By Vivian Hirschfield Happy fall!
Today, in my Lake Forest High School journalism class, my teacher Mr. Leyden talked about procrastination and writer’s block, and their effects on journalists. It reminded me of the last time we experienced the fall changes in 2020, when Covid cases were back on the rise and students were confined to their houses to learn. Back then, procrastination was almost the norm. We got much less work and the inability to learn in a controlled classroom environment made school feel less prominent.
So, jumping right back into a five-day week was a rough transition for many of us. The days feel longer and the assignments feel more difficult, and procrastination is no longer an option as it may have been for the months we learned over Google Meet. What I call the “school honeymoon phase,” the phase where school is new and the urge to put every ounce of effort in, has ended now and lately I find myself longing to look at an assignment and think “I could just do it later.”
However, I’ve been trying new strategies to help me beat this plague of apathy. One that’s been pretty helpful has been making an itemized list. For example, instead of ‘math packet’ I write ‘math packet page 1, math packet page 2,’ and so on. Getting big things done in small increments keeps that feeling of accomplishment without causing as much burnout. I also have tried positive reinforcements on myself. I really enjoy playing the piano, so when I finish a few assignments I set a timer to sit down and play the piano for ten minutes and get back to work. This keeps me refreshed and gives me something to look forward to.
I also make sure to keep myself on a schedule. Setting aside specific time to write my pieces for Lake Forest Love is one way I keep myself on track. I try my best to get everything done before it gets too late, but as a student with commitments I sometimes can’t even start my homework until hours after school ends. I make sure that if I need to, I go in early to school or I use my study hall time to get shorter tasks done.
Procrastination definitely isn’t something that only affects students, so I suggest trying these out when you feel yourself drifting away from responsibilities. Let me know how they go!
Side note: Writing these pieces has been an extremely educating and rewarding experience for an aspiring journalist like myself. Thank you so much for the feedback I have been getting from readers lately, please continue to read and reflect!
Vivian Hirschfield is a junior at Lake Forest High School.