Are you an artist of procrastination? This would involve thinking up creative ways to avoid a deadline until last minute. Numerous times, especially toward the end of the semester, I find myself being less enthusiastic about classes. The closer we get to break, the amount of time I put into my work begins to diminish. I have put together a few tips in no particular order to hopefully help you finish this semester strong.
1. Know your best working environment.
I have learned through trial and error that I am the most productive anywhere but my bedroom. The vibe I get from my dorm room screams “get in bed and watch a movie” — it is the ultimate laziness vibe. Therefore I know that if I want to make any progress on my homework, I should stay far away from my bedroom. Because of this, often I will immediately retreat to the library or coffee shop following my last class. I enjoy the library because the quiet helps me gather my thoughts and the public setting keeps me from logging onto Netflix. I also love the coffee shop because the sweet aroma is comforting and the light conversation in the background is white noise as I read.
2. Know the time you are most vulnerable for procrastination.
I find I am the most productive during the week and less during the weekend and this helps me to plan what assignments to do. I have also learned that I should accomplish as much homework as I can before dinner because after dinner I get tired and want to do nothing. This often leads my roommate and me to eat right before closing in the cafeteria so that we get more of our homework done.
3. Learn which friends keep you on track.
Some of you may find that none of your friends help you focus and that you are most successful at getting things done while on your own. This is awesome if you are disciplined enough to admit this. I have already noted that if I am on my own in the library I will be successful at checking off my to-do list, but if alone in my room I falter. However, if my roommate is in our bedroom with me, I tend to be very successful and completing my assignments. Because my roommate is often working on homework, I develop a sense of guilt for wasting my time on Facebook or YouTube when she is being so productive. I have told her multiple times that she brings my focus to my misuse of time when she is in the same room. How long this continues to be the case I do not know, but I hope for long.
4. Identify the project you want to do the least.
This one doesn’t take much thought. It is always the papers that I put off the longest and although I dread some class readings, I can normally force myself to sit down and do them. But the papers... that is another story. Once you have your most shuddersome project in mind, do it first. This discipline will not happen without some kind of motivation, of course, so set up a reward system for finishing your task within a certain time frame. Make your reward something big like buying tickets for a beloved concert and handing them over to a friend to only give back to you if you meet your deadline. Too often I push off the big project and knock out all the small projects feeling like I am making progress because my to-do list is smaller. However, in reality the big project needs to be started early so it can be accomplished in stages instead of all at once. Trying to finish a big project in two nights, or in some cases one night, wears you out a lot more than if you would have spread it out.
5. Plan assigned rest days.
A rest day is different for everyone but for most, it involves getting a few extra z’s — for me it is a ton of extra z’s. Your rest day should be a day where you do not do any work. You may choose to spend your time laying around and watching "Friends" reruns, curling up with a book, or recreating a yummy recipe you saw in a video. During whatever you do for rest, do not dwell on what still needs to get done. Use your rest day to clear your head and stop tensing so you can carry on with your work the next day. Some people have developed this wacky idea that rest is for amateurs and they don’t need it. But I’m telling you that you will eventually burnout and the recovery period for that burnout will be a lot longer than if you just would have taken a day a week to rejuvenate.
6. Turn off your notifications.
Often when I sit down determined to be productive, I will glance at my social media accounts for a few minutes, look at the time again and 30 minutes will have passed. Even if you are working on your homework and stop every 40 minutes to look at updates on your phone, that time adds up. When you begin your homework, make a commitment to stay off your phone. It may sound crazy but the less time you spend on your phone looking at stupid stuff the quicker you will get your work done and have free time!
I encourage you to not hold your breath until the end of finals because you will have a terrible headache at the end of it all but instead, breathe through it. It is hard to change old habits, but try to focus on at least two of the above if you are really struggling with procrastination. These will lighten the load off your shoulders some.
