Image Courtesy of familiesonlinemagazine.com

So that time of year has rolled around again. End of the quarter. It kind of reminds me of dooms day in a way. (I don't really know what 'Dooms Day' is, or if it's a real thing, but I imagine it's not a very fun day.)

I'm going to make this next point cautiously because the whole reason behind this blog is so my English teacher can read it and give me a grade, so there is a 100% chance that he will see it. I am a procrastinator. No matter how hard I try to not be, I am. I put things off until the last possible minute and then freak out because I have 10 minutes to finish my biology report or 7 minutes before that assignment turn in spot locks me out and I get a 0. But  I rarely ever fail classes because of this nasty trait. (That's a joke if you couldn't tell; I don't actually ever fail classes.) Somehow I've come to realize that that is just how I work. However unbelievable this may sound to some people, I have found that I work more efficiently and even produce better work when I have a tight time limit on me. In the few instances that I have tried working on a long term project on a schedule like more students do, I can't come up with good ideas, I get writers block, I don't work how I know that I can. So you can imagine, being the procrastinator that I am, when the final week of the quarter rolls around, I get extremely stressed out. Like, my heart beats at an unusually high rate every minute of every day for the whole week, I always feel light headed, and I can't have a conversation with someone without having them ask if I feel ok because I look like I'm about to pass out.

Case in point, I'm writing this blog post the day before it's due.

Anyway, the real point of this blog post was not to try and convince my teacher that I am a terrible student, it is to explain to you how I try to deal with this stress.

If you're anything like me, music is like a magic, all-calming, slow-your-heart-rate-to-a-normal-pace force. Music actually solves like 99.9% of my emotional problems like when I go into my rages that are typical of an Aquarius, I listen to music and it calms me down. When I get sad or overly emotional about something because I am, in fact, a teenage girl, I listen to music and it makes me not as sad. When I'm stressed as stressed can be, I listen to music and it helps me get a grip on myself. Music is simply, the key to life. (Might I suggest the new Taylor Swift album? I love love love it.)

And if music isn't really your thing, (aside from the fact that you have no soul and are most likely an alien or some other sort of not-human being,) then I also would suggest that you exercise, read a book, take a hot shower, light a candle, etc.

I will say one thing though. Some people might suggest a nap or a bubble bath. Do.Not.Listen.To.Them. I hate both. I hate baths, and I hate naps. Naps, it's like, you go to sleep in the daytime. That is not a normal thing! We sleep at night! And then if you take a nap, when you wake up it's like, "What year is it? It was light when I went to sleep and now it's dark. I hate everything. What the heck?" And then we have baths. Why why why would you take a bath? All you do it sit there and like, look around. Plus when you run a bath, you try to get in and it's like a lava pit, but then you get in after it cools a little bit and 5 minutes later it's like you're swimming in the arctic. They are just terrible.

I apologize for the unrelated rant, but I had to say it. It just wasn't really an option.

So there you have my ways to deal with the stress brought on by my excessive procrastination, but if you are to take one thing away from this post, I hope that it's that baths and naps are terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad things. Wait no, that's not it. I can't make up my mind. It's probably my ADD.

-Jackie <3