Guest Author - Sanita Salter
When I originally decided to go back to college I chose the online route and upon viewing my syllabus decided that procrastination would not be my friend this round. I typically when working loved the rush I got from working under a deadline. The pressure to get it all done by 5:00 p.m. drove my enthusiasm for my job on a daily basis. However, this was not something I could necessarily approach in the same manner as a job. I have reading to do with amount of pages assigned at times exceeding 100, then writing with three page minimums, required scholarly references of at least 5, and work on a final project research paper with a 10 page minimum due day 5, week 11, by midnight. In between all of that I have to cook for my three children, clean the house, wash clothes, grocery shop, help with my children’s homework, read bedtime stories, and this is just Monday.
After about a third of the way through the first term, this is week three; I figured out that I must have been procrastinating in some form or fashion. This began the challenge of figuring out what it was and why it was happening. I wrote down everything I did in my journal and figured out that with all the desire I had to complete my degree I was procrastinating on of all things my schoolwork. I know the desire to finish was there, the motivation to finish was there, but I kept running out of time in a day to get my reading and writing done. There has to be a better way…I mean I am the next best thing since Superwoman herself.
A good way to beat procrastination is to write down some immediate goals and post them right by the computer you will glue yourself to for the commitment to take shape. My workspace is formally known as the bat cave and my children know when the door to the bat cave closes they must adhere to certain rules of independence. I pretty much had to schedule my day by the hour and even Superwoman worked from the early AM to the late PM to keep the peace. Time slots for everything from cooking to reading and bathing to laundry are allotted a certain amount of time everyday. It’s the only way to get it all done. I am after all a single parent of three children ranging in age from 5 to 15 and a full time graduate student (7 days a week without a break for holidays). Buying a pretty pen and pencil set does not hurt either. I have gotten so good recently as to add in 15 minutes of downtime per 3-hour period in which I watch TV, listen to music, or talk on the phone with my best friend in Arizona.
