Planning And Procrastination

A wise man once said that passing IB is nothing more than a matter of pure determination, caffeine, and strategically planned procrastination. Planned procrastination? Sounds a bit counterintuitive doesn’t it? You see, planning makes almost any activity instantly more efficient. Planning is the key ingredient in life, and can be the defining factor in anything from having a good morning to winning a world war. Today, in honor of planning, we will be discussing the schedule for my project (fortunately I’ve already created one) as well as my goals and consequences if those goals are not met.

Lets start with talking about this trimester’s goals. If you go to any CAS student and ask them what their goals are, you’ll initially get a very similar answer. Things like I want to progress in my project, I want to do better in CAS, I want to get more money, etc. But these goals are unspecific and therefore unachievable, which leads us to my goals, which are specific and defined to ensure efficient progress and the possibility of fulfillment. My first goal is one that is easily achievable, and will hopefully provide a sense of accomplishment that will propel me to tackle my next goals. I first want to finish ordering the supplies for my International Celebration Night. I was planning on ordering them on Thursday, however products were out of stock and have finally returned, allowing me to take a large fiscal step forward in my project. I plan on achieving this goal by speaking with my parents and having them confirm the order. My next goal is also short term, and involves emailing the administration to discuss the shipment of materials for my LPMUN conference as well as potential dates for ICN and other logistics. I will do this by drafting emails on Monday and sending them on Tuesday to ensure adequate reply time. My three next goals are much longer term but are obviously just as important. The first is to effectively delegate the coordination of my chair seminar to Ananda, who has kindly offered to assist me with my project. I have a meeting with her on Tuesday where we will discuss details and I will achieve another goal. The second long term goal is the actual execution of the ICN, which I will achieve by ensuring that all materials are ordered, logistics are planned with administration, and volunteers are recruited for the night of. The third goal is one you might guess easily, and that is to successfully pull off my LPMUN conference before spring break begins. The dates have already been established, and the schedule attached demonstrates the rest of the steps necessary to achieve this final goal.

Of course, without any consequences planning is relatively meaningless. In order to follow something you need initiative and a sense of responsibility. My consequences for not following the plans are simple. The consequence for missing one decline is a time limit on my Xbox. The consequence for missing a second deadline is a time limit on my phone. The consequence for missing 3 or more deadlines is simple; No more xbox or no more phone. While these sound rather basic, they are extremely effective and I am hoping that they will help me stay true to my schedule and my project!