What do you do if you procrastinate till the last minute?

I've procrastinated a lot before and the results haven't been too terrible at all, just more tedious either because the workload feels intense or there's a bit of inconvenience. For example, a lot of time I did my 7th grade science homework late at night like at 3 AM and I would usually find it hard to see in the dark because I didn't want my parents to see that I had lights on if they were awake. I would use the nightlight next to my bed to see what I'm writing down and that was pretty hard to do. I didn't have a smartphone or an iPod Touch, so I wouldn't have been able to utilize the Internet and I didn't want to turn on my computer because my parents could have noticed that I've been awake. Any homework that I didn't finish would usually be finished on the bus or at the cafeteria before my class began.

 

if it's memorizing for something like a new language, if i practice at the last minute with repetition, it's fresh on my mind

 

Also I think it depends on what you procrastinate on.

If you're writing a paper, I would say just keep going, and maybe take some breaks to eat, jump, or run around, then continue going; usually papers aren't something to stress much about since you're just using words. I think people could pull an all-nighter on writing papers and still do fine.

But if you're getting ready for a test, and you haven't been studying much, the best thing you can do is find practice, and just practice in chunks rather than cramming in everything; for instance, focus on one chapter, take a break, focus on the next chapter, take a break, and so on, and then re-review everything, not once or twice, maybe not even thrice, but quadrice... or until you have enough confidence. I wouldn't recommend staying up all night though, because then you'll feel lethargic and want to avoid everything.

If you're working on something (like a big project) and you're really close to a deadline but have only finished half of the project, sometimes the best option is to ask for an extension. Usually employers and professors find it understandable, especially if you have a huge workload, and because projects tend to hold more weight.

But the most important thing that procrastinating shares is the need to take breaks. When people procrastinate, they tend to worry more about time, and sometimes end up wasting a lot more time because they're too caught up in the heat of the moment trying to reassess things. But breaks, and even sleep is helpful, because then you can think more clearly and you'll also retain more information.