Procrastination is an art form all university students master during their years in higher education. Whether it’s Netflix, mindlessly scrolling through Pinterest for hours, or even doing the dishes, procrastination is harmless when it’s an occasional indulgence and can even be helpful if you’re someone who works more efficiently with deadlines approaching. But done too much, it can lead to anxiety, stress and work piling up until you feel like you can’t handle it anymore.
Here are five things you can do to help you be more productive and less stressed – we promise you’ll still have time for those Netflix marathons, but without the growing sense of guilt and anxiety every time you move on to the next episode.
1. Get organised
Stressing about whether you’ve forgotten to do something important is the worst feeling and completely unproductive. Invest in a planner and write down everything you need to do so you don’t have to try to keep everything in your head. Bullet journaling is an easy and customisable way of tracking tasks but any kind of planner or plain notebook is fine – just find a system that works for you.
2. Set goals
Knowing what you have to do is the first step in getting it done, so set yourself goals to work towards, such as completing an essay or cleaning your room. Break big projects down into smaller tasks to make them more manageable, but keep the end goal in mind.
3. Reward yourself
Rewards are an easy way to motivate yourself – come up with nice things you can do once you’ve completed a task or project. (It doesn’t have to be expensive or unhealthy: an episode of your favourite show or simply knowing that you’ll feel good about yourself when you finally finish that paper can be enough to get you going.)
4. Take care of your body
Sometimes we end up procrastinating because we simply don’t have the energy to actually concentrate on anything productive. Make it a priority to get enough sleep and eat nutritious foods as well as drinking plenty of water, and then take another look at your to do list.
5. Beat perfectionism
Ever find yourself struggling to get started on school projects because you feel like you already know it’s not going to turn out that great? Try to be more forgiving with yourself and recognise that failing an exam doesn’t mean you have failed as a person. Doing things perfectly is a great thing to aspire to, but getting things done at all is already way better than sitting in bed watching Netflix and feeling guilty. Give yourself a break – and get to work!