A Student's Worst Enemy: Procrastination

Since my last three blogs have been about dealing with stress, I figured I should keep this theme rolling. Time Management. As a student myself, this tends to be one of my BIGGEST stresses. I am a horrible procrastinator, always have been. I mean, just this summer I did it to myself again. I was assigned two books to read at the beginning of June, both due the second week of August, but just having gotten done with school, I figured I needed a break and decided to give myself the month of June off- I'd still have almost two months left. But, by the time July came the idea of reading still seemed like something I didn't really want to do. It was summer, I wanted to go out with friends, station myself in front of the T.V., basically just do anything other than stimulate my mind . So through out July I only half-way tried, maybe a chapter or two on the plane or  by the pool, but not a substantial amount. Before I knew it though it was August, so I finally started reading, and i've been having to cram myself with reading since. This got me thinking about all my procrastination, and if I really wanted to go through another school year like that, so lately i've been looking for ways to help me manage my time better. Here are somethings that looked interesting to me:

1. Keep a daily planner and each day think of one thing you can do on your project. Don't overwhelm your self, just pick one small thing. For example: for a book, pick a certain number of pages you have to read in one night, or for a paper, go paragraph by paragraph. 

2. Limit your distractions. Without the T.V., phone, or computer near by you might feel more obligated to work. Try leaving them in another room when you work.

3. Try doing the easy part first, ease into the task.

4. Or vice versa, try doing the hard part first, get it out of the way.

5. Work at a time when you feel most energized. Don't leave it till last when your tired and cranky, it'll just make you want to do it less.

6. Each time you do a little something on the project reward yourself; eat a treat, paint your nails, call a friend, whatever you like to do.

So those are my tips! Hope they work for you:)