IGCSE FLE Narratives & Sample Responses

Magazine article' I'll do that tomorrow '

How many of you have said "Oh, I'll do that tomorrow," or "It's not urgent, I'll do it later," orsome variation of this when in reality you had to finish the task not only now butYESTERDAY! I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you are the king or queen of'procrastinating' island. Right here sitting and writing this article for the magazine, I'mthinking, "I'll do this later, it's not due until tomorrow day end." It's such a mighty word -procrastination - but it explains such a simple concept that each human must have doneatleast once - saved it for later. 

Procrastination is nothing but a strategy to avoid major tasks. We tend to confuseourselves between the terms- being 'busy' and being 'productive' for the sake of oursatisfaction. Often, one would go to bed with the phrase 'I have been productive today!'after finishing a series of unimportant tasks and completely ignoring the end of termassignment worth 30% of our grade. This just leads to your inner turmoil haunting youalongside extremely poor grades. 

 If you are procrastinating and working on an insignificant task rather than an importantone, it will become very difficult to go back to it because you will be enjoying the thing youare currently doing, like watching a movie which could take over 2 hours! This wastage oftime will lead to the cramming of your work leading to the work not being finished to thebest of your ability due to time constraints. Many people will argue that over 20 percent ofadults procrastinate, however in the general population, the ones who organise andcomplete their tasks to the best of their ability and without the time pressure tend to bemore successful. The phrase "Productive procrastination" is not a thing, like listening to apodcast for a couple of hours is in no way a productive use of time when you may have avery important task due the very same day. A task you haven't even started. 

Learning how to not let the disadvantages bring them down while learning how to use theadvantages in their favour can make it very easy for someone who struggles withprocrastination. Stopping the vicious cycle of guilt and procrastination is simple butrequires a little effort and willpower. The best way to begin is to stop feeling guilty aboutprocrastinating. It is proven that looking at tasks, just as mere tasks, takes away the stressand anxiety from doing it. Learning to make the best out of your procrastination is also away to ensure unpleasant tasks are completed. If one cannot perform the task at hand,they should move on to an enjoyable task, to minimise their overall workload. 

Procrastination can lead to creativity. Delaying a task allows a person to optimise theirplan-of-action for execution. On top of this, an important step is to avoid perfectionismwhich may cause one to avoid doing tasks knowing it's nearly impossible to meet one'sown expectations.Every topic as controversial as procrastination could be evaluated positively and negativelyat the same time. Some believe positive procrastination exists but while away their timedoing things that are not a priority. Learning the art of positive procrastination is everystudent's dreams but alas, impossible! The hard work and discipline needs to be put in.