Dear “Just Five More Minutes,”

You’re a phrase I say constantly, usually when I’m taking a “break” from my assignments, which often ends up lasting far longer than I planned. However, this week I realized that I never say “just five more minutes” about my assignments.

But why?

I found the answer at the beginning of this week’s graduate assignment, which focused on task management.

Why do I even need task management? I already have a sticky note I use for all my coursework. I definitely don’t need task management… right?

These were the questions running through my head as I explored different project management software. Before this experiment, I had experience with Wrike, my employer’s choice of project management software, but decided I wanted to test something different. This led me to ClickUp, which appealed to me for its detailed interface.

At first, I was completely overwhelmed solely by the number of buttons and categories, which were so much more than the simple bullet points on my sticky notes. Despite my doubts, I kept going and added all my data into the web application.

(My ClickUp Task list a course)

I became frustrated with the process several times, especially when the desktop app grew noticeably laggy after I added more than one module to the list. Entering assignments I had already completed was also exhausting because the lag made what should have been a quick task take far too long. Despite this, I kept at it throughout the week, opening ClickUp whenever I could. To my surprise, I began enjoying it more than I expected. It actually saved me the time I usually waste deciding what to do next.

Even though I still had my sticky note pinned to my laptop’s home screen, I found myself asking:

Why don’t I ever look at my sticky note? Why am I always wasting time when I already have something right here to check?

I realized the issue had more to do with how undetailed my notes were. There was no sense of priority, no deadlines, in fact, I often forgot to update most of my classes on a week-to-week basis. This meant I constantly lost time because I wasn’t sure what I had completed and what still needed to be done. Or even what I should tackle next.

Often, this uncertainty about what I should or shouldn’t be doing led me to take even more breaks. Because I didn’t want to waste time on tasks that felt unproductive, I would catch myself saying:

Just five more minutes.

Those “just five more minutes” would eventually turn into ten, fifteen, twenty, even thirty minutes of extra time, time I should have been spending on my assignments.

Yet as the week went on, I noticed a shift. Each time I was close to completing a task, I still found myself saying:

Just five more minutes.

But now it was different. Instead of procrastinating, I wanted to give one last push to actually finish the work, even if it meant delaying my break.

I’ve learned that “just five more minutes” isn’t necessarily bad, it’s how you choose to use those five minutes that matters.

Sincerely,

A procrastinator who’s learning how to use their five minutes