Procrastination

[Wolfwood683]

I need some advice.

I have been procrastinating a lot since I started school.
I always wait until the last day to do my homework, barely ever study, and right now actually I should be doing this 3-5 page rhetorical analysis paper that I have due tomorrow morning, but I haven't even started it yet.

I guess what I'm asking is, does anyone have any tips/advice that can help me stop procrastinating?

[phantasmagoria]

I would suggest turning off/unplugging/avoiding all things that are the main reason of your procrastination.
Get away from everything distracting and focus on what you have to do.

[rebellious_teen]

Time management is the key. You can spend a large porportion of your time to procrastinate if you are able to spread out your workload nicely. For example, try doing an hour or two of studying per day, over a long period, that way you can get a lot of your work done while feeling like you have done nothing at all.

Regarding your essay, prehaps in the future try doing 2-3 lines to begin with, procrastinate a bit, then write a bit and repeat the cycle and you will be suprised at how much you get done in the end.

[Bobby B]

Log off all IMs, shut down your internet browser and restart it only if you need to find information for your homework. Turn off the TV, if you need some noise listen to your iPod unless you get caught up and start singing. Also, turn off your cell phone. There is a program for the PC that's free and it blocks all applications except for certain ones to be on during a certain period of time.... so you can set it to block AIM, MSN, Yahoo, certain websites, and all that for say one or two hours so you can do your homework. I'll look for that tonight and post back.

[Shreyas]

I still procrastinate but it has reduced a lot that earlier just because of one thing its reduced is time management like Ryan said. Prepare a time-table for the day and try to do accordingly and most of your work will be complated within time.

[Wolfwood683]

Alright, thanks for the tips everyone!

[Sole]

DUDE!

Procrastination! ARGH! Isn't it frustrating?

It's LOGIC VS EMOTION

Think, logically it makes sense to start homework early, as it will mean less stress and more time spent on it, so better results. But your mind works of EMOTION! It FEELS better not to do it when you first get it. It's like this...

LOGIC
"I should start this homework early, I'll be stress free and have more time after to enjoy myself"

EMOTION
"Aw, jeez, I don't wanna do this homework, I'm gonna watch TV, surf the web"

Sadly, emotion almost always wins. The only reason you do it on the night before is because it the thought of not completing it FEELS worse than spending any more time procrastinating.

OK SOLE, INTERESTING MIND TRIP, HOW THE FUDGE DOES IT HELP ME?

Well, it comes down to 3 things I'd say -

YOU'VE GOT TO BE NICE TO YOURSELF, NOT PUNISH YOURSELF

Some advice above suggests blocking things on your computer, FORCING you into a corner and doing this essay. I don't agree with that advice because it will make you more miserable, AS WELL AS hating yourself because of your 'lack of control' to handle yourself ("i'm that bad I have to physically block myself.) It's pretty negative.

INSTEAD DO STEP 2

CHUNK & REWARD, CHUNK & REWARD

Basically, you are going to reward yourself everytime you complete 'some' work on that essay.

"A kid isn't going to eat his vegetables if he gets his ice cream FIRST is he?"

The ice cream is a reward for doing the work. That's the logic I want you to think about.

So this is 2 part

1. CHUNK

Spending 3 hours straight on an essay isn't what we want to do here. It isn't too productive either as our attention comes and goes.

Chunk your work into 45 minutes. That's it. Spend 45 minutes solely on the essay, and NO MORE! So that is 1 chunk.

2. THEN REWARD

FANTASTIC, you've just done 1 chunk of QUALITY WORK! 45 minutes. If you focused for that 45 minutes, GO AHEAD AND TREAT YOURSELF. Log into Facebook, watch TV, play 360, whatever you enjoy doing!

We can do several chunks throughout the day if we like. It is very rewarding. Basically, you KNOW you've got facebook, internet or TV waiting for you after you've done those 45 minutes, so you aren't drifting inbetween them. Just keep that focus for the small amount of time. You will amaze yourself at how productive those 45 minutes can be

[Wolfwood683]

Originally Posted by Sole

DUDE!

Procrastination! ARGH! Isn't it frustrating?

It's LOGIC VS EMOTION

Think, logically it makes sense to start homework early, as it will mean less stress and more time spent on it, so better results. But your mind works of EMOTION! It FEELS better not to do it when you first get it. It's like this...

LOGIC
"I should start this homework early, I'll be stress free and have more time after to enjoy myself"

EMOTION
"Aw, jeez, I don't wanna do this homework, I'm gonna watch TV, surf the web"

Sadly, emotion almost always wins. The only reason you do it on the night before is because it the thought of not completing it FEELS worse than spending any more time procrastinating.

OK SOLE, INTERESTING MIND TRIP, HOW THE FUDGE DOES IT HELP ME?

Well, it comes down to 3 things I'd say -

YOU'VE GOT TO BE NICE TO YOURSELF, NOT PUNISH YOURSELF

Some advice above suggests blocking things on your computer, FORCING you into a corner and doing this essay. I don't agree with that advice because it will make you more miserable, AS WELL AS hating yourself because of your 'lack of control' to handle yourself ("i'm that bad I have to physically block myself.) It's pretty negative.

INSTEAD DO STEP 2

CHUNK & REWARD, CHUNK & REWARD

Basically, you are going to reward yourself everytime you complete 'some' work on that essay.

"A kid isn't going to eat his vegetables if he gets his ice cream FIRST is he?"

The ice cream is a reward for doing the work. That's the logic I want you to think about.

So this is 2 part

1. CHUNK

Spending 3 hours straight on an essay isn't what we want to do here. It isn't too productive either as our attention comes and goes.

Chunk your work into 45 minutes. That's it. Spend 45 minutes solely on the essay, and NO MORE! So that is 1 chunk.

2. THEN REWARD

FANTASTIC, you've just done 1 chunk of QUALITY WORK! 45 minutes. If you focused for that 45 minutes, GO AHEAD AND TREAT YOURSELF. Log into Facebook, watch TV, play 360, whatever you enjoy doing!

We can do several chunks throughout the day if we like. It is very rewarding. Basically, you KNOW you've got facebook, internet or TV waiting for you after you've done those 45 minutes, so you aren't drifting inbetween them. Just keep that focus for the small amount of time. You will amaze yourself at how productive those 45 minutes can be

That is amazing! I'm definitely gonna try this, thank you!!