Nothing worthwhile can be achieved without putting in the hours. This is the reality that most procrastinators need to face. Procrastination is like a muscle that becomes stronger the more you use it. Hence, in order to weaken procrastination, recognise your triggers for procrastinating and have methods to manage it. These methods include outsmarting the lack of focus and desire to delay studying. So read on to find a few ways to eliminate procrastination that can help you achieve good grades.
Don’t wait until you want to study
It’s highly unlikely that anyone would jump out of bed each and every morning super eager to study all day. Therefore it’s important to get in the habit of studying especially when the desire is not there. Because sometimes that desire will not come.
Don’t push too hard in one go
In most cases absorbing to much information in one-go is the reason why you end up choosing not study. This is because our brain has to receive so much information all at once and may get tired because of overwork. In order to avoid this, start studying in advance to ensure that you have adequate time to study in small but frequent doses. Remember to also take breaks within your study sessions to allow the brain to relax and reset.
Break big tasks into smaller sub-tasks
Similar to the previous one, divide the work into smaller, manageable sub-tasks. For example, if you’ve to write a 4,000 word essay, aim to write, just 200 words a day. This ensures that the work is finished on time and decreases the chance of procrastinating.
Avoid perfection
There is no end to perfection. This is probably one quote all perfectionist can relate to. No matter how much you fix, there will always be something else after that you will find a problem with. It’s a never ending cycle that costs a lot of valuable study time. The aim is not to study perfectly but to study efficiently. And you do that by planning.
Allow for planned procrastination
Random thoughts pop up into the mind either at the beginning of the study session or in the middle of it. This is because the brain is looking for more exciting things to do than studying. Ignoring these distractions may be very challenging, so record these distractions instead. Keep a sticky note for non-study related task and record all the ideas that pop up. When taking a break, grab the note and do the tasks you wrote down.
Minimize distractions
Joseph Ferrari, a leading international researcher on procrastination and author of the book Still Procrastinating: The No Regrets Guide to Getting It Done, says:
Today’s technology can help us not procrastinate if we use it wisely. We don’t have to surf the Web for hours on irrelevant tasks. We can get systems that time us out after 10 minutes. We don’t have to have a Blackberry with us at all times. Use technology as a tool, not as a means of delay.
Joseph Ferrari
In agreement with Ferrari, phones and all these other technologies can be huge distraction when trying to study. In order to minimize these distractions limit and time your screen time for each day. Also make sure to remove all your distractions before studying to avoid the temptation. Out of sight, out of mind.
Remember never be afraid to change your methods. There are so many different tips, methods and study hacks available, so if one method doesn’t work try another one. Procrastination is a obstacle that one can work around and eventually overcome.
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