I am fighting a grueling battle.

I have been putting everything I have into this problem. I’ve been trying to solve it for years.

This brawl is against a mighty and powerful foe: procrastination.

The first step is admitting you have a problem; I am a procrastinator. Always have been, always will be.

I remember staying up until 11 p.m. in second grade trying to finish a paper, and crying as the program closed without me saving.

There have been so many times that the worst case scenario has happened to me that I’m surprised that I haven’t learned my lesson. I know I shouldn’t do it. Every time I finish a project at 2 a.m., I promise myself that next time I won’t procrastinate — it never works.

Nothing works.

I’ve tried every tip in the book. I own daily planners, schedule mini goals and tell myself assignments are due earlier than they are. I will even plan my day down to the minute, planning on getting everything done early. I have forced myself to sit at the computer and ignore all other things, and not allow myself anything fun until I get the work done.

I’ll admit that this works for a day or two. But I wear myself out from this sudden focus, and decide to reward myself with a not-so-difficult day. I end up thinking there’s always tomorrow.

This is tiny snowball that causes the avalanche.

After I take one reward day, I remember how good it feels to actually do something beside work. Then I decide to take another reward day, and another after that. I still do the homework or project that’s due the next day, but my outlook goes no further.

This cycle continues for a week. This has happened so many times over the years that I can tell when I’m starting to fall back. I fight valiantly and work through a few more of the “reward” days, but then I end up losing, and I go back to my old ways.

The other thing that doesn’t help my procrastinating ways is the fact my grade never reflects the amount of time I put into the project.

For me, the amount of time I put into a project does not equal the amount of effort I put into it; I give my all in everything I do, even if it is 3 a.m. and I’m running only on caffeine. And my grades reflect my effort. I get an A, and the fact I got a good grade outweighs the fact that I was tearing my hair out from frustration.

My fatal flaw, my nemesis, is procrastination, and I’ll be challenging this intangible for the rest of my life.