Procrastination is a skill that many of us have managed to accidental perfect. We never intend to leave things to the very last minute, it just always happens to be that way. Sometimes however leaving things to the last minute isn't always going to work, lets say you've got an essay to do and the length of the essay may not need to be that long but it may need to be good quality. Now if you try to leave this last minute it becomes a lot more difficult for you get higher grades because you won't be checking through your work, you won't have time to compare it to the brief and you wont have time to ask someone to read through it before you submit it. That's why I find it best to do tasks like this as soon as possible and to help me stop procrastinating I follow these 7 tips
1. Quiet places
Now you’re ready to start with your work limit your distractions. Don’t let yourself be in an environment where people can talk to you about irrelevant things, and don’t put yourself in a place where you won't be able to focus on the work you’re doing. I know a lot of people who decide revising in their bedroom is a better idea than revising in a library. Sitting in a room full of things that have nothing to do with your work you’ll easily start thinking about other things. Imagine a gym that had a bunch of paintings on the walls, on one hand you want to work out and focus on your exercise but on the other you’re interested in the paintings. You won’t enjoy either of these things fully because you’re focus isn’t in a single place and it’s the same concept when you revise in your bedroom. Your bedroom is for sleeping don’t try to mix it up or your brain is going to struggle to keep up.
2. Get off your phone
On the subject of limiting your distractions, most people’s biggest distraction is their phone. Now completely removing your phone from the place you are revising is the best advice I can give however as most people are addicted to their phones it might not be that easy for you. So, what I would recommend is downloading an app like ‘Forest’ or ‘Flora’ in which you can put your phone on a timer and you’re not allowed off the app until the timer is done. Additionally, something that I find useful to do regardless of whether I’m doing revision, is taking notifications off for all social media. This was so useful for me when I felt I couldn’t go 5 minutes without my phone. By not having the constant pinging going off and only going on apps when you feel like going on them, you’ll be able to feel a lot more present in the moment as you’re not thinking about your phone. This will increase your focus massively and you’ll see the benefits almost immediately.
3. By yourself or with others
Now it’s very important not just where you decide to do work but also who you decide to do work with. Sometimes it's best to be by yourself when doing work and sometimes it's best to be with others and that’s up to you to decide. Most of the time you know immediately which of these is the best, but we often struggle to go through with it because we know that it can be difficult to turn a friend down and tell them you’re better off revising alone or even asking someone to revise with you. However, if you really value your work and want the best result from it you’ll have to face this and a good friend will understand and accept this.
4. Remind yourself of the importance
Whatever task you need to do there’s a reason you NEED to do it. It could be for your grades, your health or for your relationships but whatever it is, it’s necessary for you do it. Even if we know we need to get it done we still manage to procrastinate but what we tend to do is deflect or pretend there is a reason why we don’t need to do it in that moment. Now if you remind yourself of the reason why and repeat it out loud the reason why you need to do it and when you don’t hide from it you’re much more likely to actually go through with it. To help me do this in all areas in my life I created a vision board, to find out more about vision boards click the link at the bottom of this blog.
5. No music
If you want yourself to make the most of the time when you’re working, not listening to music is big contribution towards that. Imagine trying to concentrate while someone is sitting next to you trying to talk it’ll be almost impossible and that’s exactly what music is. Even though you’re not engaging in a conversation it still provokes your mind to start thinking things unrelated to your work. Now if you cancel out the lyrics which most people say will benefit you and it will! Unfortunately, you’ll still have the backing track or even if you put on some classical music whatever you’re listening to is going to influence your mood. It could make you feel calm, sad, excited all of which can cause you to lose your focus and distract you, so your best bet it to avoid it all together when working.
6. Set a timetable and give yourself time to relax
Taking regular breaks should be a part of everyone's work routine and rightly so. By taking small breaks and coming back to our work productivity will be increased hugely. For me 55 minutes of work and then 5-minute break. I normally spend the 5 minutes replying to messages or grabbing a quick snack. Once I come back to my work, I feel refreshed and I’m more comfortable about doing work for longer. After doing this for around 3-5 hours I normally take a longer break up to an hour and I plan what I want to do in that hour beforehand, so I have something to look forward to while doing my work.
7. Wake up early
To be more productive you need more time in the day. Waking up early is difficult to do but is a great habit to get into. If you wake up early you tend to appreciate your time more, so you’ll spend it more wisely. Think about it, if you’re sacrificing your comfort to be give yourself more time to revise it’ll be pointless for you to procrastinate because you’ll be wasting time you’ve earned.
Click here for my advice on waking up earlier!
If you want to find out more about vision boards check out the 'Resources' tab or click here!
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