Tips to manage procrastination

Studies have shown that around 80 percent of students are struggling with procrastination on a daily basis. While it may seem like a minor issue and does not significantly impact your life, it surely does influence you.

While procrastination can have detrimental effects on your academic performance, it also holds you back from achieving your goals in life. Thus, it is better to deal with that problem at a young age.

There are a lot of resources out there that offer advice on how to stop procrastinating. Still, most of them are either ineffective or not comprehensive. That is why we decided to help you get rid of such a time-consuming thing as procrastination by providing effective and reliable tips on how to manage procrastination.

Pieces of advice to avoid procrastination

Do not reproach yourself for procrastinating

It is better to forget about the 3 hours spent scrolling through the Instagram feed as soon as possible and forgive yourself for that show of weakness. Get over it and focus all your attention on the present moment, think about the productive day you are about to have, and dive into work. Keep your mind positive and beat that procrastination!

Prioritize your tasks

Procrastination is all about choosing to do unimportant stuff over the work that has value. So, it is crucial to analyze which, for instance, projects at university have more value at the moment and which ones can wait for a bit. Make it a habit to weekly track the upcoming tasks/projects.

Due to time constraints, most students fail to prioritize their tasks. So, mind the deadline and start working on the project in advance.

Prioritize in the framework of the project

Apart from prioritizing the projects, it is incredibly beneficial to single out the essential parts of the project itself. Having a clear idea of the most crucial parts of the project will be beneficial to complete them exclusively in case of a lack of time.

Let’s say that you have to write a research paper and the deadline is tomorrow.   Consequently, you simply do not have enough time to come up with a good introduction, thus try to develop a strong claim and provide excellent evidence. That trick will help you make up for the shortfall of your work and get a good mark.

Make sure to set clear goals

The essential step for overcoming procrastination is setting goals. It is vital because they are more likely to cause procrastination if goals are vague. For example, if you want to be healthier, setting a vague goal such as “drink only water” is more likely to cause you to procrastinate. Instead, try a more concrete goal like “avoid eating fast food for the next 30 days”.

If you use this rule in academic-related examples, imagine you got a writing assignment for 7000 words that must be done within two weeks. The goal of writing 100 words per day is not meaningful in this case since you will not make it till the deadline. However, writing 500 words every day starting from the very first day sounds like a plan.

Also, remember that goals should be meaningful and achievable. The most important step in overcoming procrastination is finding the right progress rate and work rhythm that suits you perfectly.

Reward yourself for the accomplished goals

People tend to procrastinate because they do not feel rewarded in the long term if they are doing less beneficial behaviors in the short term. If you are preparing for the final tests and you feel tired and overwhelmed, it would be a good idea to take a break from work and reward yourself with an episode of your favorite TV show.

Rewards are also given additional motivation to deal with your task as soon as possible because once you finished, you will enjoy not only the work you have done but also your favorite activity.

You can also make your work more rewarding by setting goals and doing simple tasks that will keep track of throughout the day. This solution will allow you to see how much progress you have made.

Come up with a to-do list

A to-do list is beneficial when it comes to keeping track of all your goals and tasks. It helps you organize and prioritize them in a way that is optimal for you.

A to-do list helps you focus on the specific tasks that you need to complete at the moment. It is a great way of monitoring what you have achieved so far in terms that additionally gives you an extra incentive to work on new goals.

You can either use a pen-and-paper method or modern apps for creating your to-do list.

Try out time-management techniques

Various time-management techniques can help you get started on your work and remain focused throughout your project. One example is the Pomodoro Technique. It helps you work on your task using a timer.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management technique that involves working on a task for a set amount of time. Then, you take a short break before coming back to work again. For example, you are writing the essay for 25 minutes, then relaxing for 5 minutes. You can repeat this work cycle as many times as you wish.

Instead of having a set amount of time to complete a work cycle, you could instead use a different measure, such as the number of pages that you have written. Doing so will help motivate you and keep you focused on the task at hand.

Conclusion

To sum up, procrastination is a sneaky thing that can badly affect your overall productiveness and deprive you of precious hours of your life.

We hope that the listed tips will be beneficial in fighting bad habits. Start implementing them into your life today to boost up your productiveness significantly tomorrow.