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5 Tips on How to Stop Procrastinating and Finally Start Studying

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UIC chapter.

Everyone falls victim to procrastination at some point in their life. Whether it is a bad habit or a once in a while activity, it can be extremely annoying. Here are tips on kicking procrastination to the curb:

1. Treat yourself

If you try to throw everything aside and start on your work with no motivation, you will probably get nowhere. I like to motivate myself by getting a certain amount of work done and then allowing myself a break or treat before I have to start another task. This helps break the want to procrastinate as well as the quick exhaustion that can be easily encountered from doing too much at once. 

2. Do little over time, not everything at once

When you are given an assignment, start a little bit of it right away. Even if it is only a tiny amount, you will feel much better facing an assignment that has already been started than a totally new one when you sit down to complete it. Doing a small amount of work on a project everyday for a month will be way easier than doing a project all at once the night before and will greatly reduce stress.

3. Weigh the pros and cons

It can be really hard to get started on work when you don’t feel the significance of it, so make a list of the positives and negatives of this task. Once you think through why you are doing the work, it will be way easier to get yourself to do it.

4. Take a shower

A cold, refreshing shower can improve your alertness and help you focus on your work, while a hot shower can help relax your nerves if you are procrastinating as a result of stress. No matter what the cause of your procrastination, a nice shower can greatly help!

5. Positive procrastination

If you really can’t fight putting off that big assignment, use the time to clean your room or finish another looming task you have on your list. Not all procrastination is bad, you just need to know when and how to finally get back to the big task. 

Ariana Antonelli is an English major at University of Illinois at Chicago who loves baking, cooking, DIY projects, and writing. Ariana has been collecting recipes for two years and she loves to share them with whoever is willing to listen. Ariana loves giving and receiving self-help and girl advice and is excited to make Her Campus her platform for doing so.
UIC Contributor.