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Da giovane procrastinavo sempre, anziché studiare.

Da giovane procrastinavo sempre, anziché studiare.
When I was young I always procrastinated, instead of studying.
From Lesson 259:Expressing alternatives (invece di, anziché)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Da giovane procrastinavo sempre, anziché studiare.

Why is studiare in the infinitive here?
In Italian, when you say 'instead of doing something' and the person doing both actions is the same (here, 'I' was procrastinating and 'I' should have been studying), you use anziché or invece di followed directly by the present infinitive verb.
Could I use invece di instead of anziché in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! Both anziché and invece di mean 'instead of' or 'rather than' and can be used interchangeably here. You could easily say invece di studiare with no change in meaning.
Why does the sentence use Da giovane to mean 'when I was young'?
The preposition da is often used before a noun or an adjective describing a stage of life to mean 'as a' or 'when I was a'. Da giovane literally means 'as a young person', which is the most natural way to express this in Italian. You will also see this pattern in phrases like da bambino (as a child).
Why is the verb conjugated in the imperfect tense (procrastinavo)?
The imperfect tense is used for ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions in the past. Because the speaker is describing a continuous habit they had back when they were young (emphasized by the word sempre, meaning 'always'), the imperfect is required here rather than the passato prossimo.

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