Ask an Academic: A Series on Getting Your Shit Together
Let me just say before I start: I suffer from chronic procrastination. The fact that this post took me a week to write underlines that. As a student, I can’t afford to procrastinate; if I procrastinate, I either fail or don’t get the extent of the education provided to me. In the last few years I have finally found a somewhat manageable game plan to help me maintain a decent level of productivity. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned to help me stay productive in college and in life:
Realize what causes you to procrastinate
Most people think procrastination to be a side effect of laziness or poor time management. In reality, procrastination is often a strategy used to counteract low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, fear of loss and failure, perfectionism, etc. I have terrible academic self-esteem being so ‘old’ and an undergrad, so I get anxious about studying because I feel unintelligent, so I procrastinate. If you fInd the root of your procrastination you’ll have a better grasp on how to fix the problem!
Shorten your to-do list
One of the main side effects of procrastination is overestimating the time it takes to accomplish a task. For me it always goes like this: “oh man I just watched Netflix for three hours; I don’t have time to study. I’ll wait until tomorrow when I have the whole day”. Many time management techniques require a diligent hour-by-hour planning system, which can be very overwhelming in itself, especially when your procrastination is fueled by anxiety, like mine. Research has found that the most efficient to-do list has only three items on it. Take time to focus on one task at a time without a time constraint, you’ll find you get it done quite faster than you expected.
TAKE BREAKS AND REWARD YOURSELF
This is very important! It might be common sense but a lot of people don’t do this, especially when they have a bajillion things due in two days. Listen, I live that “EVERYTHING IS EXHAUSTING ALL THE TIME” life. Frequent breaks and a rewarding system when I check things off my list really helps. The Pomodoro technique is awesome and life changing for chronic procrastinators like me. Learn it. Live it. Love it.
“Touch it once” rule
I have this terrible habit of finding things that I need to do or read, and immediately saving it to Pocket or putting it in a pile to do later. The “touch it once” rule actually helps me do things at that moment instead of adding it to the seemingly never-ending list of things to do. The principle behind “touch it once” is simple: when you come across a task, touch it once, for a couple minutes. If you still don’t want to do it after two minutes, put it away for a later time that day. I find that once I start something, I am more apt to finish said thing. This system has definitely helped me gain momentum to not only start tasks, but finish them in a timely manner.
Self-Regulate
Self-regulation is the ability to act in your long-term best interest, consistent with your deepest values (Violation of one’s deepest values causes guilt, shame, and anxiety). A study on procrastination in college students found that there was a significant correlation with lack of self-regulation and procrastination/depression. Practicing small steps towards self-regulation is important, so putting one foot in front of the other will truly make all the difference. Timothy Pychyl Ph.D. is a psychology professor who focuses on procrastination and says that “showing up is half the battle”. Set intention and make the motions despite how you are feeling, and you’ll get things done and get rid of your procrastination habits. Eventually.
I am aware that these steps seem to be repetitive to some and they might not work for everyone. However, I’ve found that most productivity lists that focus on a billion different steps are very overwhelming, so a more streamlined system really helps me. I will leave you with one last piece of advice: Sacrifice and forgive yourself. We are not perfect creatures, we will slip and fall sometimes (case in point: me taking a week to write this). Procrastination is completely normal; take responsibility for your actions, brush yourself off, and keep going! You might need to sacrifice a weekend or a fun night out with friends, but if you follow these steps I PROMISE YOU you will get whatever you need to do done without it being a rushed mess at the end. You can do it! Good luck!
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