Minuette cleared off her desk and placed an hourglass at the corner of it. Looking over the instructions of her science project, the child began to write down numbers next to each step that was needed. “Within the first hour,” she spoke aloud to herself, “I need to explain the problem, then hypothesis. Those two can be done at the same time and quickly. Any left over sand in the hourglass will be used to decorate my science project board.” It suddenly dawned unto Minuette that she did not have a display board, or anything to decorate said board. “Okay, after I write down the problem and hypothesis, run down to the crafts store and get supplies for my science project. Hopefully, by the time I get back, an hour has not past. After that...”
Minuette wrote down several things she needed to do in order for her project to go along smoothly. After the first hour, the filly needed to test her hypothesis, whatever that may be; Minuette was giving herself at most two hours for research; if she was going to have success for her project, Minuette was hoping her brother hadn’t done his chores yet; However, Blue Moon almost never does his chores before their mother gets home, so luck was mostly on the filly’s side. Next, she needed to write down her findings in further detail; one hour was needed to do that. Finally, Minuette needed to enter her conclusion as to why she and other ponies tend to procrastinate. At the bottom of her list, Minuette wrote a small note: If there is still time in the hourglass, use the leftover minutes to work on the science project board. Summing up the amount of hours she needed to work on her project, Minuette gave herself five hours in order to finish her science project with no worries.
Her little head looked to the clock beside her bed, and it read: 2:45pm. “With my little schedule set, I should be finished before dinner.”
Finished with her to do list, the filly was ready to get started. Five hours of pure work was a large number to the child; that was 300 minutes! However, a 0 on her science project was a horror story to Minuette and she would rather muscle through her predicament than do nothing.
“Let’s do this!” Using the magic from her horn, Minuette flipped the hourglass, and the sand began to spill into the bottom. With paper and quill at the ready, the filly began to write.
Why Do Ponies Procrastinate? was the title of the paper. “Problem, check!” Minuette glanced at the hourglass and noticed a small pile of sand at the bottom. She smiled at how fast her progress was going; however, it was the easy step. Minuette lightly bit the tip of the feather, pondering her hypothesis.
“Why do I procrastinate?” A tough question, despite herself putting off the project until the day prior to its due date. Thinking about why she procrastinated the science project, Minuette started there. “I think… the reason why I procrastinated… was because I didn’t feel like it? No, that doesn’t seem fitting…” Of course, that was a reason, but there had to be more than just not feeling like it; the hypothesis needed to be more... sciencey. Minuette pondered the question even further, resting her chin on a hoof, but after five minutes, the filly was drawing blanks.
“Ugh, this is so boring!” And just like the moment when she figured out what her science project would be, Minuette had an idea. “That’s it! Tedious and boring tasks!” As Minuette scribbled down her hypothesis, the filly chuckled at herself. “Never thought being bored of doing something could possibly be the answer to why ponies procrastinate.”
Minuette placed her feather in the ink jar and smiled at her progress, then peered at the hourglass. Not even one-fourth of the sand had poured into the bottom half, further motivating the filly with moving the project forward. Standing up from her desk, Minuette briskly made for her piggy bank and then the door. The pink pig levitated beside Minuette in a blue aura as she ran down the stairway. Once outside, Minuette noticed her brother kicking the ball along with the other fillies and colts in the cul-de-sac. Minuette ran at him and caught his attention, not bothered with having the game interrupted.
“What is it sis?” Blue Moon asked with a crease in his brow. The unicorn’s fur was a nice dark-blue color and his mane was striped like his sister with a light-blue and turquoise pattern.
“Have you done your chores?” Minuette asked with a nervous smile, hoping Blue Moon had not done what was asked of him.
“And what if I haven't?” he replied with a raised brow. “You don’t need to tell me how to run my life.”
“Just wondering!” Without turning back to catch her brother’s reaction, Minuette was off to the arts and crafts store.
***
The door to Minuette’s room flung open as the filly bucked it open with her hind legs. A large project board levitated beside Minuette and a plastic bag filled with glue, markers, scissors, and a various assortment of other art supplies that may be needed. Almost tossing her items aside, Minuette ran over to her hour glass and sighed with relief. A small remainder of sand continued to pour into the bottom half, allowing Minuette to start setting up her board. She opened the two flaps and rested the board on the floor.
For the rest of the remaining sand in the hourglass, Minuette began planning the layout of her project. Using normal paper as a rough draft of her display, Minuette wrote the title of her project, along with the scientific method titles, and used her scissors to cut the needed words and placed them in places she deemed a good position.
Finished with her simple setup, Minuette saw that there was very little sand left for the first hour. She took the last bit of time for herself, obtaining a small glass of water for herself to calm her nerves. Minuette was confident in herself, but was still feeling the pressure of time being against her and needed to not be distracted.
Walking back up to her room, Minuette watched the last grains of sand fall into the bottom, declaring that the first hour was over. Quickly, she flipped the hourglass, beginning the two hour research portion. Looking at the clock, it now read: 3:45pm.
“Mom should be home any minute now…” Minuette glanced outside to see her brother still playing with the kids outside, envying his current joy. A grin found its way on the filly’s face, now ready to ruin Blue Moon’s mood.
Minuette’s camera rested on her night stand and the filly levitated it over to her. Giving it a test run, she took a picture of her now lame science board, the light flashing brightly like a flash of lightning. A picture slid out of the camera’s printer, first a gray square, then an image slowly came into view. Looking at her sample, Minuette was satisfied to see her lousy setup clear on the picture.
“Time for the research to begin!” Running outside with her camera hanging around her neck by a cloth strap, Minuette once again interrupted the game being played in the cul-de-sac.
“Minuette, don’t you have your science project to work on?” Blue Moon jabbed, irritated with his sister.
“Shouldn’t you get on your chores?” Minuette asked in quick response. “It is almost 4 o’clock.” Blue Moon’s face lost his color, into a pale dark-blue hue. Quickly, he darted for the house; and as he ran, Minuette took a picture.