Out on a Lim Living on a deadline

Author: Leslie Lim

Staying on campus for the Thanksgiving break, one of the first things I noticed that marked the end of the break was the reopening of the library. Along with limited open hours on Saturday and extended hours (24-hrs!) on Sunday, the library welcomed back hordes of students who probably hadn't done anything beyond think about their workload over the break, myself included. After enjoying a well-deserved break, what drove students to the library like ships to a lighthouse? In one word: deadlines. In addition to the usual Middlebury workload, this year there is only one week between Thanksgiving and the exam period. A week that is likely filled with a multitude of papers, projects, and problem sets.

I am not complaining about our work that is due. After all, it being the end of the term, what else can we expect besides having to actually turn in our work? What I am more curious about is our ability to procrastinate until a deadline faces us right in the eye and forces us to get started on that paper you were assigned more than two weeks ago. We all do it - somehow putting off all the things that we could have gotten started on, and swore we were going to, this time.

A friend in an experimental economics class had told me that the class had even looked at data that showed statistically that between a group of students assigned a deadline, and a group of students allowed to pick their own deadline, those assigned a deadline completed their work before and did better than those given independent deadlines. Theoretically, the students given freedom could have given themselves the same deadline, if not one earlier. And yet they ended up leaving the work to the end.

What does this prove? Can we really not get anything done without an imminent deadline and the implied consequences imposed by society? Are we really unable to do what we know is better for us? Mulling this over, I think the answer is both yes and no. Certainly the consequences of missing a deadline provide added incentive to finally complete a task. But I think a large part of what makes us put off doing things might simply be the busyness of our lives. Facing a barrage of assignments and tasks, it only makes sense to tackle what is due first. An earlier deadline will take precedence because we simply do not have time to do it all, at least at the given moment.

Even in my American Presidency class we have examined how time is a factor constraining a president and his desire to implement his policy initiatives. A president faces an incredible amount of things that demand his attention, and whatever has a more immediate deadline is going to garner his attention, whether it is something he wants to concentrate on or not. It is a simple reality that we are only capable of dealing with a limited amount of things at once, and deadlines help us prioritize. Of course we could work on procrastinating less and starting things earlier, but next time you mentally berate yourself for waiting till the last minute to finish a paper, don't feel so bad - you may just be reasonably prioritizing in an overwhelming world.