Just imagine, what would life be like if you did not leave doing your work until the last minute? If you started doing assignments on the day, did you receive them?
What would it feel like to be someone who got their assignments done days before they were due to be handed in?
Research tells us that students that get on with their work and do not procrastinate are less stressed, healthier and feel more in control of your studies than others feel. You could be one of these students – an action taker.
Being procrastinated is one of the biggest problems that a student needs to overcome if he wants good results or success in the future career.
Why does procrastination happen?
Studies have shown that we procrastinate when we are under stress or afraid. Our brain tries to convince us to avoid the task as a way to provide some immediate stress relief. So procrastination is not simply the act of being lazy or feeling unmotivated. These are just coping mechanisms for feelings of stress and fear. We should be asking ourselves, “What are we stressed about?” This is the first step in learning how to beat procrastination and increase focus.
Here is the worst part about procrastination — once we start the procrastination cycle, it is very hard to shake it off. When we put things off because we are not in the right mood, we set ourselves up to get nervous when too much time has passed and we have to race against the clock. In the end, we beat ourselves up and feel guilty, because at this stage, we are overwhelmed with stress and disbelief at how we let ourselves get here.
Strategies to overcome procrastination
After we learned the most common reasons why we procrastinate, it is time to tackle that problem.
Get rid of the distractions
As I mentioned above, having distractions close to you is one of the main problems for procrastinating. So change your environment and stay away from distractions. For example, you shouldn’t study or work near the TV. If your task requires reading, put your laptop away as well.
Break your task into manageable pieces
If what you have to do seem too big to finish easily and early, you should break it into smaller manageable pieces. Think about a 5000-word essay that you need to finish writing in the next few weeks. In order to prevent you from procrastinated while on this task; divide it into smaller actionable goals. These steps can include choosing a topic, reading materials, planning the structure, write smaller paragraphs and proof reading.
Make a list of good things that happen if you stop procrastinating
It is important to know what will happen when you procrastinate or stop doing so. Think about good things that happen to you when you stop procrastinating. And also imagine the bad things as well. Like if you procrastinate, you will leave your essay until the last minute, and then you will rush to do it and end up having a bad grade.
Plan your time wisely
Time management skills are the skills that you need to enhance and improve if procrastination is your big problem. You should plan around your schedule weekly and by term as well. Write your schedule down onto a diary and take note of the time to start working. Write down deadlines on sticky notes and put them all over the places where you have to see them every day.
Be persistent and patient
You need to make a huge effort to develop the good habit of dealing with things as soon as possible instead of postponement.
So in order to stop procrastinating and be more focused on your studying, you should avoid distractions and create yourself a good working or studying environment. Break your task into smaller pieces and make a list of good things that will happen when you stop procrastinate are two of the things you should do as well. We hope with all of the information above, you would be able to start working and get things done without any waste of time at all.