How to STOP PROCRASTINATING (5 ways!)

There's an English project due next week and it's worth 50% of your grade. Instead of getting started on it, you're scrolling through social media, staring absently into space, and completing any insignificant task you can find. You're know that you're wasting time, but you don't have the urge to do anything about it.

You're faced with the common occurrence of procrastination. Instead of doing assignments beforehand, you put them off and spend your free time doing nothing important. Then, when the deadline approaches, you're faced with a task that seems infinitely more difficult than it was at first.

Procrastination is a cycle that feeds away your time and prevents you from attaining your maximum capabilities. It is a bad habit that involves stalling work and playing for time. However, this habit, like many others, is fixable. In this post, I am going to share five ways to stop procrastinating!

1. BREAK down your tasks.

The main reason why we procrastinate is that our tasks seem too overwhelming. The most common way to overcome this issue is to break your assignment into small parts. Instead of approaching something as a whole, create small steps. Focus on one step before moving on to the next.

For example, let's say that you have to complete an essay. At first, this may seem like a daunting task that would take hours to finish. Try to tackle this differently. First, start by brainstorming your topic. After that, move on to the research. Then, begin writing your introduction, followed by your body paragraphs and conclusion. Save editing and revision for last. See how we took one large task and broke it down into five smaller ones? The prospect of writing an entire essay seems a lot less challenging now.

If you continue to do this with all of your assignments, you may see an improvement in the procrastination field. When the task seems easier, you'll want to get it done quicker.

2. Set DEADLINES for yourself.

I know what you're thinking- all school assignments already have deadlines. But what if you set earlier deadlines? This is an easy trick that always works for me. Create personal due dates. If you have a lot of work, writing down earlier due dates for assignments will help space them out. You won't be in a constant rush to turn everything in on time.

If you don't already have a planner, I highly recommend one. This way, you can get everything you have to accomplish written down, along with the deadlines you need to get them done. Planners help you visualize everything you need to do, so there is less room for overlooking assignments.

Putting it simply, imagine that your teacher assigns you two projects to complete within a week. Set your deadline for the first project to three or four days, giving you enough time to focus on the second project later in the week. This is an effective strategy to prevent multitasking. If you procrastinate, you likely work off of deadlines. And if your deadline is shorter, you're bound to finish the task quicker.

3. Find the RIGHT workspace.

Another common reason behind procrastination is your workspace. You may want to ask yourself some questions about where you work. Is there something within your workspace that is distracting you? Does your workspace make you feel like your best self?

If you can't move to a new place, make your current space the best it can be. Design it to meet all of your studying needs. Add background music if you would like. Once you're in the mood to get working, it will be easier to do so. Focus is a large factor that plays into procrastination.

4. PRIORITIZE what you have to do.

The order you do your assignments makes an impact. DON'T start your day off with the easiest tasks! Start with the difficult ones. When you first start working, your focus is at 100%. Why not take advantage of this and complete the hardest thing on your to-do list? Once your hardest assignment is done, the other assignments feel much smaller.

Let's say you're faced with a choice between an essay and a quick short answer. If you finish the short answer first, you'll be tempted to slack off on your essay. You'll think,

"I already finished one task, it's not a big deal if I don't get to the other."

However, if you jump in and start with the essay, you'll think,

"I already finished the hardest task. I might as well do the short answer too."

This change in mindset will prevent procrastination and help make your work the best it can be.

5. Try NOT to MULTITASK.

My last tip is to take all your work one step at a time. Focus on completing one whole assignment before moving on to the next. This will help with giving individual tasks all of your effort and attention. It will also keep you from feeling overwhelmed. Multitasking makes your work more difficult and chaotic, making it prone to errors.

Try not to stress about getting everything done. Remember that you are doing your best. It may seem difficult to stop procrastinating, but by utilizing a few of these strategies, it is possible!

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