It’s a normal Thursday afternoon. Kids are getting off the school bus, parents are arriving home from work, and people are running to the store to pick up dinner. To everyone in the world, this is just another mundane day of the week.
But not for you.
You’re in college and in t-minus eight hours your five-page paper, the one you’ve only written the thesis for, is due. With a sigh, you plop down on your bed, open your laptop, and begin rifling through your backpack to find the paper’s assignment-sheet. Rolling your eyes, you realize that your backpack is completely unorganized, littered with candy bar wrappers though you swore to stop eating those two months ago and has an old piece of gum stuck to the bottom. Wrinkling your nose in disgust, you commence emptying out the contents of the backpack, cleaning the inside and organizing the papers. Thirty minutes later, you’ve found the assignment you were originally searching for. You remember your paper, sigh again and sit back down on your bed.
Suddenly, you remember your promise to your mother about cleaning the toilet, and you grab the can-clean-anything spray and make your mom proud. After feeling satisfied with cleaning the toilet, you realize with a start that you still haven’t watered the cactus, so you grab the cup and head over to the windowsill, but on your way, you stumble over clothes that have been laying around the room for at least a week. Quickly watering the cactus, you fold the clothes and put them in their place and pretty soon, your room looks like you just moved in. You breathe a sigh of relief until you remember.
A glance at the clock reveals that you now have only five and a half hours until the deadline for your paper. Severe anxiety morphs into sheer panic. For real this time, you promise yourself. You pull up Word and read over your thesis. Then music plays from across the room; it's your roommate's ringtone. Throwing your legs over the side of the bed, you answer the phone in the last second of the song.
"Can you believe what my professor did and are you going to the game tomorrow?"
"Do you want coffee later and how’s that paper you’re working on going?"
Biting your fingernails, you answer that you haven’t even written the introduction yet, and your roommate disappears from the other end.
Landing back in your spot, pages still barren, you close your eyes and take a deep breath. This is a case of Procrastination by Other Productive and Random Tasks Disease. It affects a majority of college students at some point during their deadline-filled years. A very serious and grade-threatening disease, the only cure is preventing the root cause: procrastination. There are many helpful tips to combat this illness including, but not limited to, the following:
- Use a Planner
On your phone, laptop or old-school, a planner is a great way to keep track of everything you have to do- especially deadlines. You can prioritize assignments by which ones take the longest and which are due first. Some helpful apps include Wunderlist, Reminders, and many others. You might also want to consider an old-school paper planner. Paper planners can prevent you from becoming distracted by social media because they don't require the use of your phone or computer. - Limit Social Media
Instagram is great, Facebook is never-ending, and Pinterest is full of fantastic recipes. It’s easy to get lost in the world of social media for hours. However, social media is a complete waste of time when you have important deadlines coming up- deadlines that can affect your grade. Try to keep social media to a minimum and definitely don't use it when you really should be studying. - Get a Study Partner
A study partner doesn’t need to be someone in the same class you’re studying for. Study partners can be your significant other, roommate, best friend, sibling, or classmate. It’s much easier to sit down and force yourself to study if you have someone next to you in the exact same boat. They can help with your stress levels. They can keep you from feeling alone. Study partners also provide excellent sources for accountability. - Find Your Mojo
How do you study best? Maybe you need complete silence. I suggest locating any designated quiet area on your campus. Maybe you like to be completely alone. You can study when your roommate is out or find a different room not usually occupied. Is music helpful or distracting? Do you work better with a snack or does eating sidetrack you? Knowing what factors help and hinder your progress can make studying easier. Also, having a designated place only for studying will train your brain to recognize that when you are here, it’s time to focus and work hard. - Take Breaks
Every hour, take a ten to 15-minute break: walk around, call your friend, grab a coffee- whatever. Most importantly, give your brain a break. You might be surprised at how much your brain is recharged and how much stamina you have. If you take little breaks rather than studying hard for several hours straight, you might actually study longer.
The next time you find yourself color-coordinating your closet, planning your summer vacation still four months away, or calling your distant cousin you haven’t called, well, ever- put these five steps into practice. You might get an A on your paper with a whole eight hours of sleep.
