Long Night Against Procrastination

"Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow." ~Gerald Vaughan

The CWLT was one of two universities from the US participating in the Long Night Against Procrastination, on March 1, 2012. This event began in Germany in 2010 and has become a very popular event, in which all the German writing centers participate.

The Long Night event is designed to help us confront those writing tasks we have been procrastinating: papers, grant proposals, homework, and more (we all know what our own specifics are). 

At the CWLT, we launched our celebration at 3:00 p.m. (German midnight) with German treats, public declarations of non-procrastination, and Skype and Twitter with writing centers in Germany. From 4:00 p.m.-midnight, we held our regularly scheduled tutoring appointments and writing conferences, but we also had special space set aside for those who wanted uninterrupted time to write quietly, eat some snacks, and stop procrastinating!

The event was very successful, with some 50 students working in the CWLT for at least an hour. Students completed midterm papers in economics, English, German, art history, politics and government; worked on thesis research; and even got ahead in their work! As a last-minute surprise, we were featured in a radio story on German radio. Not bad for a first-time event! Having learned the value of not procrastinating, we are already working toward plans for next year's Long Night.