If there is one talent I’ve had, it is being a pro at procrastinating until the night before an assignment is due. I have used every possible excuse to prolong the inevitable before getting to work at 10 p.m. and letting my brain do its magic for the next few hours. Am I ever proud of the final results of those nightly excursions? No. I know I don’t put all of my effort into creating the best work I can possibly submit. But no matter how early of a start I got on an assignment or how often a family member reminded me to get a head start, somehow, a blank Microsoft Word document would be staring at me from my computer screen, indicating my work is due the next day. As time went on with this repeated cycle, I began to believe that my brain worked best when put under the pressure of an encroaching deadline, like others with the same habits. My brain would suddenly be wired, words rushing and swirling from my head to my fingers and onto the page just in time to hit submit. However, this isn’t healthy.

According to the Association for Psychological Science, procrastination is a cause of “higher levels of stress and lower well-being,” mainly because it induces self-doubt in a person’s capabilities. When one falls into a constant cycle of pushing off the inevitable, this results in that person being convinced they cannot do better, and that they cannot manage their time wisely. This always struck me whenever I got stuck in a loop of procrastination. It would be a toxic cycle where I hated that I had pushed the assignment off until the last minute and would be stressed the entire time I was speedily getting it done, and then would be stressed over the knowledge that I hadn’t tried hard enough. Although I did eventually get the work done, there was rarely a feeling of accomplishment over my delayed achievement because I too felt I could have done better.

From the moment I realized I was a master procrastinator, I attempted to find a way to manage it and improve. Working in any room in my house would offer far too many distractions, regardless of who was around or how quiet it was. I would convince myself that one more hour of relaxation wouldn’t hurt — except it did, because my laptop would sit unused. Eventually, I worked on finding a way to focus with fewer distractions and turned to my school library. The studious atmosphere had a soothing effect on me, and the more I visited the library, the more my brain began to slow down and work efficiently. I knew people who solved their procrastination by working with friends or study buddies, but I did not want to mix business with pleasure and preferred working by myself. I set a goal for myself: as long as I got some of the work done, I didn’t care how much was left to do as the deadline loomed, because at least I knew I wasn’t falling back into the frustrating, last-minute cycle.

In March 2020 — which was my first semester at Binghamton University — I wanted to start my college experience at BU right and continue to improve my procrastination habits. So, as I searched for places to study that would envelop me into a working headspace, the first place was automatically the library. During my campus tour, BU claimed that there were multiple study spaces for students, including the Glenn G. Bartle Library. But I learned pretty quickly that it would often be filled, no matter where I looked, even when it wasn’t midterm season. Of course, I expected this of a big college with countless students needing space to work, but I didn’t have a backup plan for the system that had been working. Because I avoided going to the Bartle Library and couldn’t find a comparable space, my process began to dip. I couldn’t focus in my apartment on campus because of constant distractions, and once I left the classroom, my laptop stayed shut. Safe to say, I saw little change when it came to the procrastination habits I had just started to figure out.

Nobody knew what to expect when BU notified students that the campus would be open for the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. When coming back to school this year, with COVID-19 rampant, I was expecting things would be the same with regards to my routine.

To my incredible — and pleasant — surprise, that hasn’t been the case.

Almost immediately, I’ve noticed a significant change since moving back to BU. Fewer people have been on campus and populating the library and classrooms, allowing for more space to sit, focus and work. For the first time, I could step into a quiet space in the Bartle Library and see a mostly empty room. I made a schedule revolving around my classes in an effort to keep myself on track with my assignments. About three times a week, depending on how drained or energetic I felt after class, I would either drop by my apartment for a snack or find a workspace in the Bartle Library and work a little on each assignment so as to have everything started to eliminate most of the workload. I make sure to wrap up my work anywhere between two to four hours since excessive sitting has been said to be unhealthy. While I miss the throngs of people exiting the buildings and the exciting atmosphere the students collectively made on campus, I especially appreciate the available space.

Like any bad habit someone wants to improve, finding an efficient strategy is personal and tailored to each individual. Through trial and error, I have learned that I thrive on a routine. Pushing myself to work on a schedule has forced my brain to think in the moment rather than stress over an impending deadline that will come no matter how much I wish I could slow down the clock. Even if an assignment is not completely finished a few days away from its due date, I’m happy if I get even a little bit done. Going to the library has also given me a reason to get out of my apartment and stretch and breathe. Otherwise, I would be stuck in my bed with my laptop and a lazy, unproductive mindset worrying about what I couldn’t push off anymore, while simultaneously pushing it off.

Another reason I think this process has worked tremendously, even during COVID-19, is because I don’t need to rely on anyone else to succeed. All it involves is a quiet space and my own determination to do the best I can at the moment. I have spent the long year since COVID-19 has started to do mainly that — focusing on myself and what I can do to improve my mindset and outlook. I didn’t and still don’t need other people to thrive, only myself.

While I do still suffer from occasional procrastination — as this new system hasn’t killed off all my bad habits or faults, which will always linger in the back of my head — I know this is progress. It is at least a start. I have not only proven to myself that I can do something I put my head into, but I have also learned to manage my stress by spreading out my responsibilities into manageable loads. My grades have improved through hard work, but most importantly, it has also proven that it is worth finding a long-term solution for a short-term problem.

Nechama Chabus is a senior majoring in English.