So this past week I learned the hard way how bad procrastination can be for you. I had two papers due back to back, a short reading response over a very long book that I didn’t read, and a test the week after Thanksgiving break… and in typical Savannah Hemmer fashion, I didn’t work on anything until Sunday night. This was probably the worst decision I could have made because it caused me a whole lot of unnecessary stress for the rest of the week. I literally had to live in the library (until they kicked me out at 2 AM…), pull all-nighters, drink a ton of caffeine, and look like a zombie all week to get everything done. I think I aged a couple of years because of this.

So the real question is: how do I avoid procrastination of this magnitude so this does not happen to me again? The simple answer would be to just do it earlier. Well sometimes this isn’t always possible for a super busy person like me. I’m trying to balance school, track, work, and sorority life while trying to maintain my mental and physical health. I totally deserved to do nothing over Thanksgiving break, but I definitely couldn’t afford it. So, what do I do then? I did some research on how to avoid procrastination and there are many wonderful ideas out there that I would like to share with you now in hopes that for this semester’s finals you won’t experience the same kind of panic, lack of sleep, and stress that I did.

1. Break up the work.

Usually we cringe at the thought of having to sit down and write a ten page paper or study for a test all in one go. If you can break up the work, such as doing research one day, take notes on it, and write a couple of paragraphs a day for a week, the work does not seem so bad. Sure it will take longer to complete, but you won’t have to pull an all-nighter to finish it!

2. Set some personal deadlines

This one is a bit tricky because you have to hold yourself accountable for meeting your own deadlines. The way that I have done this in the past was to set up appointments at my school’s writing center. I would then try to have a topic picked out or to complete my paper so that I can get everything done in a timely manner. This also gives me more wiggle room for improvements on papers since I get extra help from writing center tutors!

3. Reward yourself

Treating yourself after completing some hard work will get you to focus because you have something to look forward to after you’re finished with everything! Rewards can take the form of food, time with friends, a hot shower, Netflix, etc…

4. Block out distractions

That being said: beware of Netflix during finals week… It is a huge procrastination tool, along with any other form of social media, or if you’re me, even novels can be a distraction! So to combat this do the most difficult thing you can imagine: turn off your phone or delete the social media apps. If they are out of sight, they will be out of your mind. It also helps if you go to a place where you know you will get work done and avoid those friends who will keep you from working on a paper. I’ve been basically living in the library with some of my fellow teammates that I know I can count on to keep me on task.

5. Never forget the last procrastination experience…

Honestly, my experiences with procrastination this past week will ensure that I will NEVER procrastinate on that kind of level ever again. The amount of stress I’ve felt this week is something I never want to have happen to me again. Just think about it, you can avoid all of these terrible things by actually sitting down and getting your work done on time (and you’ll see better results too).

So I hope these anti-procrastination tips help you out this coming finals week or just in your daily life in general! Good luck to my fellow students out there! I know you will kill those exams and papers in the coming weeks!