It is now April. The last stretch before summer hits. April always flies by fast, but that’s because of the amount of work. With all schools online, your brain is just tried. There’s distractions everywhere and all you want to do is something else. Anything else that isn’t writing that essay for that English class. Trust me , I know. In about a month and a half, I will be graduated from community college. My body is already at the finish line while my brain is still trudging along. We are all tired and we all just want to relax. But now is not the time to slack. It is not the time to procrastinate and be less productive. As a professional procrastinator , I have always found the short cut to assignments & tasks cause “I work better under pressure.” Which is just a flat out lie and a danger to myself. Here are some tips and tricks that I use to stay productive especially during the busy time as finals creeps closer.
Create a To-Do List
This is the first thing I learned to do back when quarantine first started. I had all these assignments due and no way to keep track of them. So, I grabbed a random notebook and wrote out the dates of the week. Then just planned out when I’d do certain assignments. Ever since then I don’t go a day without checking or updating my to-do list. With a list, it helps you stay productive. As well as accountable. You don’t have to get those fancy notebooks from Target. Just buy a simple notebook and write down the dates of the week. This is probably the easiest tip to get started on.
Or if you’re extra forgetful like me, buy a huge calendar or a desk one for your room/office. On it, write out all the assignments and when they are due for that entire semester. This way you know your schedule which will lessen your procrastination. Seeing when an assignment and that it clashes with certain events will help you mange your time better. The To-do list I use is an app/website called Notion. It’s super easy to set up and you can create a aesthetic and look for it. Perfect for a college student.
Do the hard task first…
You would think to start with the easy less consuming tasks. But your brain is fully charged. Best to do the hardest task while your mind is fresh. You may thinking that this may be the opposite of being productive. But think of it this way. Think of the set of assignments you have due. Now think of the most time consuming and difficult assignment you have. Wouldn’t you want to get that one out the way ,so the rest of your week is smooth sailing? By putting off this task, you are going to run into the excuse of “I’m too tired to do this right now.” Then you will continue to push it off until the due date. Now you are pulling an all-nighter trying to write a 5-10 page essay. This leads in to my next tip.
….and do it in tiny bites
This tip is mostly for the bigger tasks such as projects, essays, and the nights of reading five 30 page chapters. Instead of wasting your entire day on one assignment, time manage. Take a look at your due date calendar and set days when to work on the assignment up until the due date. Especially if it is a major essay for finals. You don’t want to have to ruin your sleep schedule for two weeks. By doing things little by little, you won’t begin to stress yourself out. You won’t have to look at the task as this big project and instead just mini tasks to do along the semester.
Limit the excuses
“I work better under pressure.” “I have to be in the mood to do work.” “I’m not in the right mindset.” “I will wait till we have time.”
These all sound familiar? The more excuses you give yourself the less productive you leave yourself. At the end of the day we know that these excuses are just lies. When you do find the time, you’ll say that you’re too tired. If you get well rested you’ll just say that you don’t have time. It’s a vicious cycle that is just never ending. You don’t have all the time in the world to get things done. When you have the time ( and you know you will), just get started. Yes, sometimes you don’t have the time because of jobs, friends, family, etc. That’s where having responsibility and good time management skills come in. In order to not procrastinate as much, you have to limit the excuses that you allow yourself to use.
Be realistic
If you know that you are not a morning person, don’t force yourself to get up at sunrise to start on a project. You know yourself and you know your limits. Being productive also requires you to be attentive and focused. You can’t do that when you’re downing energy drinks just to stay awake. Only for you to crash an hour later when you need to stay awake again. It’s unhealthy and actually doesn’t help your sleep schedule in the long run. Some of you may be a night owl. Your brain may be more productive and active at night. If so, utilize that time to get things done. Of course, don’t stay up so late that you end up ruining your sleep. You know your own strengths and weaknesses. Use them to your advantage.
Reward good behavior
. Establish an award for yourself only-and only if- you complete what you set out to do. Maybe set milestones or small goals for yourself along the way. Don’t binge that new series, order that UberEats, or check social media until you’re done. These distractions that you use to procrastinate can now be used as say a bargaining chip. It’s easy to grab your phone and just start mindlessly scrolling through TikTok. Instead of wasting the minutes (or hours, lets be honest here) use it as something to look forward to when you’re done.
Being productive is easier with discipline
This tip is a very important one. At the end of the day, the best way to lessen the procrastinator behavior is to learn discipline. Sometimes, we hold off on things because we are scared of failure, we are lazy, maybe your mental health isn’t the best at the moment. With discipline, it’ll be easier to actually hold yourself accountable. As well as pushing yourself to focus and take the time to get things done.
THANKS FOR READING!
I hope you enjoyed reading my tips on how to be more productive and procrastinate less. As the fall semester comes to an end, life gets busier. Schedules gets more complicated to work around. As life goes on there will always be cases where you will want to wait to do something. Maybe you know you can do it later. The best time to do something is now. Really, that can go for anything in life. Even writing this, I had some hard time staying focus and getting this done. Sometimes, I write these blogs the night before because I pushed it off for so long. It’s not the best strategy ,so I’m working on it. Being productive isn’t easy ,but it’s worth a try.
Comment down below any other topics you want me to give some tips and advice on. I’m thinking of starting a friendship “series” of sorts. If you have any questions on the topic of friendships, comment them down below. The comment section is further down if you scroll. Don’t forget to follow me on all my social media accounts. Welp, until next time! Thanks for reading , you guys!
