https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EaREH5fe78

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 seeing 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 but in reality he's only brainstorming ideas to put on his essay.

"Time's up, SpongeBob..
"Time's up, SpongeBob..."

While wasting more time deciding on the proper bread to use for making himself 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 suggests that SpongeBob has an essay to write. Suspicious, SpongeBob slowly heads back inside to find a newscaster on TV reporting on SpongeBob's unfinished essay. He soon discovers that many of his possessions, now suddenly alive, are conspiring against him to prevent the completion of his work. Their interference results in SpongeBob getting locked outside without his pants. At that moment, the flame from a candle comes alive and burns his paper and sets fire to his house which, also suddenly alive, begs SpongeBob as it burns to "Stop wasting time."

Finally waking up and realizing much of his procrastination was part of a 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 (or imagined doing) 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 teachers' 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 big smile frozen in place, realizing that he crammed in vain for no reason to complete his assignment, SpongeBob rips his essay in half before he splits himself in half.