Most of the people wait until the very last minute to complete their important work. For instance, some students have the habit of completing their homework or starting preparing for the exams just a few days before. These students have the habit of delaying important tasks. Procrastination is very common among students. As a procrastinator, students don’t realize that how much time they need to give to a particular homework or assignment. And by the time they realize it, the clock starts ticking, and they are panicking. However, when, as a student, the tendency to procrastinate is starting to make your overall quality of study suffer, then it is the right time to do a reality check.
Research shows that over 80 % of students have a serious habit of procrastinating. The question might come to your mind that how this thing happens? What went wrong? And how, as a student, did you lose focus? Well, there might be the time you are spending on playing video games, reading emails, and checking social media. If all these things sound familiar to you, then you are not alone. The problem is that no one teaches the students how to work on this issue. They need to understand the best practices and must know how to avoid procrastination. Before moving further, it is necessary to understand the concept of procrastination.
Procrastination and Its Meaning:
Procrastination is an unusual trap that everybody gets into it once in a life. It is delaying or postponing something important. In other words, we can say that you are not doing the work or task at the time you should be. For example, there is an important task that you have to do today but you will leave that task for tomorrow. The term procrastination might lead to demotivation. In extreme cases, as a student, you started feeling depressed and will always be in a state of anxiety. Similarly, some people have a misconception in their mind that procrastination is the same as laziness, but in reality, they are two different things. They have a difference in meaning and also their consequences are different from one another.
Difference between Procrastination and Laziness:
Procrastination is an active process in which a person will do something not important at the moment. Thus, a person will be doing something not required for that particular time. On the contrary, laziness is an inactive process. It suggests an unwillingness to do an act, a state of inactivity, and apathy, etc. In procrastination, people prefer to ignore an unpleasant or important task in favor of the one that is easier or enjoyable for them. But this might lead to serious consequences. Hence, it will make a person feeling guilty or ashamed of themselves. Therefore, as a result of procrastination, there will be reduced productivity, and it becomes difficult to achieve the goals in life.
Reasons to Stop Procrastinating:
Majority of the students all around the world who want to make themselves better by overcoming the habit of procrastinating need to understand the following reasons. They need to figure out that why they are procrastinating. After understanding the following reasons, with a little effort, they can change themselves.
- Not completing the important assignments on time.
- Feeling stressed out by doing things so late.
- Not interested in a particular topic or subject.
- They are feeling tired physically or mentally.
- Afraid that for your whole life, you will procrastinate.
- You want to change your mindset and develop better habits.
- In your mind, you develop the thought that procrastination will always lead to problems.
As a student, if you want to change yourself, then you must follow some essential tips to stop procrastinating. You also need to have some studying tips to help stop procrastination.
10 Best Tips to Stop Procrastinating for Students:
Some students want to change themselves, and they are looking for effective ways to overcome the habit of procrastination. They want to finish all of their tasks on time and find ways to beat procrastination. The following are the 10 best tips to stop procrastination for students and get things done.
- Get organized:
The first and foremost thing a student should do is to have a set plan or idea to complete their homework or assignments. You will procrastinate if you don’t have a proper plan to study. Investing in a planner or start using a calendar app on your cell phone is another good option. One can start keeping track of all of their assignments with their due dates. Therefore, by being organized, you can measure your task regularly - Create a to-do list:
Thinking about all the tasks that you need to accomplish is an overwhelming feeling, but you need to break it down and set priorities. Hence, in this way, you can avoid pushing things off to completion until the last minute. Sometimes students have so much homework or assignments to do, so they just got confused about where to start. As a result, they end up in stress and doing nothing. Therefore, it is the best idea to create a to-do list and accomplish all your tasks accordingly. - Eliminate distractions:
The third tip a student must follow is to eliminate all types of distractions. Try to close all the social media tabs, put your cellphone off or put it on airplane mode. Always study in a nice, clean, uncluttered, and comfortable space or environment. Some students prepare for their exams with friends. Surely studying with friends is more fun but as you interact with them, your focus might start to fluctuate. The progress of your friend also put you off instead of motivating you. - Set proper goals:
To get started on your assignments or homework, it will become a lot easier for you if you set small and simple goals. Instead of establishing big or vague goals and plans, try to establish reachable goals. For example, you have in your mind that “I’ll study biology tonight,” so you might say that “I’ll study chapter five of biology tonight.” Therefore, this will make your goal more attainable and less difficult or intimidating. - Try to set your deadlines:
Setting proper deadlines is another important tip to avoid procrastination. Many students are in a habit of saying that “I will do this work tomorrow” and, in reality, that tomorrow never comes and time will fly. Thus, it is better to set specific deadlines for your assignment, homework, or project to get it completed on time. The smart students are the ones who aim to complete their project or assignment ahead of time, like one or two days in advance. This is good because if something unexpected happens, so they have the extra time to complete that particular work. - Set reminders:
Students feel difficulty in remembering the details of their work. The best tool to avoid procrastination is to set reminders on your phone. This helps them to keep in check their work throughout the day. Even the tasks that are too small can be set into reminders, and they help. It tells a student when they can start studying and when to take breaks in the middle of the homework. - Avoid stress:
The most common reason that students procrastinate in the first place is that they are under too much stress. They procrastinate out of stress, as they think that the task is too intense for them and they will not able to complete it on time. Therefore, it is necessary for a student to relax their thoughts and be realistic about completing their work. - Find a suitable study space:
Make your entire space suitable for studying. A good space is clean, quiet, and free from distractions. Apart from that, there must be many lights so that you can study easily. However, if your current space is not suitable for studying, then it is the right time for an upgrade. You can also pin some inspirational quotes so that it inspires you to achieve your goals. - Use incentives and reward yourself:
If you have completed a difficult assignment or project on time, then make a habit of rewarding yourself. You can go to your favorite restaurant or eat a slice of cake or drink coffee from your favorite coffee shop. Through this way, you can realize that how good it feels to finish any project on time. Rewarding yourself helps you to avoid procrastination by creating an incentive to complete a particular task. After completing any project, assignment, or after giving any test, you can reward yourself, like, “Once I finish this particular assignment or project, I can watch an episode of my favorite TV show.” - Tell about your goals to someone close to you:
Tell your family, friends, and other acquaintances about your goals. Whenever you see and meet them, they will ask you about your goals or the status of your particular project. It is also quite easy to forget about your assignments, so if you have already told your family member, thus, they can remind you. As an added bonus, you have someone closer to you with whom you can celebrate your victories, like getting an A grade or just finishing a project on time.