Attention procrastination nation!
Procrastinating does not have to take over your life anymore. With this three-step process, cease your dithering and become proud of your impact in this world. Within my fourteen years of schooling, I can confidently say that I have turned in maybe 60 percent of my assignments on time. Obviously the system I have created throughout my academic career was not working. The trap of procrastination forces you to make the decision between turning in quality work or turning it in before the deadline — a decision no student should have to make.
It’s time to get vain! To become a better student is to become self aware. In school, I was always distracted by what other people were doing or thinking which completely disassociated my focus from myself. The first step to this process is to identify the exact reason(s) for your procrastination. Reflect on exactly how you study and identify when and where you study your best and worst. Following this first step, I’ve noticed I am more likely to accomplish school work when I am in an academic environment such as a building on campus or the public library. I also realized that I need zero distractions when working, and yes, that does mean no music with lyrics or significant background noise. To ensure you do not get overwhelmed, write down these observations somewhere devoted to this self-exploration.
Through identifying my personal study habits, the burden of completing my work lifted just enough to reveal the sense of control I had been longing for. I have always felt behind in my classes, particularly in comparison to my classmates, ultimately making me believe that I had already reached my full potential — whether I liked it or not — and that was that. Here is what I know now that I think you should as well: You are not the problem (sorry Taylor Swift). It took me a long time to realize that I was, in fact, not fundamentally less than, and the reasoning for all of my late assignments was curated through my disinterest towards schoolwork and perhaps even life in general.
Think of your mind as a full plate when procrastinating. When you identify the problem, a chunk of food comes off the plate, clearing room for you to see the next. This systematic method of thinking will guide you along the necessary path of self-reflection starting from the most important angle — the obstacles restraining you from completing your work.
The second step to this process is to plan. It’s a must to have a system that organizes your events, due dates, and other important tasks. Be it a virtual calendar or on paper, it is imperative to be able to look into the near future with an understanding of what is to come next. This understanding comes with a sense of preparedness which is essential for procrastinators. As a procrastinator myself, I’ll admit I often felt too overwhelmed to use a calendar, opting to just go into each day with no expectations or ideas of what I wanted or needed to accomplish. I knew I had to change something when I was blindsided by an exam that somehow every other person had prepared for. I felt like everyone knew something I didn’t. That might’ve been true, but only in the case that my peers were using calendar systems to organize their to-do’s while I was trying to keep it all in my head. I love a weekly calendar because I feel less overstimulated and able to balance everyday tasks and future events. Amazon has a seemingly unlimited stock of planners to choose from whether it be weekly planners, monthly planners or even yearly calendars.
Control is fundamentally removed from the conceptual equation of procrastination, however, this can be combated by forming an understanding of what is coming next. Actively asserting yourself over your procrastination automatically reinstates that missing feeling of control.The last step to defeating procrastination is to enact your plan slowly and steadily. To completely stop procrastinating is almost impossible and is honestly not the goal here. You can, however, change when procrastination happens and what it looks like. With this plan, you create your understanding of a goal. You have to want to achieve your goal, because self-motivation is ultimately the strongest superpower you’ve got against procrastination. Once you stray away from the plan, it is easier to fall back into old habits. But remember, it is also important to allow yourself times to go off script so as not to become fixated on your failures rather than your future.
Listen. Everyone procrastinates. What separates yourself is your confidence to keep going, you got this!