Grace: On A Roll

How my morning routine sets the tone for the productive - or unproductive - day to come.

As a college student, I often feel like every ounce of free time I get must be dedicated to productivity. Classes, campus organizations, and social engagements leave free time as a rare commodity, and thus, one that must be seized and never wasted. Despite this perceived pressure, I find that not all of my precious time is spent well. Sometimes, hours seem to go by and I get nothing done, not even fundamental things like laundry or cleaning my room, let alone starting a research paper or finishing a reading.

The common theme between these unproductive days is the wake up. More accurately, the sleep in. The idea that I have the "time to sleep in" enables me to waste more time in the process of waking up. I turn over and allow myself to slip back into sleep, or I check my phone and start scrolling on social media. Suddenly, I've spent an hour in bed - 60 minutes on a task that should theoretically take 60 seconds. Only after being pestered out of bed by hungry friends do I get up, leaving my unmade bed to hurriedly brush my teeth and throw on an outfit. Even once I make it to breakfast, I end up waiting for my friend Noah, who's 20 minutes late to everything, especially on weekends.

This slow-paced, indulgent wake-up routine leads to a lengthy breakfast with friends, which leads to a meandering walk around campus with no destination. These things all feed into each other. I've already broken my own expectations by wasting time in bed, so it doesn't matter if I fool around during breakfast, so it doesn't matter that I didn't make it to the library that day.

What I've come to understand about procrastination is that it's not just about putting things off – it's about the small choices that snowball into larger patterns of delay. That first morning decision to stay in bed and check Instagram "just for a minute" isn't really about social media at all. It's about giving myself permission to keep postponing what matters throughout the entire day.

Procrastination is self-reinforcing. Each time I choose the easy path – sleeping in, scrolling mindlessly, waiting for Noah – I'm not just losing time. I'm strengthening the habit of delay, making it harder to choose differently next time. The day's productivity feels compromised before it even begins.

But breaking free from procrastination doesn't require a complete personality overhaul. You can't suddenly transform into someone who never procrastinates – that's not how change works. Instead, it's about recognizing that procrastination and productivity build on themselves.

The next Saturday, instead of turning back over and retreating back into sleep, I stood up, stretched, and started making my bed, which gave me an immediate sense of accomplishment. This instant gratification propelled me to go brush my teeth, an activity which usually would take some coaxing to draw me from my cozy covers to the cold bathroom floor. Brushing my teeth led to picking out an outfit, packing my bag, and heading to the dining hall. I decided that I wouldn't wait for Noah - I was already on a roll, after all.