Have you ever listened to a friend rant about all of the things they have to do in a short period of time, and wondered how they got there? Have you ever given them advice like “why don’t you get started right now,” and they shrug and continue to not do those things? While I’ve never been on that side of the conversation, I have certainly been on the other.
I am one of those unfortunate souls who battles a college student’s worst enemy: procrastination.
Now, maybe it’s the ADD in me (don’t get me started), or maybe it’s just that I love my daily relax-and-treat-myself-to-three-hours-of-video-media time (I know, not good). But mostly, I think it’s that I have this strange mental block, where I can only do my best work while stressed out, and, in a rush … like, it really does put me in focus mode.
Either way, I certainly don’t enjoy that feeling and I do try to avoid it as best I can. With midterms approaching (well, actually, happening), I am extra desperate to be as productive as I can.
Productivity and this whole idea that you always have to be as productive as possible is a whole other conversation, but for now, I would like to share my tips on how to procrastinate procrastination. Was that clever? I just mean, here is some advice from someone who actually goes through it, as supposed to someone on the outside looking in.
- Make a list
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I’m gonna say this upfront, lists aren’t for everyone. I know many people who, when they make a list, just get even more ashamed and stressed if they can’t cross everything off. That’s not the case for me, though, and that may be because I try to make lists for only one week at a time. I do have a planner, but because I don’t open it every day (due to my class schedule), things in there often get overlooked. So, I open my cute little notebook (it has pineapples on it) and I go through my syllabi and write down everything I need to do that week, in order by the dates they are due. This helps me see everything at once, without hauling around a whole calendar, and I can decide what needs to be prioritized. However, this is not to say that I do everything in order. I still skip around sometimes, but it is nice to have it all on one page, laid out in front of you.
- some light scheduling
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This is another thing that might not work for everyone. I totally understand how some people get stressed about feeling trapped in a schedule, but it is something I do when desperate times call for desperate measures. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean scheduling out every part of your day to the hour. Instead, I tend to take big chunks of time to set aside for schoolwork. For example, I personally like doing homework in the evening, so I may block out 3 hours in the morning for waking up/breakfast and then a few hours for class and then say, “after 6 p.m., I will be doing some homework.” This may sound like a no-brainer, but it does get difficult for some of us procrastinators when we have all the freedom in the world to do our tasks.
- Make time for “me-time”
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Even though the goal is to be as productive as is realistic, and save yourself from the stress of things piling up, this does not mean that every second of midterms week needs to be dedicated to school. I’ve found that if I try to spend every day for several days thinking about nothing but homework, I end up way less motivated. It is integral to still incorporate time in the day for things you enjoy. Whether that be relaxing at home, going to the gym or running errands, your brain (or at least mine) needs the well-deserved break. This brings up me to sub-point of this, which is: trying to get things done in other aspects of your life may make you feel more confident and motivated to do things like schoolwork. For example, if you need to buy some groceries, doing even that seemingly simple task (though that’s debatable, the grocery store can be a stressful place) can make you feel accomplished enough to tackle some math.
Once again, these things may not be helpful to everyone, but as someone who is a chronic procrastinator, it’s what works for me … a lot of the time. I am still guilty of putting off everything until it is a dire situation.
Between you and me, I am writing this article at 11:23 p.m., when I have something big due at midnight. I’ll still get it done though … But like, at what cost? Just go ahead and do as I say, not as I do.