One of the life skills I acquired during my 4 years at the University of Bristol was ‘The Art of Procrastination.’ Before uni I was always very good at getting things done on time… early even and with added extras!  I used to be a bit of a perfectionist; now I am just a procrastinator.

I used to think of procrastination as an extremely negative habit but that was because I was going about it all wrong! In Bristol I would avoid work by doing nothing.  I’d sit inside staring at the computer screen or out of the window, watching life pass me by as I took 5 times as long to not do an essay than it should have taken me to just do it.  The point is that in three weeks I am supposed to hand in a rather substantial essay on Human Rights that I have not yet started.  As a Full-time student I would have been starting to not-do my essay right about now.  Three weeks of stress and total social shut down, only to be still writing the best-part of the essay the night before.

In Paris procrastination has become so much a way of life for me that I  even avoid procrastinating!  Instead of wasting hours pretending to study I go for long walks, discovering new things along the way.  Of course if I’d have planned to visit l’Eglise Sainte Trinite it would still be on my ‘to-do’ list and I’m sure I won’t be going up the Eiffel tower, visiting the Catacombs or seeing the Mona Lisa any time soon because, like with all my great plans, I will be leaving them to the last minute!

I take my time wandering aimlessly along the side-streets with no purpose, staying true to my nature – taking much longer to reach my destination than necessary!  But I wouldn’t have it any other way.  If I made plans in advance and stuck to a schedule I would have missed out on so many things.  Perhaps I would have done more… then again, No… I’ll get round to doing all those things eventually anyway!

So here I am, instead of researching International Human Rights, I’m finishing off the post I started yesterday… well I did find something even more exciting to do last night!  Don’t do something today that has to be done tomorrow because if it has to be done, it will be done… so in the meantume have fun!! But no matter how much fun we have in the meantime we should not forget the wise words of Mr (or Ms) Anon: “Procrastination is like masturbation; At first it feels good, but in the end you’re only screwing yourself.“