Ok, for the nth time now (I can almost start a ‘carnival of laziness’)…worked like a sloth and paid for it. I intended to apply for a scholarship since the start for this semester, and received the relevant application forms in the first week of January. From the time I received the forms, till last night…I did nothing about it…absolutely nothing. Just kept postponing it everyday till I could postpone no more…the application is due on 31st January. Finally, the alarm bells sounded yesterday evening and I wrapped it up by night time. It wasn’t something like “a ton of work”, just a couple of forms and a updated resume…and yet I managed to create panic out of it. As excepted, this laziness came with a price tag: $14.40 (yeah..had to use the “Express mail” option at USPS…damn these PO Box numbers). I will post the image of the receipt here..and hopefully it will serve as a reminder for me to be more (at least a little bit) diligent in future.
$14.40 is just the perceived cost to my wallet. The panic, the resulting stress, the anxiety of whether the application will reach the intended recipients on time, and the running around and standing in lines to get things done on the last day, are some of the other intangible costs.
If God forbid, I don’t get the scholarship because of late submission of the application, the cost of this stupidity is easily going to run into 4 figures 
.
Laziness (read procrastination) is really expensive.
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mmmm - at some level, do you enjoy the adrenaline rush?
Hope posting the receipt here helps you remember the angst that went along with this - Cat is right, you know. That adrenaline rush is something many procrastinators (me included - although I hate to admit it) secretly enjoy. But $14 is a bit steep for something so NOT fun.
Hee, if I don’t send in Mr Dimes’s vehicle registration renewal, and his truck gets towed for having an expired sticker, that will be a lot more expensive than a timely renewal will be. Plus, he’ll yell at me. No fun. Better get on that.
Cat and Tammy: Now, that you mention it…I think I do…being close to deadlines sort of energizes me, and usually I do things much faster and more efficiently when I see deadlines staring at my face.
dimes: you better send that in time. that another thing I always forget
I agree it’s costly, but also that doing things last minute can sometimes make them better. I think my best papers in college were all done last minute.
As I am making my way through school I am finding that doing an assignment last minute is becoming second nature. Hope you get your scholarship!!
MoneyFwd and Missy: It’s the same here, I picked up this habit during my undergraduate engineering years…occassionally I get over it, but it keeps coming back every once in a while.
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