Written by: Sarah Dioneda
It’s Sunday. It’s four o’clock and you’re sitting at your table with all of your homework laid out in front of you, and you have an essay due at 11:59 p.m. You start to write your introduction, except there is Netflix and YouTube and that show you recorded on TV, and you think “How bad could it be if I watched just one episode?” Yet before you know it, it’s eleven o’clock, you’ve got nothing done, and now, you’re stressed and you just want to go to bed.
For those who feel like there is too much to do, too many distractions, too many things to stop you from doing your assignments, then you know you’re a victim of procrastination. You’re not alone on that. Except, if you want to get better, know that this isn’t some talent or trait--it is a habit that you must practice every day. Yet, it can be very overwhelming. If you are a person who wants to change into someone much more productive and gets everything done but doesn’t know where to start, here are some tips that can help you in the future.
Make a schedule
Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the Dominican University of California has discovered that by listing all of the work you need to do, you are 42 percent more likely to do something that you actually want to do. By making a schedule for the day and setting time aside for when you need to do work, not only are you more likely to do something, you also get to see how your day is planned.
Whether you are neat and structured or messy and creative, you can design your schedule in a way that will fit you best. Remember, though, when you’re making your schedule, you have to make it realistic; you won’t be spending six hours focusing solely on chemistry. You know yourself best, and you have to understand what is a realistic and reasonable amount of work for you to do.
Some tips: try and prioritize your schedule. What is the most critical thing you need to do? What is something that you wish you can do, or your “wish list”? When you prioritize everything, you separate your work into sections so it won’t be so overwhelming to look at.
Tackle the small tasks first so it's easier to tackle into the big ones.
Everyone probably has that one class they go home and cringe about every time they have to do homework for. Yet although you may want to do that assignment first just to get it over with, you’re probably never going to do it because you hate it so much. Plus, if you never do the one assignment you specifically said you would do first, then you’re more likely not to do the other assignments either. To fix this problem, do the work you want to do first. If you’re a writer, write that poem for your English class, or if you’re a mathematician, do those homework problems that you are confident in and understand. Tackle the assignments you like first, then you can ease your way into the boring things after. You’d be on a roll, anyway, so why would you stop?
Separate big projects into smaller sections.
Just like you did with your schedule, separating your big project into small sections makes the entire thing easier to approach. By doing this, you’re not looking at an intimidating project, you’re looking at small parts of it that will come together at the end. Even though separating it makes more things to add onto your schedule, they’re going to be much easier to check off.
Reward yourself after every section you do.
No one is a perfect student. There are always those temptations that come with technology, food or napping that most people just can’t seem to ignore. Especially in this century, with all these products made to distract students, it is understandable! So instead of rewarding yourself once you’ve finished everything, try rewarding yourself after every subject you complete instead, or after you check off something from your schedule. It’ll keep you semi-happy when you’re working. This, however, requires you to be honest with yourself. You need to be able to trust yourself with these rewards, careful not to let it distract you from what you really need to do.
The choice is up to you.
Practice makes perfect. You’re not going to be the most productive student right away after being so used to procrastinating. You can’t let that discourage you from trying, though. Ultimately, you are the one who is going to decide to go that extra mile and do everything you need to do. You have to push yourself to achieve your goals, despite the distractions and people around you. This is when you decide what student you want to be.
What are you still doing here? It’s time to work.
