Submitted by Madison Jones, Vice-President of Membership
Procrastination… it’s a terrible thing. It gets the best of us at times but me? It’s all the time. I just can’t help it. I don’t know why I am like this. I’m definitely not a type A and trust me, I try to be. I’m just too laid back. I know that I’m not the only one and that makes me feel better. However, the older I get the more I realize that I can’t afford to procrastinate anymore.
High school teachers are very nice about late grades and when assignments are due. They are very understanding of students who are very busy with extracurriculars. However, when you get to college… your professors don’t care for excuses. Professors don’t necessarily not care about you but they don’t have time for excuses. They are here to teach students. The excuses won’t work anymore.
This terrifies my laid back self. I have to stop the procrastination now! Maybe, you do too. I’ve been taking the several steps I can find to fix this. So far, it has been working and I’m very satisfied. Hopefully, it can help you too.
- You need to think of your “item” as a big picture.
- I know I tend to put off items because they don’t seem important until the night before. However, when you think of the big picture right away you’ll understand and want to get it done. When someone falls and hurts themselves our instinct is to help right away because it’s the most important thing at the moment. Think of the homework or item that way. Thinking this way can help dramatically.
- Put all electronics on hold until the job is done.
- This is the one that gets me the most. If a text pops up on my phone I get distracted and put my work off. I have tried to put my phone in a different room to do this but I still find myself going back to it. I find what helps me most is giving it to a friend or family member. I always tell my Mom, “Do not give it back until I’m done.” Then I have no other choice but to do the work.
- Break all of your tasks into small sections.
- For me, after working on something for about 15 minutes I get distracted or bored. This is when I put off the item for later. To not get distracted so easily I like to split all of my jobs into sections after 15 minutes I’ll work on something else. This keeps the mind on it’s toes.
- Change your mindset.
- This is the most important step. It took my a long time to wrap my mind around this. The only way I could convince myself of this is to repeat it over and over and over until it drove me nuts! I am finally in my accepting phase. My future is more important than the one Netflix show I want to watch.
Hopefully my steps can help you. I hope procrastination doesn’t get the best of you like it has gotten me!