Waiting until the last minute to do something important is also known as procrastination.

Procrastination affects a lot of people here at AHS, as people get busy or have other priorities. Freshman Sophie Johnson said “Sometimes I struggle with procrastination. Whether that’s homework or even just chores when my parents aren’t around. If I’m having a busy weekend I’ll procrastinate and do it at the last minute, but I try to get it done in the beginning.” 

For some though, procrastination is much more common in their day-to-day lives. Sophomore Drayce Moore said he struggles with procrastination “all the time.” Procrastination can lead to some pretty stressful moments. “I have multiple pretty bad procrastination stories, but one would be last year in Mr. Petersen’s class. I had to hand write over 100 vocabulary words and I procrastinated until the day before, so I had to write over 100 words and definitions in one day.”

Between school, sports, or any other extracurricular activities, students’ schedules tend to fill up pretty quickly, leaving little time for things like homework or projects. This results in trying to cram everything in at the last minute. “This year, I really procrastinated in history. I had to do a lot of my group’s work, like the presentation questions, my individual report, and our commercial. I did it all the night before and it was super stressful,” said Johnson.

Most people associate procrastinating with waiting until the last minute, but there are actually different types of procrastinators, such as those who procrastinate because of poor time management and decision making, and those who do it to “feel challenged and motivated”, according to an article by verywellmind. 

However, there are people who don’t struggle with procrastination at all. Junior Dawsen Sorensen said that he doesn’t have this problem. “I usually get it done or just not do it. It bothers me if I don’t get it done right away. The stress and the thought of it not being done makes me want to do it all and get it over with, so I don’t normally procrastinate.”

There are a lot of different ways to prevent procrastination, such as “Try to prioritize better,” as said by Johnson. “Make an agenda or plan of your weekdays and weekends for activities and homework,” as well as all things that you could prevent from procrastinating.

 Sorensen said that to avoid procrastination, people should “try to find a time to do it all in the beginning. Getting it over with is the best way to do it.”  

So, next time there’s an assignment due at the end of the week, try setting aside some downtime to get a headstart. You’ll thank yourself in the end.