Eng 15 - Meeting a Deadline Essay

Matthew Berry

January 15, 2015

English 15

Meeting a deadline, it can be easy or it can be very difficult.  The task can be quite hard or extremely simple. Either way, if you are trying to get something done at a certain time one thing is guaranteed, procrastination.  If you’re anything like me, procrastination depends on several things, my progress, what I ate prior to starting, and if the task is interesting to me or not.

Let’s say for this story I am trying to finish a research paper for a high school English class.  I got my laptop open and I am searching for some information in the library. As I am searching I realize after about twenty minutes that I did not make much progress. Then I start to notice all of the books in the library and try to think to myself just about how many of them there are. Even if I wasn’t struggling I probably would still stray from my work because in my mind I am doing so well that I can spare a few minutes.  Progress play a huge part in my procrastination whether I am struggling, doing ok, or doing wonderful.  My mind will always wonder.

Ok so another day goes by and I am still working on my paper.  I wake up and get my materials, but then I realize that the key to a good morning is breakfast. Now instead of working on my paper I am searching for food and not getting anything done besides poring cereal and milk into a bowl. Even after that when I am actually working on my paper, I am stilling thinking about food and what else I can consume.  Between my wondering mind and my wondering stomach, I can easily find something “better” to do than work on my paper which is due very soon.  I have forgotten about my breakfast and currently making alright progress, but after a couple of hours my stomach starts talking to me and I abandon the research paper for more food. This will continue to happen on and off all day.  

So my paper is due and I am currently in a rush and frantically looking for information.  As I search and search I begin to understand that I am not interested in my topic at all and I am not doing my best work. This is because in my opinion, if you are going to do an extremely good job on something you have to be passionate, or care about your topic a lot.  Even if you don’t care that much about it, as long as you know a good amount about it you should do very well. The “I should change my topic” thought usually appears quite often when I am just not into a certain topic, but for some reason I continue to struggle and procrastinate way through until the deadline comes around and I realize I am screwed.