Mikey's Manifesto

Michael Parker
English 1020 (046)
Wendy Sumner-Winter
750 Word Manifesto

My Very Own Manifesto

From The Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus, a manifesto is a public declaration of policy and aims, esp. political or social. History is chock full of these types of public declarations. From the Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848; and the October Manifesto, issued by emperor Nicholas II in 1905 that ended unlimited autocracy in Russia and began a constitutional monarchy, all the way to our beginnings as a country that started with our very own Declaration of Independence drafted in 1776 and our Constitution of the United States in 1787. Manifestos have been a source of initiating change in power or policy throughout history.
I have never considered drafting my very own manifesto. I have always seen what I needed to do (or not do), change (or not change) and I have tried to act accordingly.
In writing my manifesto, I suppose I should first consider what I need to change or start doing that I am not doing. I am afraid that up to this point I have been somewhat of a procrastinator. Not dangerously procrastinating, just enough to be annoying to myself. I tend to put things off, as most procrastinators do, always thinking that there is enough time to get all things accomplished. So far, I have managed to finish all tasks on time, but not without some last minute, late night computer lab sessions which have compromised quite a bit of sleep. I suppose this activity should be changed to better help me become a more successful college student, not to mention when I begin my career as an advertising executive.
So, here goes nothing. I, Michael Parker, being of sound mind and bo…no wait . Wrong declaration. For continued success at The University of Memphis, I, Michael Parker do hereby formally declare that I will begin putting an end to procrastinating and free up more time to lounge around and do nothing, or at least work on other assignments for class. The following are some detailed steps on how I plan to accomplish this goal.
Step One: If a reading assignment is given for an essay or other assignment to be done on it, I will immediately read the assigned pages, providing I do not miss another class or this reading will make me late for work. Immediately following the end of my school day and if I do not have to be at work, I will complete the assigned readings and begin on the associated assignment immediately. Once I leave work for the day or evening, I will begin working on the assignment immediately.
Step Two: If possible, I will coordinate my school and work schedules and schedule time off from work in order to work more on projects and assignments that are due. Realizing that sometimes this may not be possible unless I want to become homeless as a result of having no money, I will only do it when time and finances permit.
Step Three: In the event that I have worked exceptionally hard on the project and find myself needing additional time to make it better, I will contact the instructor and ask for an extension on the assignment, if possible, providing that such a request does not conflict with the class policies set forth by the instructor. In the event of an emergency that could arise, I would also request an extension from the instructor based on the emergency.
Step Four: I should limit my amount of time spent frivolously looking at the Internet and watching television. If I am to accomplish this task, in terms of watching TV, I will have to rely heavily on my digital video recorder. To lower the amount of time spent surfing the Internet, I should wait until all assignments are done or at least allot a specific amount of time to surf and then make myself stop when that time expires.
Step Five: Ask for assistance or pair up with a classmate, if possible to gain a new perspective or to work together on a project or assignment. Sometimes, two heads are better than one.
Having looked at all possible contingencies, I believe these steps should be more than adequate to assist me in reducing the amount of procrastination that I have exhibited in the past. When all else fails, ask my wise English 1020 instructor what else she thinks would be appropriate. I believe she would be able to provide insight that I had not previously considered.