I am going to start off by saying that I have always been a procrastinator. I would put off projects until the night before they were due, not do readings for class on schedule and not do my weekend homework until Sunday night. Honestly, I would still be doing all of these things if not for one reason: my junior year of high school. Junior year is quite honestly kicking my butt. Going into the year, I remember questioning how much different it could possibly be from prior school years.

The answer: a lot.

The workload has increased by tenfold along with stress about college. With all of this, I came to the realization that my approach to school through procrastinating simply was not going to work anymore. I realized that I could only put off something for so long before it would pile up, and I would no longer have time to sleep. This brought me to the really hard decision that I had to stop procrastinating.

Saying something is a lot easier than doing it. I don't think anyone intentionally procrastinates an assignment. I know I don't, but if you don't make a conscious effort to complete something, you won't, which leads to procrastination. In order to try and break this habit, I have done a few things that I would suggest my fellow procrastinators to try.

1. Do weekend homework early.

First off, no matter how tired you may be, always try and start your weekend homework before Sunday night. I know that the week can be tough, but by starting your work on Friday, you will be able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour on Sunday and wake up Monday morning not feeling as drained.

2. Start projects immediately.

Secondly, always – and I mean always – start working on a project the evening it is assigned. I know that this is not always possible, but by starting a project early, you are able to space it out and ensure that you are not doing it the day it is due, which would then result in a messy and rushed assignment.

3. Plan out a schedule.

Thirdly and most importantly, plan out your time. If you know that you only have four hours of time to do your work on a given evening, create a schedule of when to do each assignment so you do not get sidetracked on your phone. This is super helpful for me because it helps me remember exactly what I should be doing at that given minute and ensures that I am able to get to back at a good time.

So to all the procrastinators out there, while changing your habits may take a lot of work in the short term, in the long run, you will be less rushed and more put together than if you save everything for the last minute.