How to Avoid Procrastination

Procrastination is very common within students, no matter what grade or school you are in. There are a lot of distractions present when you try to study, such as social media and other things you'd like to do that are more "entertaining" compared to studying. Procrastination starts as a simple act, but it develops into a habit that can be inevitable.

Thus, in this blog entry, I will list a few tips on how you can avoid procrastination, TODAY!

✍ Use a planner (and stick to it!)

If you're someone that easily forgets the things that they have to do (like me), then this is the solution for you! You can have a notebook planner, or you can use apps such as myHomework Planner (highly recommend this!) and ColorNote. Your planner doesn't need to be an extremely fancy one, as long as you are able to write down things you need to do then you're good to go! You can also come up with time frames in your planner to help you manage your time wisely. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK IT EVERYDAY. Put your planner in a place where you can see it everyday (like your bag or your study desk) so that you can remember to check it often,

Tip to sustain planning: reward yourself everytime you finish a task, i.e 10 minutes of internet time (don't cheat!), food, an episode of your favorite series, etc.

✍ Choose your drugs!

*drugs - where you study, how you study, what time do you study, how would you reward yourself.

No, not the illegal drugs, silly! This is probably one of the hardest things to figure out, because it will take a lot of experimental studying and what not. So let's try to discuss the points I mentioned above.

WHERE YOU STUDY
I highly discourage you guys to study in your bed, because obviously you will be tempted to lay down and doze off. I would suggest a place where there is good lighting, enough ventilation and you sitting in an upright position. This way, you would avoid feeling sleepy while studying.

HOW YOU STUDY
This is very important you guys, because this will determine the sustainability of your ant-procrastination aim. If you're a visual learner, and make your notes as colorful as possible. Use sticky notes, highlighters, colored pens, everything just to make your notes extremely appealing to the eye. If you are an auditory learner, then you can record the lectures of your professors and listen to them while scanning your notes while studying. There are a lot of ways on how you can study, you just need to find your rhythm. I am a visual learner, and these are a few of my notes:

WHAT TIME YOU STUDY
There are some people who are really picky with the time that they study, because sometimes you're too groggy in the morning and too sleepy at night. You can start finding your pitch by trying different time frames, and look at which time you're most productive and stick to that. Sooner or later, you can adjust your time frame thus you can study anytime.

HOW WOULD YOU REWARD YOURSELF
This is really important for me because it actually motivates me to finish my tasks. This is also one of the hardest to control since there will be a tendency that you would over reward yourself. Discipline is key,

✍ Organize all your schoolwork

One of the most common reasons why people procrastinate is because they can't find their notes or they misplaced handouts and what not. So I suggest that you guys should acquire a binder or a notebook with a folder or envelope. (next blog post about organizing these!)

If you guys are wondering, I'm using a binder and this is how it looks like from the outside:

I just bought a simple blue binder and just DIY-ed it by putting my very own drawing of Baymax on the cover.

✍ DISCIPLINE.

I could not emphasize this more. Make doing things on time a habit so you don't ever have to pull an all-nighter or having to pass a crappy paper. This will all soon be worth it, and you'll be extremely happy with the results.

I hope this post helps all students out there to stop procrastination. Even if I procrastinate too, these tips help me minimize the procrastination that I do.

Until the next post! ❤