Sometimes You Need a Little Persuasion to Stop Procrastinating

I have always been a procrastinator. It's a terrible quality that  drives my mom crazy, and without fail, results in the accumulation of school work and household tasks- A debt of sorts, if you will. In Jane Austen's Persuasion, we see Sir Walter Elliot overspend and collect a huge amount of debt as well. In order to better manage his finances, he is advised to reduce spending so much money and his family moves into a smaller home, much to his dismay. This is not too far from the scenario that frequently plays out in my household whenever I have a large project due. However instead of wasting money, I am usually wasting time. The interaction between my mom and I usually goes as follows:

Mom: Hey, whatever happened to that (Insert really important and grade significant project here)?

Me: I haven't done it yet, I still have (insert long period of time that isn't actually as long as I think it is)

Mom: Ok, well you better start working on it, I don't want you to be stressing over it the night before its due!

The Night The Project is Due:

Mom: Hey can you-

Me: Sorry, I'll be there in a minute, I have to finish this, its due at midnight...

Mom: It's 10:30pm, What could you be working on this late?

Me: Insert really important and grade significant project here!

Joking aside, procrastination seems to be a problem that plagues many Americans, particularly students. As far as I can discern, procrastinators don't actually like procrastinating, and (myself included) most procrastinators don't have an actual reason for doing so. I personally think that the idea that we always have more time plays a huge role in it, but I also don't know what convinces me to complete the task. I think it comes down to whether or not doing the task at hand has a benefit that outweighs the consequence of not doing the task (just to clarify, this is almost always the case with schoolwork, I hate having bad grades!). Ultimately, being able to break the cycle of procrastination just in time to get the project done is what makes it so easy to fall back into the cycle, and what makes it so persuading.