Walter Higbee: Waiting to write 'til ... well, it's procrasting

By Walter Higbee | Monday, January 26, 2004

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A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about doctoral students who reached the point in their candidacy where all that was remaining in their program was the writing of a dissertation. Many of these students never finished because they kept putting it off. I noted that I never, myself, fell victim to this problem. This may have given some readers the impression that I have not been a procrastinator. Nothing could be further from the truth. I can procrastinate with the best of them.

I well remember when I was an undergraduate at the University of Iowa that I pulled off a classic bit of procrastination during both my junior and senior years. At that time, the University of Iowa's fall semester extended past the Christmas holiday by two weeks. This meant that students went home for the holidays then came back to finish two weeks of classes before finals and the start of the spring semester.

Many professors assigned term papers that were due on the last day of classes. This happened to me every semester. Now, the reasonable thing to do when assigned a paper at the beginning of the semester is to start to work on it right away. This avoids a last minute rush when you are busy studying for final exams. Is this what I did? Unfortunately, no.

What I did, instead, was put off writing that paper until the Christmas break when I could write it at home with no distractions. So, I went to the library, checked out 14 books, and transported them 140 miles to my parents' home, never looked at a one, then transported them back to the campus. I then wrote that paper by cramming the task into the last two weeks of the semester.

Oh, my intentions were good. My first couple of days at home I reasoned, "I'll just rest before I start." Then, it was, "I'll wait until after Christmas day before I start." Then, it was, "What's the hurry? I need to work this out in my head before I start to write." Then, it was time to go back to the campus.

Since my college days, I have learned to procrastinate in a variety of ways. How about writing Christmas cards? Why not write them in early December to avoid the rush? Why not write them on Christmas Eve, instead?

In the summer, why not mow the lawn while the grass is at optimum height for cutting? Why not, instead, wait for it to reach the height where the mower struggles to get through it?

Why not change the car's oil within a hundred miles or so of 3,000 miles? Why not wait until the mechanic says: "Hey! That oil is as black and gummy as any I've ever seen! Not good for your engine."

I worked in a college and university environment - where opportunities for procrastination abounded - for many years. I did more of my share of putting off tasks while, at the same time, berating my students for doing the same thing.

I now write an occasional newspaper column. How sensible it is to write a column well in advance of the paper's deadline. This way I can sit back and savor my readers' appreciation of my clever phrasings and my subtle sense of humor. Is this what I do? I will let my readers come to his or her own opinion.

Walter Higbee is a retired college educator living in Spearfish. Write him at the Rapid City Journal, Box 450, Rapid City, SD 57709.