Timelines and Deadlines

Okay, to be honest, I'm a bit nervous for this semester because it's my last semester before going for an internship and I want it to be smooth sailing plus it's also the semester where I've to finish my final year thesis. 

I was actually looking forward to going back to college because I can have a meet-up with my supervisor more frequently but yeah well that didn't happen due to the spike in covid cases and we are advised to stay at home. Actually for UPM boleh mohon to stay at college but my father is pretty much against me staying at college due to safety reasons. 

Last semester was hectic for me mostly because everything was online and I was struggling with my thesis and other than thesis proposal I also had a lot of reports to submit. All of the subjects were heavy and to catch up with all the due dates was very nerve-wracking for me.

As for my thesis, my supervisor, tak tahulah nak cakap macam mana. Sebelum uni tutup and kelas semua face to face she was very helpful. Tapi lepas start je online class susah nak contact. Pelik jugak sebab kalau nak cakap yang aku selalu kacau dia, bukan selalu pun sebenarnya. Dalam sebulan tu sekali atau dua kali je I would contact my supervisor. 

I had a lot of questions regarding my proposal but it was hard to get in touch with her through email or WhatsApp. She would usually give me feedback on my proposal after my fourth or fifth attempt so most of the time I had to figure out a lot of things on my own. 

Luckily it wasn't just me. Most of my friends experienced the same thing. After the commencement of online classes our supervisors just basically left us in the dark. I would always discuss with my friends regarding our thesis through WhatsApp and it helped a lot (thank god we had each other). 

Despite all the assignments piling up every day, thankfully I managed to submit everything on time. 

Last semester was a hectic semester but it was still manageable thank god. Somehow I feel like I can better manage my assignments and my time when my lecturers set specific due dates. 

Ada beberapa kali my lecturers gave us assignments without due dates and it definitely was a bad move since students will definitely IGNORE assignments that have NO submission date (kekekeke!). Tapi tu lah yang tak bestnya tiba2 nanti "Okay yang assignment harituh saya bagi hantar esok ya!". Hah time tuh memang gelabahlah semua ahahahaha! 

Benda bila tak ada due ni I think memang automatically kita akan lengah-lengahkan rasanya. It's no one's fault actually. It's normal untuk kedepankan benda-benda yang urgent dan ada deadline dulu before benda-benda yang vague with no due. 

Honestly, it reminds me of this one Ted Talk by Tim Urban. According to him, there are two kinds of procrastination. Number one, short-term procrastination with deadlines. Number two, procrastination in the situation where there is no deadline. Basically, it's a situation where we are not pressured to do the things that we have to do or want to do simply because there is no time limit. 

Sounds like a very fun and chill way to live your life but according to him, procrastination in the situation where there is no deadline can result in your own unhappiness. 

Not just in terms of assignments lah but basically something beyond that as well. Things that we want to do in our lives but for some reason, we keep on putting it off. 

Bukanlah nak cakap everybody is entirely unhappy in this world because they procrastinate tapi lebih kepada you can be much happier when you do the things you have been putting off doing instead of procrastinating it. 

"There are also all kinds of important things outside of your career that don’t involve any deadlines, like seeing your family or exercising and taking care of your health, working on your relationship or getting out of a relationship that isn’t working." - Tim Urban, Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator.

In my opinion, in a larger context, it can also be something that you really want to do like learning a new skill, travelling, writing a book, starting a new career or getting a degree in the field that you're interested in. 

I do believe that sometimes people procrastinate not because they are lazy. 

Sometimes its because they lack confidence. Fear of failure can also be one of the reasons. And other time, financial issues. 

I stumbled upon this one writing slash journal prompt on Pinterest. Basically, the question was if you only had 3 months to live, what are the things that you want to do? 

And suddenly I have a lot of things I want to do in that 3 months simply because I now, theoretically, have a deadline. Honestly, I have a lot of things I want to do, big things and small things alike, but often put it off for other things yang memang dah ada deadline (for example, my thesis \facepalm/). 

Anyways, I think it is important to remember that setting yourself a goal, target or deadline shouldn't be mistaken as pressuring yourself lah that's for sure. Like these days when society pressures you to be successful, have a certain level of income or get married by a certain age etc. Those are not the kind of deadlines that you need. 

Bottom line, it is important for you to set the deadlines for yourself in terms of the things that you want to do or accomplish and not let society set the deadlines for you. 

Or else it'll become just like another uni assignment.