The deceptive sweetness of procrastination

After completing the M1 data summary, I was hoping that writing a full article would be more natural than writing in bullet points, a style I was less used to. However, the M2 paper was not easier, mostly due to my tendency to procrastinate. In M1, my lab partner kept me accountable, as her tendency to be early and on top of things reflected my tendency to procrastinate and do things last minute. As my partner and I worked together, I felt stronger need to be on-time. But this time, when I can take things at my own pace, I have struggled more with starting the paper early and staying on track of time. Maybe I have hyperbolic preferences (impatient now-patient later) for gratification rather than exponential preferences.



The BE Comm Kit was a very helpful resource as I tried to write the abstract. It refreshed my memory of the abstract workshop, and helped me organize the structure of my abstract. Working on the paper in the same space with my classmates helped me eliminate some distractions, and we could help each other when there was a plot or concept we were confused about. I went to two Comm Lab meetings, which were definitely helpful, but I did not get as much done as I would have liked before the meetings. Thus, the meetings helped me with figure organization and outlining, but did not help me on the parts I have not started working on. 


Thinking about next time, I plan to go to office hours and hope to start working on the assignment earlier. I believe Comm Lab meetings would be even more helpful during the writing and revisions process. I also look forward to working with my partner on assignments in M3, as that would encourage me to be more on time, and hopefully procrastinate less.

-Alexa Guan

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