Here's some real talk: college is hard enough on it's own, but add mental health to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster.

I've been dealing with depression and anxiety since I started high school and while it is manageable for the most part, when the two join forces I become practically useless.

Depression leads to a lack of motivation, fatigue, and just an overwhelming sense of bleh. Anxiety on the other hand, gives you persistent feelings of worry or nervousness, and bring on a whole lot of self doubt. So how does that combination make someone a chronic procrastinator? Let's break it down.

When I'm experiencing more anxiety than normal, any assignment or task to be completed becomes a threat. If I am unable to complete the task, that makes me a bad person. If it's not done perfectly, that makes me a bad person. If I struggle or need help to get things done, that makes me a bad person.

Anxiety leads to a lot of overthinking things. Even choosing a paper topic can take days as I second guess every potential choice I make, wondering if it's too easy, too difficult, relevant, unrelated... get it? I don't mean to push things off or avoid my responsibilities, but taking on a new task means a whole new cycle of stress.

Instead of worrying, I avoid and that's only perpetuated by bouts of depression. Feeling like I can't get out of bed, or can't escape my thoughts, or like I'm moving through a haze makes it that much harder to push through my doubts and just start whatever work I need to do.

Then I feel comes guilt over not being responsible, and that intensifies depression, which leads to even more procrastination and it cycles over and over.

Eventually though, the work needs to be done, which means I usually end up with too many things to do in a too short period of time. All my anxiety over producing good work becomes self-sabotage, because I'm rushing things, I'm overextended, and I don't have the energy to put my full effort into everything at once.

All of this is an explanation of how my mental health plays a big role in my habit of procrastinating, but it's not an excuse. Over the years, I've learned ways to manage my time and my stress so that I am able to complete my work at a realistic pace and produce higher-quality work.

One of the most helpful things for me has been learning skills in organization and time-management. Prioritizing work that needs to be done and setting apart specific time to do that work means I won't be overwhelmed by things at the last minute, and I have time to prepare.

Although sometimes anxiety makes it difficult to stick to the schedules I make, I've found that using coping skills and practicing regular self-care help to keep my anxiety at bay. When I start to fixate on or overthink an assignment, it helps to step away and focus on something I enjoy instead.

Although it seems counter-productive to stop in the middle of your work, taking a break to go outside, call a friend, read, or listen to music actually helps you de-stress and refocus your thoughts.

For days when it feels like I can't get anything done and I have no motivation to try, I set small goals for myself. Even accomplishing 5 minutes of assigned reading or finding one source for a research paper can help you feel more productive, and can ease the burden of a heavy workload. Breaking a big task into smaller goals makes it seem much more manageable and also boosts your sense of accomplishment

Obviously if you deal with anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issues, tips and tricks like these aren't always effective. They are no substitute for adequate mental health treatment focused on long-term management of a disorder. However, they are effective in helping to break down all the smaller stressors that accumulate and manifest into depression or anxiety.