Ways to Overcome Procrastination

It’s not rare to put off your work for a couple of hours or get busy doing something else beforehand. But once you start missing deadlines or hand in poorly done work is when procrastination becomes dangerous to your future. The definition of procrastination is to intentionally put things off until later. I’m sure we all put things off until late and that’s fine but sometimes it’s not the best solution.

One of the first elements that lead to procrastination is poor time management. Some ways to help improve your time management is to keep a calendar and create your own deadlines. If your project is due in two weeks then have it done in a week and a half so you have time to revise it. My grade 8 teacher taught me this and I use it all the time. Another method is to say no. As a student, you may be asked to participate in many extracurricular activities. If you join too many then you may have too much on your plate. You only have 24 hours in a day after all. One of the final solutions for poor time management is to do the most important things first. For example, you should study for a test before you complete an assignment that is due in three weeks. Although poor time management is only one part of procrastination these tips should help.

Another one of the components of procrastination is lack of motivation. The key to having the motivation and keeping it is to be engaged in your classes. If you don’t really pay attention, the material from that class may be boring or confusing. And nobody wants to complete a project that is boring or confusing. Another way to have motivation is to have reasons for learning and achieving. This is different from engaging in a task because of the fear of failure. Or not asking questions because you don’t want to look dumb which I personally use as a way to get work done. It’s hard to switch what motivates you, but you will feel better about your work if you do.

There are more ways to help get work done rather than putting it off but I found these the most helpful when there was a project I didn’t want to do. With these tips to better improve your school work and reduce your risk of procrastination, I hope that you all can succeed in school.

Written by:

~ Macy Brunsel

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Resources

Voge, D. J. (n.d.). Why do so many people procrastinate and how do you overcome it? Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://mcgraw.princeton.edu/understanding-and-overcoming-procrastination

J. (2021, January 11). Top time management tips for students. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://uwaterloo.ca/beyond-ideas/stories/tips-advice/5-time-management-tips-busy-students