The night before an essay is due, the average student with income C told himself that he will wake up early to finish his essay and will have plenty of time to take a shower, eat lunch, and do more homework that he's been putting off. It's now eleven in the morning and he's just started to wipe the snot out of his eyes. Class starts in two hours and he has no idea how he will begin his assignment. The student does not have to worry because there are two ways in which this problem can be overcome: half-do the task or not do it at all! Yes, the former would require you to work at a fast pace (due to time pressure), while the latter comes with different consequences. Reluctance to start tasks can be attributed to the detractor of all things productive: procrastination. It is the bane of the college student's academic career, so it must be identified, addressed, and hopefully forgotten for as long as it takes to finish the essay. It comes in many forms, such as obsessively checking their cell phone, but the most common iteration is the person who leaves vague status updates on Facebook, no doubt tricking people into commenting on their post, but no one on their friends list bites . , leaving him no choice but to withdraw his update, which in turn wastes time – time that should be spent writing his article! The last time I observed someone trying so adamantly to avoid writing an essay was when I argued with my friend Karol about the validity, as stupid as it may seem, of carob as a substitute for chocolate. The end result of the debate was her admitting that she didn't want to write the essay she was due the next day. How much you can get away with (or not) has to do with how much time you have before the assignment is due. due. If it is an essay that requires students to read material in order to properly articulate what their point of view is on the topic of the essay, they should spend at least two hours before starting to write it. The first hour should focus on whatever form of prewriting is best for them. I find that freewriting works well in an event like this, as opposed to brainstorming, because it's the fastest way to jot down my ideas without stopping.