Whether it was an essay, a project, studying for a major test, or something else entirely unrelated to school, we’ve all found ourselves in this sticky situation: it’s 9 pm the night before something big and important is due, and guess what? You haven’t started. No matter who you are, I can guarantee you’ve procrastinated on something at least once in your life.

It might’ve been because you forgot about it, you were way too busy for the past couple weeks, or maybe you were just too lazy to work on it and kept putting it off. Regardless of the circumstances, procrastination is a common human experience — and often a painful one at that — when you’re frantically trying to put something together before the sun finally comes up. So, I know this is going to sound a little crazy, but hear me out — sometimes procrastination can actually be a good thing.

For me, procrastinating really draws out the high-stakes pressure of a deadline. If something is due in the very near future, and I have a lot of work to do with not a lot of time, I’ll typically work twice as hard and twice as fast as I would otherwise. The pressure forces me to buckle down and get my work done, and it doesn’t allow time for distractions.

Alternatively, when I have something to do but am well aware of how far off the deadline is, I’ll tend to put in a half-hearted effort when I work on it, giving up halfway through. But when I know the hours left to complete my task are dwindling, I find the motivation to grind out something to submit.

When it comes to math homework or maybe a science project, this motivation may not matter so much, but when it comes to something like writing an essay, this kind of effort also brings out my strongest ideas. If I have to write something, it typically flows much easier if I get into a certain kind of rhythm and do all the work at once, rather than completing it in choppy bursts of inspiration. Having to write an essay all in one setting creates a focus that allows me to really think and develop my best thoughts and arguments. The cramming and pressure, despite what everyone may say, actually produces my best work.

This may sound like the lazier portion of my argument, but procrastination also frees up my time. Yes, I do have to spend all of my final hours before a deadline solely dedicated to the project, but it means I don’t have to spend an ounce of my time on it for weeks before hand. Instead of working leisurely for a few hours on several different occasions, I can throw myself into all the work the day before and complete it in a much shorter time frame.

Obviously, I’m not saying that this method is beneficial for everybody. Some people crack under pressure, and procrastination produces the poorest version of their work. I’m also not saying that it’s without its negatives — I’m sure staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning working on something isn’t healthy. But at the end of the day, I know that procrastinating on something every once in a while isn’t the end of the world for me — sometimes, it winds up to my benefit.