Can’t Stop Procrastinating? Consider These Things

By Miranda Darling

Understanding where your procrastination stems from is critical in understanding how to prevent it.

Firstly, it is important to remember that you’re not alone. This is a common issue all students deal with, and wanting to fix it is already an accomplishment. It is also important to recognize the benefits of conquering your procrastination, and realize that dealing with it will improve every aspect of your life.

The first thing you should do is find out why you are procrastinating. It is easier than you think. Most of the tasks we procrastinate because we feel overwhelmed by the task and put it off. Putting it off leads you to get even more overwhelmed which makes you procrastinate even more. It is a vicious cycle.

One way to break this negative feedback loop is to break your tasks into smaller, less scary tasks. Rather than “I need to finish this report!” Try “I need to write a paragraph.” Try to force yourself to do the task for just 15 minutes. Often, you will find yourself doing it for longer than you anticipated.

Another way to break it is to realize how much that high GPA is worth and the money you (or your parents) are paying for you to learn. Simply divide your tuition by the number of classes per semester to find out how much that lecture is worth.

Sometimes things do not seem important enough to us at the time, and we don’t realize until it’s too late. If this is not your case you might need to do some further digging.

So how do you make something important enough to you now, before it becomes important when there’s nothing you can do to fix it? Having the right mindset. The right mindset requires three things: foresight, motivation and self-discipline.

With foresight comes recognizing the consequences of procrastination. And no sugar coating! Saying the effects of your procrastination won’t be that bad is your mistake. Assume the worst. This will help with the next step: motivation.

Find motivation in pursuing what you want to future to actually be like. No you may not know what your actions will lead to exactly, but usually there are two options: either doing something now, or waiting until later. Which choice helps you get the future you want? Usually, procrastinating won’t be the right answer.

Finally, there is self-discipline. It is difficult to constantly keep the future in mind, but to cut procrastination off at the root, you won’t have the self-discipline to always choose the right option stated earlier in as many times that allows. Starting is always the hard part, but eventually, this will become routine, and I promise you will be happier with yourself, and what you’ve accomplished.

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