One of my favorite professors of all time once challenged the class with a simple task.
"If you think that you are a procrastinator, please stand up." (Cue 85% of the lecture hall shuffling to their feet.)
"Repeat after me: I am a procrastinator."
"I am a procrastinator."
"Okay, you can leave now."
Just like that, we all completed the first step to recovery.
If you're like the vast majority of college students, you've had your fair share of run-in's with procrastination. Even if you're not a serial procrastinator, you're lying to yourself if you think you've never procrastinated at least once. It happens. So, how do we avoid it? Well, first, lets take a look at why we should avoid it.
You will compromise your academic performance.
I really don't care how adamantly stubborn you are about insisting that you work better under pressure, YOU DON'T. Stop lying to yourself. No one works "better" when you have two hours to write and submit a multi-page report. You might work more quickly, but the quality of your work will by no means be "better". Professors notice, too. They've been at this game for longer than any of us have, and they will see right through procrastinated papers. Its like a sixth sense.
You will compromise your health.
We all know that coffee is the water of life (http://theodysseyonline.com/syracuse/ode-my-coffee... ), but when you ingest more coffee than water because you were up til 4am studying for a test you've known about for weeks, it's time to rearrange your priorities. This pattern of little sleep is enough to weaken your immune system drastically, and when you live in a dorm building with communal bathrooms and constant interaction with others, the last thing your immune system needs is to be weakened. With the added stress of trying to get your work done on time, you'll soon be a regular at Health Services.
You will compromise your social life.
"Sorry guys, I can't do anything fun with you because I procrastinated too hard and now have to lock myself in my room and do homework until I fall asleep cuddling my math book."
Don't be that guy.
So now that we understand the consequences of holding citizenship in the ProcrastiNation, let's talk about how to not get hit by the struggle bus.
Identify what you do when you procrastinate.
What is it that you do instead of working? Do you stalk friends on Facebook or read Buzzfeed articles? Do you craft, snack, or clean your room? My go-to procrastination technique is visiting with friends.
Once you come to terms with your most common procrastination stations, you can avoid them when you need to do work. Set aside an hour (or however long you need) to simply focus on the task at hand, and eliminate whatever distractions from your area.
Convince yourself that you WANT to do the work.
If you tell yourself that you are looking forward to working (even if at first you are not), it will be much easier to begin. Once you can get over the first and most difficult hurdle of actually sitting down to work, you'll have clear sailing from then on out. Trust me, positive thinking is magic.
Just do it.
When all else fails, just sit down and do it. Tell yourself that you are going to do it, and then actually do it. Hold yourself accountable, and learn self-discipline skills in the process. Once you finish, you will feel like the awesome non-procrastinator that you truly are, AND your work will be done. It's a win-win.
Good luck!
