If you have ever been the type of person to look at an assignment, think, “I’ll do it later,” and completely put it off until the absolute last second, you are not alone. All throughout high school, I spent my time cramming for exams, reading multiple texbook chapters in one night, and writing over ten pages in one sitting, simply because in the moment, I preferred to sit on TikTok, Netflix, and other forms of mindless time-passing activities rather than do the work that actually mattered in life. I somehow succeeded at this throughout high school, but I knew that the second I got to college, things needed to change if I wanted to do well.
To say I still don’t procrastinate sometimes would be a lie. I am in no means perfect at beating procrastination, but I have put in a lot of effort to combat the urge to sit and do nothing instead of my work. Here’s what has worked for me so far.
- PLan out your week
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I have a specific document saved on my computer set into seven different blocks, one for each day of the week. I reset this document every Sunday night before bed, planning out which assignments I’m going to do each day. I tell myself that if I don’t follow the schedule, I will be spending my Sunday, which is my dedicated relaxation day, stressing over an unnecessarily amount of piled up work that I could have avoided.
- Break Up Big Assignments into smaller Tasks
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When I have a big assignment, I find it key to break it up into smaller tasks that I can accomplish throughout the week. For example, this week I had an assignment where I had to find and read a peer-reviewed journal article, write a summary on it, and explain how it can be helpful in future research. On Monday, I picked out an article that matched the topic I wanted to research. I spent my time on Tuesday reading and highlighting the article, and on Wednesday and Thursday, I dedicated the time to writing a summary and answering questions on it. On Sunday, I looked over my work one last time and made final corrections before submitting it. I didn’t spend more than an hour each day working on this assignment, and I feel like spacing it out helped me do better on it.
- Take Breaks throughout study sessions
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If you struggle with staying focused for long period of time like I do, try to work on taking small breaks during your study sessions. While I was studying for an exam last week, I took a 30 minute stretch break to throw my laundry in. After I moved my laundry to the dryer, I had an hour to spare, giving me extra time to study. This helps me clear my head and retain more information than I do when I sit there and mindlessly stare at the information for hours.
- Get out of your room
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Every single item that distracts me from academic success is an arms length away in my room. We all know that our room reminds us of comfort and relaxation, and does not support the level of focus we need when we are trying to get things done. If you have a few free hours of the day, go sit in the closest dining hall or the library rather than your bed. I know life as a college student can sometimes be exhausting, and all you want to do is lay in bed, but something about sitting in public and getting work done makes you feel so much better about yourself. I have found that by doing this, I get a lot more work than I orginally anticipate almost every time.
- Practice self-accountability
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There is always a reason for our procrastination. We don’t procrastinate because we want to do it, we procrastinate because we self-doubt, because we are stressed, and because we are bored. I’ve found that personally, I use procrastination as a minor coping mechanism for when I am feeling stressed or unworthy. Just take a deep breath and push yourself to do it. Remember you are not limited to your procrastination, and that you are perfectly capable of doing what you need to do as long as you truly set your mind to it.