BY: Savanna Sabb
Procrastination has been my greatest enemy during my college career. It has been so easy for me to immediately ditch writing a paper to go eat with my friends. I always end up telling myself the age-old lie: “I deserve this break and I’ll work on it right when I get home” then when I get home what am I doing? Binge watching a show on Netflix. Procrastination is like that devil that is on the shoulder of cartoon characters that always tries to sweet talk them into making the wrong choices. I have found a few tips that can make that devil disappear into a pure oblivion.
Tip 1: Understand the connection between impulsivity and procrastination.
Lifehacker.com has an article that explains how procrastination is a product of being impulsive. You know when you’re studying and you have that urge to check your phone? That’s you looking to do something that feels easier and acting on your impulses. When the you think to do something that seems more appealing than your homework you do it right? Start practicing mindfulness to stray away from the impulsivity. Pay attention to your thoughts and control them instead of letting them control you.
Tip 2: Create your own timeline.
First, think of the goals that you want to have completed for the week then create a timeline in which you want to have all of them done. If you break the assignment or the studying into small blocks it makes it a lot easier to achieve without the risk of listening to that little procrastination devil on your shoulder who is telling you to check your Instagram feed. You want to keep your attention only on your work and the best way to do that is to focus om small sections at a time.
Tip 3: Take advantage of the apps that help in prioritizing your time.
Istudiez pro was listed on usnews.com as one of the most helpful apps for colleges students. This app helps students manage their schedule. For those who need help keeping up with their assignments, grades, and planning the app has your back. iProcrasinate is another helpful app you can create to do list and also add in the task and list the steps you need to complete them. I’m well aware that this is starting to sound like an advertisement for these app, but downloading it would keep you on track with all your assignments so your procrastination problem would get a little better actually seeing how close your deadlines are could definitely push you to getting your work done faster.
Tip 4: Rid yourself of distractions.
While you’re doing your work basically forget that your phone, TV, and any other devices that could potentially distract you do not exists. I have spent an hour scrolling through Instagram when I should have been studying or writing a paper. In the midst of making myself look like a basic social media obsessed millennial I shared that to say phones can be extremely distracting. I have even started turning mine off and putting it in another room if I’m studying at home and if I’m at the library or Starbucks I’d leave it in my car in the middle console.
If you are repetitive with those tips trust me your procrastination will be a thing of the past. Just remember that to tackle procrastination you also have to work on not giving into your impulsive feelings.
