Breaking Procrastination Habit?

[Chun Liroy]

So pretty much I'm a freshman in College and like a lot of people I have a very bad habit procrastinating on everything until either the day before or the night before. I get decent grades without trying (A/B with *maybe* 1 C, but so far A+ in stats, A/A- in English and B+ in both bio and Psych). If you know me, I'm a very meh person when it comes to just about everything so if I get a single bad grade it's not gonna bother and I really don't get stressed out at all. 3 papers due tomorrow? np. 2 papers and a test? Np.

And I know I can get better grades on a lot of things, and I do care it's just I can't seem to shake this bad habit and I'm afraid that once I get to my profession it will translate bad. In addition, I know the work is going to get harder (Freshman year in college was a fucking joke), and I don't want to wait until then to have to deal with my problem. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice on a way to break the habit or any tricks to deal with it?

[Mizango]

Ill tell you the solution later.

[Chun Liroy]

Not nice.

[Mizango]

On a serious note, what I did was allocate a set time to do what I needed to do and gave myself time to hang, relax and game later in the eventing. After a while I saw this as a reward system and was prompt on getting any and all work done. It worked successfully for 4 years and I still stick to it today as if it were second nature.

You basically have to teach yourself to study and learn to get in the mindset to set rules and boundaries on yourself, because honestly this is the hardest transition from HS and being home to College life.

[Ragnus]

I was in the same boat in college. Keep one of those calendar organizers on you at all times and check it everyday after writing everything coming up on it. Also keep reminding yourself that a week is not a lot of time and no it can't wait until tomorrow.

[Mytiwar]

I do my things the exact same way and I've went through college with the same attitude.

It's not something that's necessarily bad, it means you work well/better under pressure. I tried a couple years ago to do my things earlier and I couldn't focus/ was completing poorly written papers because I always thought I could do it later.

[Tyche]

I never broke it, and it's never been a problem. Just don't do 20+ page papers the night before.

[Thoronas]

I had the same problem and my advice would be to make it part of your everyday routine. Make yourself take 1 hour minimum a day to do school work or do class readings. It's tough at first because you're trying to ingrain a habit but if you stick with it you'll be very glad you did.

Also: do you even think about your assignments before the last day? If you don't then my advice might not be for you as one of the reasons I would make myself do an hour is because the I would think about the homework now and then while procrastinating. If you do the same thing, doing a small amount of work on it every day helps take it off your mind so you can chill.

[Tythera]

I've tried many times but never managed to stop either. It hurt my GPA a little but apparently not enough to matter in the real world since I still got a good job.

[Eliseos]

My advisor told me to plan out my study schedule, but that never really worked for me. I don't think there is a magically solution to it besides just turning off the video game you're currently playing (or whatever it is that isn't studying) and just doing it. Having people to talk to in class about your assignment/test/whatever helps a lot too. I'm pretty competitive with things so my motivation is usually to do better on it than everyone else in the class. It's not to be one of those "hey I'm better than you", more as something to strive for.

So pretty much, before you break the procrastination habit (I still haven't fully broken it, so it takes quite some time) you just have to start studying. You may feel like it's a waste of time if it's an easy class, but it will pay off when you have harder classes.

[Mizango]

I do my things the exact same way and I've went through college with the same attitude.

It's not something that's necessarily bad, it means you work well/better under pressure.

That's true to an extent but carrying that over from your major into your industry is suicide. Most people give you a deadline but will check on it periodically or even expect it earlier, so in that aspect it will be bad. Its best to practice and fix it before you have money or your company or boss' money on the line.

Then again that is something that is dependent on your major, in my field I deal with deadlines and what not on a weekly basis and can count on one finger that the client or person paying me to do it actually was interested in waiting until the appointed deadline. For everyone that procrastinates there is someone out there that knows just as much as you and can have it done BEFORE it is expected, those people are out there in droves.

Shit is situational so I understand both lines of argument.

[Mizango]

I had the same problem and my advice would be to make it part of your everyday routine. Make yourself take 1 hour minimum a day to do school work or do class readings. It's tough at first because you're trying to ingrain a habit but if you stick with it you'll be very glad you did.

Precisely. It's certainly not easy but it can be done.

[Soa]

When I was in college I just got into the habit of going straight to the library/computer lab and doing my work after class instead of my dorm room. Once I got back to my room I'd be too distracted by stuff like video games, other people, and alcohol to get anything done.

[Tyche]

I hate wearing a watch because of it's inherent ability to force structure to the person that dawns said timepeice. The thought of a planner makes me want to vomit.

[Moss]

I have the same habits, and freshman year was also really easy for me. However, I really underestimated my exams from this past fall semester and spent the most hellish week of my life studying non-stop and scraping by with A's and B's in every class. Never again, at least for exams. Now I just make sure I don't procrastinate too much, like waiting until 2 am the night before to study, and maybe going to the library around 7 pm instead. Fortunately I'm in business so I rarely have to write any papers, because in HS those always kept me up all night.

edit: and like Soa side, gl getting anything done in your dorm room, the library is your friend.

[Eliseos]

When I was in college I just got into the habit of going straight to the library/computer lab and doing my work after class instead of my dorm room. Once I got back to my room I'd be too distracted by stuff like video games, other people, and alcohol to get anything done.

Yeah, that's another thing that will help out a lot. If you have distractions in your room, you're way more likely to not study. You'll have to start studying in a place where you minimize distractions, and the library is great for that. Don't bring a laptop either, unless if you have to write a paper or something.

And like Miz said, in the real world, deadlines don't really mean much. The customer always wants to see progress on the product they are paying for (especially doctors who have no idea how computer programs work).

[SephYuyX]

You assume procrastinating is bad, when it just depends on the type of person you are and what the subject at hand is.

When it comes to school work ive always waited till the last minute, and I always did a better job and got a better grade when doing so. However when it comes to work work I get that shit done the second I get it.

Just depends what works best for you.

[Mytiwar]

That's true to an extent but carrying that over from your major into your industry is suicide. Most people give you a deadline but will check on it periodically or even expect it earlier, so in that aspect it will be bad. Its best to practice and fix it before you have money or your company or boss' money on the line.

Then again that is something that is dependent on your major, in my field I deal with deadlines and what not on a weekly basis and can count on one finger that the client or person paying me to do it actually was interested in waiting until the appointed deadline. For everyone that procrastinates there is someone out there that knows just as much as you and can have it done BEFORE it is expected, those people are out there in droves.

Shit is situational so I understand both lines of argument.

I guess it depends on the job then, I'm currently working for the gvt. and every paper I receive on my desk that i gotta complete is pretty much due already... So my years of working under pressure actually paid off lol.

So basically you're right, shit's situational!

[arus2001]

What I usually tried to do was just tackle an assignment the moment it was given. When it came to teachers who had them written on the board at the start of class, sometimes I'd be working on it during the class itself and, if a short enough task, might even have it done before the class is over if not close.

When it came to longer things, though, like multi-page papers, my level of engagement would definitely vary based on interest in the subject. Can't say I miss my Irish Lit class, finding out I'd be first to present a week after the assignment was given, and basically having to read the entirety of the Fianna in one night and writing up a 16 page summary of everything across the myth. I was amused by the fact the teacher cut me off after about 10 minutes and I wasn't even halfway through, though.

[Alleya]

Treat it like a job. Have a special place that you go to do assignments that's relatively free of distractions, go there every day and don't leave until the time is up.

When you're done, give yourself a reward. Be honest and don't take the reward if you goofed off the entire time. It also helps to have a study partner, because then someone else is depending on you and can keep you honest.