Struggling With Procrastination? You're Not Alone...

For as long as I can remember, I've struggled with motivating myself to complete tasks. Even now as a college student, I find myself occasionally pushing off something that I need to do until the last possible second and causing more stress than what I would have just getting it out the way. As I look around and listen to my classmates, I come to realize that procrastination affects almost all of us. It seems that they're a lot more procrastinators like myself out there than I first thought. So, this begs the question: why do we procrastinate? I began to examine the activities of my classmates and I and noticed a few basic trends. Procrastination can be caused by a number of things. Aside from the typical "I just don't feel like it right now" response I found the thrill of completing the task before time runs out, unable to come up with ideas or time management difficulties, or even fearing that the task we complete might fail or succeed, can cause people to procrastinate. I myself found that I have felt all of these at some point and they can vary depending on my mood, the task at hand, the subject, or my workload. After discussing the topic in one of my psychology courses at my college, we learned that procrastination is a learned behavior.

If we learn to procrastinate, why can't we just learn to be more productive? Well the truth is, we can, but easier said than done right? To address my problem, I experimented with a variety of different ways to organize my time while addressing my thrills and fears of completing my work. For those of you out there like myself who are easily distracted with our phones, T.V.s, computers, tablets and the like, try setting an alert on your devices to let you know when it's time to break out the textbooks, pens, pencils or whatever it may be in order to complete your work. Might I recommend taking a parenting or coaching motivational approach and naming your alarms "TURN OFF/MUTE THE DAMN PHONE(COMPUTER ETC.)!" to reinforce the need to get your tasks completed? You should then find a nice quiet room where you can work. For those of you with large families or nosey parents and siblings that are always barging in your room and creating a distraction, talk to them and tell them you want to be left alone to work. If there is any noise in the house, close your room door. To make it clear, you can make a sign to hang on your door to get the point across. For kicks and giggles you can make a sign that says "DO NOT ENTER PORNOGRAPHY IN USE" which happens to be my mother’s least favorite. Another tip in beating procrastination is make a list. A detailed, well thought out, list makes a big difference. It can be a great tool to combat catastrophe when managed correctly but can cause a disaster if you don't keep it up to date. I recommend that you place the things that are closer to the due date on top of the list, and if you have multiple items due on the same day, place the ones you don't want to due before the rest. Next, you should make a set of goals. Although, you shouldn't get too crazy, your goals should be realistic and give you a steady, guided, pace for completing your work. For studying or general concentration, try listening to music. The right playlist at an appropriate volume might help you keep your concentration and stay on task. I personally suggest a classical soundtrack even if you don't enjoy classical music, studies have shown that you're more effective while listening to classical compared to other genres. However, this isn't for everyone, some people need complete silence to work effectively. Last but not least, you should reward yourself after completing your goals. Give yourself a short break after completing a milestone in your workload but be sure to keep your eye on the prize and stay motivated. DO NOT throw away your progress by letting yourself get sidetracked.

These are just a few simple basic tips that helped me avoid procrastinating. Everyone is differ and should experiment with their schedule and techniques a little to find what works best for them. For instance, if you think you might work better with someone else to study or work with, you should definitely try it out a few times. Just be sure that you remain serious about completing your work. Defeating procrastination takes a considerable amount of self control and will not be easy at first. But, just liking learning to riding a bike, it gets easier with every try. So take a deep breath and hang in there. Trust me, this isn't the hardest thing you'll have to learn in your life.

#AustinSays #Procrastination #Motivation #Lazy #Work #Austin #School #Tips #Advice #Study