Video Project Free-Write

Word Count: 784 

Scene 1: 

I want the viewer to know exactly what this video will be about, while also capturing their entire attention. 

Video cuts directly to a POV shot of me at the library or on a desk. 

"Ok, let's see, I have a Calculus Exam in 6 days, if I start studying 4 topics every day I should be more than ready." 

*Video cuts to a transition that says* 

*3 days later*

"ok, slacked off a bit, but, but, if I study 8 topics every day I should still be able to get a B+" 

*2 days before the exam* 

"ugh it's all good, all I got to do is stay up all night and I can still pass" 

*Cut to shot of me in my bedroom, looking at the work on my desk, then looking at my bed, looking back and forth until I chose the bed* (POV shot) 

--> Now I play music, and at an attempt to make a creative intro, I'll un-crumple a piece of paper with big, black writing saying "My struggle with procrastination"  

"Procrastination." - For a college, or high school student, it's an everyday word. When I say the word a picture of you or a friend at a desk cramming late night for an exam probably pops up." It's not a sign of intelligence, no, you probably don't have ADHD, and despite all efforts of organization or pre-scheduling, you'll probably still end up studying last minute." 

I, personally, suffer from a condition called "Extreme procrastination". In fact, I wrote this entire video script the night before it was due. 

*At this point, cut to pictures of high school* 

All throughout high school I practiced the fine art of extreme procrastination. You did your essay the night before? I would do it at 5 am in the morning. You did your homework at 2AM? I did it in homeroom. I never studied for my SAT’s, 10th grade math was only difficult because of early onset senioritis and a lack of motivation to study.

My point is, all throughout my life I’ve been lazy, unmotivated, and completed assignments last minute - even the things I loved doing, like writing or reading was always compromised because of a time constraint.

So, what brings us here – am I just wasting your time, are you yourself procrastinating on a project, surfing video through video in hopes that deadline that’s slowly creeping on you will magically go away?

The truth is, for the longest time, I’ve always justified my procrastination. I even thought all my classmates who took difficult AP courses and accelerated honors with near perfect SAT scores but still went to Rutgers were stupid – considering the amount of effort I put in yet yielded a similar result.  

Then came college. Should I have been smarter and listened to everyone who said “yeah, college is NOT the same as high school” – probably. Eventually, my 1^st semester GPA ended up looking lower than gas prices nowadays, and I was stuck in a conundrum.

Every time I wanted to change old habits, I went about the same process, which always ended up in failure.

1.    A sudden, burst of energy and motivation to change my lifestyle, and stop procrastinating daily life.

*Video cuts to scenes of me working hard”

2.    An “attempt” to study earlier, work harder

3.    Some sort of difficult task pops up, and a sudden realization drops motivation

4.    Procrastination ensues

Video cuts of me giving up, can be shown in numerous ways

I’m not making this video for pity or sympathy, but instead genuinely need to recognize a toxicity going on in my life. I’ve always been “bad” at math, yet every math class I’ve taken I’ve never studied for over 1 hour. 13 years of schooling – and there’s never once been a project I’ve genuinely been proud about.

Over the course of the next month, as I sit here and type out the script of this video, I’m going to truly learn how to break procrastination. Gone are the habits of constantly working last minute, struggling to meet deadlines. Gone are the days of me saying “yeah I got a B, but I could’ve gotten an A if I worked harder.”

Trust me when I say, I seriously suffer from procrastination. If I can manage to break old habits and find new methods of being organized and efficient, then so can you.

Below are the steps that I’m going to try out for a whole 2 weeks.

1.    Wake up at 5 Am everyday

Video cuts to me waking up, looking at the clock, saying “ughhh” and going back to sleep.

n  Initially will start out unsuccessful