“Procrastination is like a credit card: It’s a lot of fun until you get the bill”- Christopher Parker
As students, the bill you often get is not achieving the grades you aspire to achieve. Now, here is a question for you- Do you like paying this bill? Definitely not!
You want to get good grades and excel in studies. So, you’ll have to stop using your credit card i.e you will have to take control of procrastination and here are some tips to do it:
Start your day with a motivational video or podcast:
‘Motivation’ is an antidote to procrastination. If you are motivated to study, why will you procrastinate? Rather, you’ll start studying in an enthusiastic manner right away.
So, one simple tip to take control of procrastination is to start your day with a motivational video or podcast. For example, you can watch or listen to Les Brown’s motivational videos on YouTube. He is an excellent motivator and his words will help you break the shackles of procrastination and start studying sincerely.
Create a todo list for the day:
It is easy to overcome procrastination and stay focused when you have clearly defined goals. So, the second tip is about creating a todo list for the day right away in the morning.
This will help you a lot as you are less likely to procrastinate when you realize that you have plenty of work to do. Moreover, even if you procrastinate, having a look at your todo list will make you realize that you are losing time.
As a result, you will raise your armor against procrastination and start studying.
Further, there are two simple ways to create your todo list. One is the traditional way in which you use a pen and paper to list your tasks.
The other is the modern way in which you download apps like Microsoft todo and create your to-do lists with their help.
You can select either of the two ways as per your comfort level. But, do make sure to create your to-do list every day in the morning and give your best to accomplish all the mentioned tasks.
Decorate your room with ‘No Procrastination’ reminders:
Most times, you don’t realize that you are procrastinating. You only realize it after you have lost a significant amount of time on unproductive things which you could otherwise have spent on studying.
For example, you may plan that you’ll start studying after resting on the couch for 5 minutes. But, your 5 minutes soon turn into hours and you end up wasting a lot of your precious time.
But, from now on this tip will equip you to prevent this from happening. It is about decorating your room with “No Procrastination” reminders. You can do it a number of creative ways such as the two mentioned below:
- You can write no procrastination quotes on chart papers and paste them in your room
- You can get printouts of your selected no procrastination quotes and paste them in your room
Make yourself realize the consequences of procrastination:
If you are conscious that you are procrastinating but still find it hard to get rid of it, you can utilize this tip. It involves making yourself realize the consequences of procrastination.
For this, the best way is to stand in front of a mirror and tell yourself what will happen in the future if you don’t stop procrastinating. For example, you can tell yourself that you’ll fail to achieve the desired grades and you’ll have to regret it. 5 minutes of such self-talk will definitely empower you to get rid of procrastination.
Keep distractions at bay:
‘Distractions’ are one of the major reasons why we procrastinate. Even if you are already sitting on your desk, studying, distractions can still obstruct your focus and make your procrastinate.
For example, if your smartphone displays a notification of your friend’s message, then, you’ll be tempted to reply back to him. Your reply to him and soon you guys engage in a long conversation and you start procrastinating on studies as talking to your friend is more enjoyable.
So, to take control of procrastination you should keep distractions at bay. For example, you can put your smartphone on do not disturb mode while studying. Once you are done with your studies, you can turn the do not disturb mode off and enjoy talking to your friends.
Study in brief intervals with the Pomodoro Technique:
Studying for a long time in one go is tiring for your brain. So, when you plan to sit and finish a complete chapter in a go, you start procrastinating even without realizing it.
Your brain starts playing tricks on you to avoid the hectic task. It makes you think that the chapter will take a long time to complete so why not get some exercise first? Or you may find yourself saying, why not play a video game for some time and then finally sit to study. This way, setting time-consuming goals for yourself increases your chances of procrastinating.
Thus, you should not plan to study for a long time in one go. Rather, you should study in brief intervals of time. For this, it is best to utilize the Pomodoro Technique. Here are some simple steps to follow for practicing the Pomodoro Technique.
- Select what you want to study
- Set a timer for 25 minutes
- Stay completely focused on studies during the 25 minutes time interval
- When the timer rings, take a relaxing break for 5 minutes. You may close your eyes or go for a walk if you wish. You may also use your smartphone but do remember that you are on a break only for 5 minutes, no longer than that.
- After the 5-minute break gets over, reset the timer and start studying again
- Once you have completed four study cycles of 25 minutes each, take a longer break for 25 to 30 minutes
Set a reward for yourself
‘Setting a reward for yourself’ is a great strategy to trick your brain to stop procrastinating and start studying. So, you should always set a reward for yourself, which you’ll get only after completing all the tasks mentioned on your todo list or studying well.
other valuable tips:
For example, you can reward yourself with your favorite chocolate or ice cream after having a successful day at studying. But, if you don’t study well, you’ll have to wait to eat your favorite chocolate till you do.
We know that procrastination makes our land into a troubling situation later. But, still, we procrastinate because we often don’t know how to take control of it. Now, this blog has equipped you with 7 effective tips to take control of procrastination. So, you should start implementing them in your life and begin your studies with the utmost sincerity. All the best and study well!
Image Credit: take control of procrastination by twenty20.com
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