Procrastination: One Thing I Do Everyday
Procrastination is complex and often takes many forms, such as hesitating, avoiding, and distracting yourself. However, there are ways to overcome it, feel better about yourself, have more confidence, and accomplish more.
Because procrastination is complicated, your life becomes complicated very quickly when you get procrastinating. To avoid unpleasant activities, you may baffle yourself by delaying until there is figuratively hell to pay. For example, you may associate a pending activity with discomfort, uncertainty, or inconvenience. You may don’t want to do it. You may magically justify it by saying you’ll do it later. Except that you will be feeling troubled later, you won’t be getting anywhere.
You can beat procrastination and accomplish your tasks on time if you follow these tips.
1. Avoid Distractions
First and foremost, don’t fool yourself. It will not get you anywhere. Indeed, it’s more fun, but your focus will be erratic as you’ll interact with others. Also, your friend’s progress might keep you up at night rather than motivate you. It is a good idea to revise together if everyone has already memorized the materials – after that you can check each other’s knowledge.
Close all the social media tabs, put your phone on aeroplane mode, and make sure you study in a neat, uncluttered area. A messy environment will cause you more stress.
2. You should set yourself deadlines.
Writing without a specific time limit (“I need to write 10,000 words by the end of the month”) can be unproductive as you will not be able to track your progress and become panicky if you get behind. Make sure you divide your work into equal amounts and reward yourself after every small win, for example, by watching an episode of a favorite TV show. Don’t give yourself too much time; the less you have, the more focused you will be.
3. Use your most vital sense to memorize things
Everyone learns differently. Some people like to draw mind maps, while others rely more on audio/videos and write by hand. Don’t just go by what others claim to be effective – put your twist on it and discover what works for you. If you are mainly auditory, it would be helpful to record the lectures beforehand and listen to them repeatedly until you remember them. Reading aloud is also an effective method.
4. The best time to work is when you feel alert and efficient.
Most of us hate waking up early, but society and school have taught us to be effective. But what if you work at noon and finish at 9 PM instead of being tired at lunch? Watch your body clock and notice when you yawn less. Get plenty of rest that day, rather than torture yourself with coffee and Red Bull.
5. Don't stress too much
Feeling anxious and unmotivated? Try to visualize the outcome if you accomplish this specific task. Does it matter if you pass this extremely complicated statistics test? Would your life end if you failed it? Please don’t pass it at the cost of your health and happiness.
6. Find inspiration and save time by asking for help.
During exam and assignment preparation, it is advantageous to seek out former students from your class. Rather than going through every bit of information available, ask fellow students for their tips or advice or for examples of work (don’t copy it, use it wisely to save time). In addition, ask as many questions as possible during your lecturer’s office hours, as many lecturers refuse to answer exam-related questions as the semester approaches.
7. Exercise and eat healthy
Getting rid of sweet drinks and junk foods will boost your performance as your blood sugar levels won’t spike. Go for fruits, nuts, whole grains, and berries. Switch out that flapjack from the library vending machine – it’s got more sugar than a Snickers bar!
You will be thankful for any movement after hours at the desk, as studies have shown that exercise improves cognition. But a 30 min high-intensity interval workout can be snuck into a schedule, right?
8. It is essential to be motivated
Lastly, like this post or an inspirational quote, no external motivation will provide you with more inspiration than seeing yourself progress. It is usually possible for people to accomplish far more than they can even envision, so visualize a bigger picture. Keep in mind three positive consequences of achieving your goal. These outcomes should give you extra motivation. It is the most challenging part to start, as you will be waiting for the perfect moment and aligned stars.
So do the work (as Newton tells us) and stop overthinking and preparing. Good luck with killing that procrastination fever!
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