your work quickly and enjoy your time without that voice in your head making you feel guilty.
Secondly, do you want to be flipping burgers at McDonald’s for the rest of your life? Do you want a job where you barely get any vacation days and live from one paycheck to the next? Or would you rather have a job that takes you on an all expenses paid business trip to Japan? The difference between all these jobs is productivity. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, productive workers can earn six figures and can earn money while they sleep, through investments and passive income.
On top of that, jobs like these come with benefits like health insurance, which trust me is important when you land in the hospital for whatever reason.
So the real question is, what kind of job do you want?
Because the habits you build today will determine that answer. Finally, here’s the truth of procrastination. It doesn’t always stay small. The habit of saying “I’ll do it later” in middle school continues on in high school and college, then suddenly later never comes. Procrastination isn’t just hurting your grades right now, it’s setting your future up for failure. Every time you choose to doomscroll instead of studying, you’re not just wasting time. You’re building a habit that follows you for the rest of your life. When you grow older, you won’t magically just wake up a productive adult if you procrastinate now. The future consequences of this are a lot bigger than having just a bad grade right now. If you don’t fix this habit now, you are basically gambling with your future.
So, don’t wait for a wake-up call that might come too late.
Break the cycle now, while you can still control what you do.
To summarize: we’ve seen that procrastination is just a way of hiding from stress and being productive is the key to enjoying life. We’ve also seen how the habits we build now are the ones that will follow us in our lives forever. At the end of the day, beating procrastination isn’t just about getting a better grade; it’s about being able to relax without that annoying voice in your head spoiling the fun. So, next time you want to say “I’ll just do it later” remember that later usually comes with future consequences. Don’t set your future self up for failure. Do the work now, so you can actually enjoy your free time later. Your future self will thank you.
