Procrastination

I have a 10 page Appellate Brief due for my 1L writing class and have had 8 weeks to do it so far.  I have successfully completed a maximum of 2 pages of actual writing, 1 of them being the table of contents.  This paper is due in 2 weeks and is a lot more intensive than 10 pages in undergrad.  Why do I torture myself by procrastinating?

I have successfully tricked myself into believing that I perform better under stress.  There may be some truth to this... but since I have always procrastinated, I have always performed under stress so I do not know what it is like to perform under a relaxed, appropriately paced speed.  It may be that I actually perform better when given enough time to do more editing than clicking the spell check button as I frantically put paper in the printer to print and rush out the door for delivery.  I insist on waiting until the last possible second and them am left at lightning speed, typing like a mad-woman, hoping that there are no computer failures, printer issues, or brain malfunctions during the process.  Then, as I can see the clock ticking down to the final minute, my hands start to shake and I periodically have to take a breath and calm myself down because the pressure is simply getting to be too much.  You would think that one instance like that, and I would have learned my lesson.  Nope. Not so.  Not even close.  I leave myself procrastinating to last possible second and have to experience the horror all over again.  This paper, I am not going to do that.  I am going to finish with at the very least a couple days to spare.  This is the plan anyways... we'll see how it works.  Wish me luck! 

All I know is THANK GOODNESS my research isn't like this: