Most of us are students. We are at a point in our lives where most things are taken care of for us by others. Yet the high school years, especially, are a crucial training ground for forming time management skills and making strong habits for growth in maturity. With increased age comes a measure of freedom, and with freedom, a measure of responsibility. The habits formed in high school will shape your actions for many years to come.
Real life cannot be procrastinated. Although some assignments in high school can be reasonably delayed, the vast majority have deadlines. This serves a purpose. Decisions in your post high school life will carry great weight— upon many of your choices will hang the course of your life. These kinds of decisions cannot be procrastinated, which literally means “put off until tomorrow.” Job offers will require immediate responses, Strategic decisions will call for quick plan changes, careers will include fast-paced schedules. The deadlines in high school are a preparation for the timelines of real life. I want to emphasize that the habits formed in high school will affect your habits in adult life. Time goes on, one day per day. Real life itself cannot be put off until tomorrow.
News Production, the class by which I have had the privilege to write for MODG NEWS, is itself a training for the important schedule of real life. Reporters write articles on a regular basis, with a schedule for reviewing, editing and publishing. This mirrors the experience of real- life journalists, who are on even tighter deadlines, producing overnight news reports, up-to-date stories and relevant opinion articles with a strict schedule. In News Production, I have learned a bit of what it is like to be a real reporter, and thus experienced a small slice of one area of post high school life. This taste of real life is just as valuable as the writing skills and publishing experience.
Although high schoolers are not yet adults, the habits of maturity taught in these latter teenage years are meant to be a firm foundation for life-long responsibility. The most critical of life decisions are not ones that can be procrastinated— showing up to work on time, proposing marriage, accepting the call to the priesthood— these are all examples of real decisions you may face, none of which can be put off without serious consequences.
When your teachers require an essay by a certain date, do not think of how late you can put it off, but rather consider it part of your training for real life. Setting a schedule can help enormously. Imagine how different the story of the Church would be if Matthew had procrastinated, staying at his tax stand, instead of immediately leaving everything to follow Christ, or if St. Maximillian Kolbe had asked for an extension before offering his life at Auschwitz. The vast majority of the real decisions in real life will require a timely, accurate and sincere response. I challenge each of my readers to consider these high school years as a fundamental training for real life, and a strengthening of maturity. Real life is coming soon, and procrastination is not an option.
Gemma Curl • Apr 21, 2026 at 1:14 pm
As someone who, sadly, procrastinates often, this article is great to hear! I love how you mentioned that procrastinating can affect your adult life, it guilts me into working harder. 😅