Hello everyone, today I will be sharing my prefect speech with you. So, I started writing this speech about two days ago. I think this is relevant information to share because the topic of this speech is procrastination - putting things off till the last minute. Now, I know none of you are sitting here wanting to be preached at and lectured about the negative consequences of procrastination, because I'm sure all of you are aware of them, and have likely experienced it yourselves. Not to mention, I feel like it would be pretty hypocritical of me to do this considering the fact that I wrote this very sentence at 1am on Friday morning. Instead, I’m going to share with you my struggles with procrastination, some explanations of why you might struggle with this, and ways that may help you to overcome it.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a perfectionist. If something I do doesn’t reach the standards I set for myself, I'm not happy with it and don’t want it to be seen by anyone. And, with my expectations generally being unreachable, it means I am never happy with my work. To cope with this, I turn to trusty procrastination, where I know that if I just don’t try, I can’t get it wrong! I’m sure you can see the potential problems of this solution. Other problems that lead people down the dark path that is procrastination are lack of focus and determination, or having too many other distractions in your life.

One way that can help, especially with larger projects, is to set milestones for yourself and ask someone, such as a teacher or parent, to hold you to them. This way, as it has been broken down into small chunks, it is impossible to wait until the last moment to start an assignment. Now I know this is tired old advice, but setting up a distraction free space can be extremely helpful to get yourself to start working. Putting your phone aside and finding space away from other people and distractions is important, but also remember that breaks are okay! And no, by breaks I don’t mean hopping onto Tiktok as a ‘reward’ every time you successfully write 5 words. If you find that you actually work better while listening to music, make sure you listen to music without words! Fun fact - while writing this speech, I listened to a two hour loop of mario kart music.

This speech isn’t me telling you ways that you can magically solve all of your procrastination problems. If it was, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this speech at 2am. I just think that it is important to understand why you may have a problem with procrastination, as this can help you to figure out how to overcome it. Because if you can, you will be able to achieve to the best of your ability, and show people what you are really capable of. Thank you for listening to my speech.