I try to get things done in advance. Really, I have the best intentions to manage my time efficiently. When receiving an assignment I convince myself that I’ll finish it before it’s due so I can get it checked over and make sure it is my best work, therefore, leaving time to go out, watch my favorite T.V. show and hang out with my friends.

Unfortunately, despite my admirable plans, everything always seems to come down to the last second anyway. For some reason, unless there is pressure from a deadline, even if I sit down and try to force my creative energy towards an assignment, I literally cannot make myself do the work that I know I will have to complete at some point anyway. Throughout this process of procrastination, I am completely cognizant that when I am finally forced to complete the assignment it will undoubtedly fall at a completely inconvenient moment, prevent me from doing something fun and totally stress me out.

My roommate, on the other hand, is a machine. Seriously, I joke with her all the time that she absolutely cannot be a human being. Most every time she sits down at her desk she does just a little bit (sometimes a lot) of homework so that it never piles up. Even on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, she can defy the forces of nature and spend a few hours in the library working on a paper that’s not due for a week and a half.

Because she is so efficient, I have never seen her forced to work on anything after 10 p.m. (and even then it was probably in advance). Ironically, it is her super-nerdy ability to hit the library between classes, sometimes even just for 15 minutes during the day, which almost always gives her the all clear to dance the night away. There is never a problem if she desires to catch a late night movie or head to a party.

However, this tendency to plan ahead is valuable far beyond the world of academia. For example, I tend to let things pile up, anything from laundry to papers on my desk, until things get so out of control I can’t stand myself anymore. My suspiciously perfect roommate, however, takes care of things as she goes and never has to deal with a mess. Taking a small bit of extra time in the short run saves her extensive amounts of time in the long run. By actively managing her time with the strategy of doing things little by little, she has much more time to spend on leisure activities in the long run.

As described earlier, my time management skills are pathetic and I know that I am not alone here. I have seen my struggle mirrored in others. One of my friends is having trouble with his grades. However, he spends hours studying and doing homework. In fact, it seems he is always up to some kind of school work. If he spends a much larger amount of time on schoolwork than my roommate, why is he doing poorly while she succeeds? The answer is simpler than you think. One day I watched, let’s call him John, spend three hours doing 20 minutes of economics homework. This is most likely because he had the T.V. on the entire time. If John had waited until after finishing the problems to turn on the television, he could have saved himself two and a half hours worth of trouble which he could have spent golfing or going to the movies instead of sitting in his dorm room.

Throughout the years, I have learned that I will never be as self motivated to get things done as efficiently as my roommate. However, I still manage to make good grades and generally get through life because I know that I need an extra shove to get things done. To accommodate for my weaknesses, I schedule non-refundable tutoring appointments which force me to finish schoolwork in a timely manner. I also surround myself with people (like my roommate) who help me stay on track, or at least let me know when I am being ridiculous (which is all too often). Miraculously, even though I am sure my habits get on her nerves all the time, I am lucky enough that my roommate is also my best friend. Her willingness to take control of a situation (along with a mild case of OCD) and my hesitation to do so (courtesy of an often too laid-back take on life) somehow balance each other out. However, I will use this time to publicly apologize for the amount of times my alarm goes off every morning (I have quite an affinity for the snooze button, which goes off in five minute intervals and I have to set my alarm for at least hour in advance – you do the math).

– Kelsey Adams

Associate Entertainment Editor