procrastination

I very much remember learning the word "procrastination." It was either in sixth or seventh grade, and it was in Life Skills class, which is sort of like home economics, except I guess the school people thought it needed a new name and that in addition to cooking and sewing students should learn things like how to keep a schedule and other stuff that would be handy to know even if you didn't spend most of your time at a home. What I learned was following a recipe doesn't always work, cooking goes a lot better when there aren't four of you trying to make the same thing in the same bowl at the same time, and the definition of two words - "commute" and "procrastination."

"Commute" came up when we had to write down what we did all day and how long it took. Wake up...eat breakfast...get ready for school...commute to school on the school bus. My mom told me that riding the school bus wasn't what constituted commuting, and I later learned she was correct.

"Procrastination" was actually in our text book in bold text, which probably means it was also on a quiz or test at some point. I recall that not long after the word was introduced in Life Skills, I added it to my dictionary for Communications class - we had to add 10 words per week with definitions and etymologies. It kept popping up in other aspects of school, too, and pretty soon it was everyone's favorite word because it so exquisitely described something we were all quite familiar with - putting off whatever we possibly could until we no longer could manage.

I believe I had learned this word very well. I am an expert at procrastinating! I have managed to bring myself, at the present moment, to the point where I have a presentation to make for Monday, a paper I really should write and sort of was supposed to be turned in tomorrow (but it's for a class in which I'm not enrolled, so technically I needn't bother at all), and a symposium I'm in charge of in a month's time that still needs a load of things done for it. This is in addition to the normal demands of work, church, friends, and other aspects of life. Eeks. How did I do this to myself?

...Honestly...it was easy. Took no effort at all.