Procrastination

Procrastination is killing me at the moment. It's effecting my performance at school to the point where I'm now failing. I used to complete all my studies / assessment pieces before any other of my priorities. Now I'm starting assessment pieces 3:00am the day there due. What the fuck is wrong with me, I can't even comprehend how badly I procrastinate. Is there anyway to lessen the effects, or even drop the habit of procrastation.

P.S - I'm looking for physical implementations which will help me. Time management / organisation related things. Links to websites that help with procrastination will also be appreciated.

Thanks

 

This is the exact same situation as me, it must be an Australian thing . I find that listening to music while working focuses me and provides a reason to do the assignment.

 

Hmm, I find that listening to music distracts me, which is a shame cause I'm quite the enthusiast.

 

For someone who has as many posts as you do in the amount of time you've been here, I think you should do the same.

And no, I'm not depressed.

 

Your parents will bury you with your computer.

No, I don't do any drugs.

 

If only it was that SIMPLE.

 

Is there something you have been thinking about recently? That might be what's affecting you.

If not, then has there been any kind of distractions that's a possible barrier to what you have to do?

 

I do the exact same thing. Rarely can I find the motivation to do any sort of school work, when I'm at school I get all pumped telling myself that I'll start this assignment when I get home but when it comes down to it I just say fuck it, I have time. Few weeks later, it's 1AM in the morning the day it's due and I still can't be fucked.

I used to think it was because of games like Runescape, then when I quit I still couldn't find the motivation I'd just sit there having nothing at all else to do and still wouldn't do my school shit.

 

Dude, this is without a doubt the same exact problem as mine...
Recently I've made a timetable and tried to work out what I'm going to do with my future...like goals. I think it's helping because I've been much more inclined to complete my homework and assessment, though now I regret not putting in the effort during term one.

Note to all those people going into their senior years:

DONT FUCK IT, UP BECAUSE YOU DONT GET A 2ND CHANCE.

 

Keep a diary of what you do.

Might sound like a bit of a strange thing to combat procrastination, but when you get to the end of a day and realise you have basically nothing of any value to write into your diary, you might get motivated to do something.

Also write down the things you want to do and tick them off when you do them, they should be achievable things in the short term and very specific, not just some ambiguous goal like "do better at work" or something.

If you have an assignment, split up the work into sections and write each part on a different day of the calender for the time leading up to the deadline, then cross out each section as you do it.

 

It is that SIMPLE. You're the problem, and the only way that you can climb out of the hole that you dug yourself into is to just stop and force yourself to get on task.

 

It really is that simple.
I had a huge problem with not doing work all the way through my sophmore year in college. I got by mostly on brains, but my grades were mediocre nonetheless. I decided I wanted to get into Grad School, and I just started doing my work on time. It's a lot easier to keep going then it is to start in the first place.

 

I have this problem too... it's actually one of my worst habits. And it's not just the procrastination, even when I do finally start on my work/study/etc., I have these compulsions to constantly stop what I'm doing and do something else that feels really important (checking the tv/news, checking my email, browsing the internet, playing a game--the list goes on and on).

I've found, for me, the best solution to fighting procrastination and to generally get work done, is to think about the ultimate or shorterm goal you're attempting to achieve (whatever gives you satisfaction or comfort, like graduating, or working in your dream career), and try to focus on that as much as possible. Sometimes it takes a while but I've found just thinking about my goals and how much I want to achieve them really does make me realize that putting things off until "later" isn't going to help me achieve anything at all, and I begin to feel motivated to work.

Also... if you're like me and feel the need to constantly take breaks, or just get distracted, try "banning" yourself from the computer or game or whatever it is until X amount of time, or until you finish studying. It helps me, at least!

 

The first thing you have to know about procrastinating is that you should set your expectations realistically. It took you a lifetime to get to where you are today in terms of procrastination, so it's not something you can fix overnight.

I urge you to visit the following webpages:

• http://careerplanning.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/time_mgt.htm
• http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Homework
• http://psychcentral.com/library/procrastinate2.html

Note the bold webpage. It has an impressive array of knowledge that will help you deal with your procrastination.

 

Procrastination is an issue with so many students that you should know you're not alone by any means. I personally believe the reason that you procrastinate is because you don't value the outcome of doing the work. I'm not saying you don't value your future, or that you don't care about school. I'm saying that, to you, the outcome of doing it, isn't beneficial enough for you to "waste" the time doing it. This is the basic principle of opportunity cost.

So what do you do now? Well you have two choices.

1. You continue on the road you're on, see where it takes you, and hopefully still do well. Nothing, aside from sheer force, will make you do the homework if you don't value it enough to do it.

2. You find something you enjoy, and make it your reward. Perhaps you value being on Sythe or on Facebook? Make your mother/father/guardian confiscate the computer from you on a daily basis until you finish your homework. This will literally give you a reason to do it. Obviously, this won't work in every case, but you get the idea, and you should change it so that it can apply to your life.

Hopefully my comments will help. Good luck, and I hope you find value in your school work soon. It really is beneficial.

 

Would it help if i told you about 1/3 of my cohorts (this is the top 30% percent of the top 3% percentile NSW here) start their assignments a week before they're due?

I know many high achievers who do the same, everyone procrastinates, it is normal because we do not enjoy these tasks but factors (the usual operant conditioning: fearing the consequences of failing) pressure us to pull through in the end.

I have friends in law, acturarial, dentistry and nursing, that procrastinates. Although occurences are far less in engineering and medicine, I know a few who still occasionally slack off.

Some do drugs, some play games and some loves going out. Things aren't as simple as "Oh you do drugs = that's why you procrastinate!!1" It is really about the balance of the things you want to do and, things you have to do.

Things like this make me giggle, too many times do I hear pupils either are under so much self-imposed pressure they do horribly during HSC/VCE, or that they place too much faith in alternate entry routes they slack off and do horribly.

University is basically HSC every 5 months, so either that people exaggerate the difficulties of higher school certificate examins; or that all university students are high-function savants; there are many ways to get into the path of the degree you want and depends on your definition of screwing up, you always have a good chance to get into where you want.