Procrastination is probably everyone’s biggest problem – just imagine what you could accomplish if you didn’t waste time watching TikToks. And a lot of the time, we don’t actually enjoy the distractions we procrastinate with. It might be fun at first, but over time it just gets boring, and you start to wish that you had the energy to do the tasks you keep putting off. However, there are tons of ways to prevent procrastination and actually get stuff done!
- Prioritise
- Schedule it
- Set a time limit
- Break it down
- Set a timer
- Productive procrastination?
Prioritise
Before you begin your doing your tasks, ensure there aren’t any tasks you don’t absolutely NEED to be working on – these are tasks that aren’t pressing or vital. There are only 24 hours in a day, don’t waste them on meaningless tasks. If all of your tasks are super important, then list them in order of importance and urgency so that you can prioritise what you need to do.
Schedule it
If you haven’t already, please, please, please make a study timetable! Study schedules are enormously beneficial as they provide you with blocks of time in which to finish your tasks. Rather than assuming you’ll get it done soon, schedule a task into your timetable. Also – schedule your blocks of time to be a bit longer than you absolutely need. This is so that you don’t fall behind if a task takes longer than expected, or if you have an interruption. Falling behind schedule can be super demoralising – try to avoid it if possible!
Set a time limit
If doing a whole task seems too daunting, then try to only do it for 20 minutes. If that sounds like too much, then try 15, 10, or even 5 minutes. Getting a little work done is miles better than getting nothing done. Best case scenario: you get into the groove and finish the entire task. Worst case, you’ve at least gotten a start on the task.
Break it down
If the task still seems too difficult, then try to break it down into lots of little tasks. For example, if you need to write an essay, break it down into planning the essay, researching points, and writing each individual paragraph. This can help you overcome any mental blocks you’re experiencing towards the task and make it seem like it takes less effort. Also, whenever you cross off each task, you’ll give yourself a little boost of motivation!
Set a timer
Obviously, it’s very important to take breaks. However, 5-minute snack breaks often turn into hours-long tv show binges. To prevent this, make sure you set an alarm for when your break ends. If you just tell yourself that you have a 5-minute break, it’s too easy to just extend it. By having an external reminder in the form of an alarm, it becomes more difficult to keep procrastinating and extend your break.
Productive procrastination?
Now, this might be controversial, but procrastination can be helpful sometimes. The key is productive procrastination. If your task isn’t actually enormously vital, then it can be fine to procrastinate, as long as what you’re doing is also productive. If you procrastinate on writing an essay by doing Duolingo, then great! You’re getting something done. Maybe procrastination isn’t really all that bad.
