How to Beat Procrastination in College

From a college friend of mine…

How to end procrastination

I was the greatest procrastinator of all the procrastinators that ever lived. Okay, that was an exaggeration but just to give you the full picture.

I’m a medical student that used to start studying a month or two before the exams. Every year when I see what I have to achieve in a month, I feel like I’m gonna have a mental breakdown. Tens of books and thousands of pages, alot of sleep deprived nights and indeed it wasn’t good for my health or my college performance.

Two years ago I decided that this kind of pressure I put on myself is not something I can keep allowing. So I researched and found some habits that helped me to end the procrastination:

1) Identify the cause, why are you procrastinating?

I’ve heard alot of reasons for procrastination, used some of them myself, but they are mostly excuses.

Studies showed that there is 5 main reasons for procrastination:
- Over confidence “this is easy and I’m a genius, it will take just 5 minutes.”
- Avoiding discomfort
- Fear of failure. You don’t trust enough in yourself and you don’t believe that you can achieve those dreams.
- Your mood can affect your performance.
- Action illusion: every time you make a study schedule and don’t follow it, you just adjust the schedule without really studying anything.
2) Focus on your goal

Stop the procrastination, start by remembering why did you choose this particular field to study in college and what did you aim to achieve.
3) Break your goal into small achievable pieces:

Lets say that your goal is to get a Nobel prize. This is a big scary goal and there is no way to achieve it right away. Break it into steps. First I’ll join a science college and graduate with strong foundation. Second, I will start scientific research at a certain university. And then further breaking down of your goal is needed.

You are now in your first year of college. This semester you need an A – make a study schedule with a deadline. Take it step by step towards your goal and don’t scare yourself. Everything is achievable with a good plan and hard work.
4) Surround yourself with supportive people:

You don’t need people that tell you every 5 seconds that you can’t. Surround yourself with people that share the same goal with you, believe in you and help you. People who will push you out of your comfort zone.
5) Fight your fear:

You know what is worse than fear? it’s regret. Start now.
6) Reward yourself:

Make a reward system, reward yourself for every progression you make to keep things interesting for you.
7) Start slowly but don’t stop:

Don’t try to start by studying for 12 hour a day, start slowly and increase the effort gradually but consistently and don’t stop.

Those tips worked for me and if you followed them, I’m sure they will work for you too.

If you liked this blog and found it useful, please share it with your friends. Help your friends to be more efficient and productive and make your plans together for a better college performance.

Image Credit: Pixabay

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