Are you aware of such notion as procrastination or, in other words, postponing of important things for an undefined period of time? That’s how it happens: you get up in the morning with a strong motivation to prepare a report in Sociology, make a cup of latte, switch on your laptop, log in to Facebook and that’s it. Moreover, you put a strict deadline to look through Facebook news only during ten minutes. Let it be so: half an hour! “I can’t believe my eyes! It’s already 6 pm! This time I promise myself to prepare the report tomorrow. Anyway, I have enough time for it.”
In case the aforementioned situation is almost your lifestyle and you feel it gets in the way to do all planned tasks in time, you must change such the flow of things immediately. Let’s investigate the ways to overcome procrastination.
Dedicate an Hour for Work
Start every new day with work, not with scrolling down Instagram profile. Surely you may concentrate for the nearest hour or so. That’s enough to start up the process of thinking activity, focus one’s attention and work. But if you devote this time to surfing someone’s profile on Facebook, that will be more complicated for you to get into gear. There is a great possibility that you will start nothing. Remember that the very first hour after waking up is the most productive for work and studying and this hour predetermines the productivity of the whole day. So, use it wisely.
Compose a Detailed Plan
This is not about a daily plan, though it’s also quite important. That’s about everything you plan to do in the nearest future, i.e. the period of two months. Finish a course paper in History, visit a few libraries search for some essays online , start writing your own academic essays or education papers, etc. Take a sheet of paper and start planning. Hang up the plan somewhere near your working place and look through it every day. That will help to realize and prioritize what things you really need to do and what shall be done later.
Divide into Parts
Are you planning to write a report in Philosophy to pull up the final grade? That’s an excellent idea! Have you been planning to do that since last month? Let’s start today! Think about what the report consists of. For instance, you lack some really exciting facts. Join a public library to find some intriguing information that will impress your teacher. In case your plan is quite ambitious and you want to make up something grandiose, surf the Internet in order to find some exclusive historic materials, find a library or even a museum address and start working on your report.
Divide the report thematically into several parts: a part per two-three days. The main thing is to make a contribution to your report daily. That way you’ll succeed it in the nearest possible period of time.
Clean up your Desk
Nothing shall draw your attention away from work. Sometimes your desktop looks like a collection of waste papers and another deadwood. Such things catch your eye, fill the place and, as a result, encourage your disorganization. Take everything away from of your desk! Leave your laptop, a notebook, some pens and a bottle of water or fresh. The fewer things you have on your desk, the more concentrated on the work you get.
Take a Short Break
A short break is a must. You need it to reload your brain activity and look alternatively at things. The key rule is to avoid a break extension to several hours. Specify the most optimal performance of work and rest. That is a well-known fact that it’s better to make a 15-minute break during the period of two hours of work. What are the ideas for a break? You may make a cup of coffee or tea, do a warm-up or call your friend. The best idea is to go outdoors as some fresh air really helps to pull wits together.
Find a Motivation
For some people, the best motivation is the competitor’s success. Someone wishes to get money for work. Someone requires a hot-eyed tutor keen on a foreign language you have been studying. If you don’t follow your tutor’s recommendations, you won’t get a desirable level of a foreign language and feel confused when having misunderstandings with native speakers. If you won’t prepare academic essays in the nearest two weeks, you will lose the grant at the university.
The best motivators are the people surrounding us, the people whose achievements inspire others to try to strike back. The Internet will help you. Find a successful blogger or a celebrity and follow their advice to succeed.
Firstly, the Most Difficult Task
Among the most unpleasant work, one definitely finds the task that is the most complicated, boring and demanding additional information and numerous rechecks. Start with that very task! Even if you compose a page for your graduation work, that’s already a great result. As a rule, you become too involved in the work so that one page leads to several pages. Several pages lead to a chapter. Be sure that your brain activity is currently on the highest level of productivity; take advantage of that. Don’t give up and remember about short breaks.
Find Additional Tasks
The fact that you’re procrastinating proves the following. Subconsciously you realize that you have plenty of time to cope with the planned task and there is no need to hurry up. That idea leads to a good opportunity to load oneself with some additional tasks not to waste time. Of course, you can ask for help a cheap essay writing service, but the problem of procrastination is not only about studying. Have you ever planned to start attending gym? Joining vocal courses? Taking part in some volunteering activities? Get busy! Enjoy life to the full!
Develop Concentration
The most common reason for procrastination is that you constantly get side-tracked. While preparing a course paper, you receive an intriguing message from your friend. You start thinking what to answer. Suddenly someone leaves a comment on Instagram. You start checking and again think what to reply. Such examples of taking one’s mind off work are numerous. You have to find the most optimal solution for that problem. Practice the willpower. Switch off your smartphone and log out of all possible social networks! Nothing serious will happen if you check some messages in an hour, not this very minute.
Believe in Success
Sometimes you don’t start acting because you feel you won’t manage to win. Why should I take part in a contest in Poetry if they always chose that honors student? Why should I make preparations for the conference if they never give me the opportunity to express my own point of view? If you get used to holding forth like that, your brain starts resisting and ignoring any initiation. Keep out of such thoughts and believe in an inevitable success. That guarantees you start acting to achieve the goal.
Give Reward
When you finish a complicated and really great task, reward yourself accordingly. From the very beginning, you may start planning the ideas to reward yourself. A trip to Spain, an expensive designer bag and a mega party with groupmates may become an ideal reward worthy of your huge efforts. Make your dream come true. You deserve that. Moreover, such kind of a reward is a really wonderful motivation to finish the planned tasks without wasting a minute.