Procrastination is a quintessential aspect of many college students’ lives, whether we choose to admit it or not. For me personally, I am the ultimate procrastinator. In fact, I meant to write this article days ago. The quarantine hasn’t made the vast situation of procrastination any better. Home is supposed to bring you the comfort that may be missing in school, but with the trade off of doing schoolwork at home — as well as the semester being close to an end —- comes the fact that many students feel that they can relax a bit. Doing one assignment a day and then rewarding ourselves with a five hour nap has now become the accepted norm. But, while I believe it is in everyone’s best interest to take this quarantine as a time to unwind, the coronavirus shouldn’t stand as an excuse to procrastinate and risk everything you have worked hard for leading up to the quarantine. Therefore, I have compiled a list of three things you can do to set your goals and achieve them in a timely manner.
- Have a Check-In With Someone Outside of Your House.
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This can be anyone of your choosing: a friend, a counselor, even the neighbor down the street. Having someone outside of your family who you can talk to about your problems with procrastination allows you the chance to be exposed to a fresh perspective and keep you in check. I was able to do my own check-in with my school counselor yesterday and it was eye-opening in a sense. I was able to voice my everyday struggle with doing work and she was able to refresh my mind and refocus me on my goal, which is being mentally ready to go back to school — in person — for second year.
- Set a ScreenTime Limit on Your Phone and a Blocker on Your Laptop.
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This is one of the best ways to separate yourself from the most distracting thing while in quarantine: your phone! I know that Screen Time can be a hit-or-miss since you can easily tell your phone to ignore the limit for the day. But I challenge you all to 1) Put a screen time limit on your phone if you haven’t already (this feature can be found in Settings) and 2) stick to it! Hold yourself accountable and abide by the screen time. You set the limit for a reason! Going off of that, set a website blocker on your laptop. This will allow you to block distracting websites at any time interval you wish. Eight great website blockers for a variety of devices can be found on this website.
- Use TomatoTimer.
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If you haven’t heard of TomatoTimer, it is an online tool based on the Pomodoro Time, which “gives you a prescribed interval of 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break. After 4 work intervals, there is a 15-minute break.This is a tool that I have been religiously using since freshman year and I would highly recommend it. It gives you the best of both worlds: studying whilst also enjoying a relaxing break in between. Give it a try!
You have the steps and you have the tools. Now it is up to you to build the motivation to not let this quarantine weigh you down and instead stay focused on your path ahead.