Procrastination

"Procrastination" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from Season 2. In this episode, SpongeBob procrastinates on writing an 800 word essay for Boating School.

Plot
The episode starts at Mrs. Puff's Boating School, SpongeBob's class receives an assignment for an 800-word essay on what not to do at a stoplight, due the following morning. SpongeBob cannot wait to get started and, upon arriving home, prepares his materials and workspace. However, he has trouble thinking of what to write, and gets distracted by his friends playing outside.

Time passes as SpongeBob tries to create the right mood for writing. He does some calisthenics, feeds Gary, cleans his kitchen, and takes copious breaks in between. It eventually becomes clear that SpongeBob is only looking for excuses to avoid the essay. Even Patrick points it out when SpongeBob calls to chat with him in the middle of the night.

While spending more time making a sandwich, SpongeBob hears a knock at the door and rushes to greet the mailman delivering a package. When SpongeBob attempts to engage in small talk, the mailman cuts him off and tells him to get back to writing. Suspicious, SpongeBob slowly heads back inside to find the newscaster on TV reporting on SpongeBob's unfinished essay. He soon discovers that all of his possessions are conspiring against him to prevent the completion of his work. Their interference results in the immolation of his house, which begs SpongeBob as it burns to "stop wasting time."

Finally waking up from his nightmare, SpongeBob looks first at his woefully incomplete essay, then at the clock, marking five minutes before class time. In desperation, he suddenly realizes that everything he did up to that point was something that should not be done at a stoplight, and so he quickly writes it all down to fulfill the 800-word requirement.

Excitedly bringing the finished essay to school, SpongeBob finds the classroom empty. Mrs. Puff arrives and explains that she tried to call SpongeBob to give him an update. Due to a teacher's convention she must attend, Mrs. Puff has canceled the assignment and will instead take the class on a field trip the following week to see a stoplight. Left behind with his grin frozen in place (when he realized that he only tried hard on focusing on his now-finished assignment for nothing), SpongeBob then rips his essay in half before he splits himself in half. Then the episode ends there.