Procrastination Pointers

By: Kaela Avila

Procrastination is a word which seems to be in almost every student’s quality bank at one point or another. Teachers nag us about it at every assignment, but it can’t be helped that we teenagers would rather watch Netflix or scroll through Instagram than work on a 12-page essay on the history of the napkin. While procrastination is not bad with the occasional couple of worksheets, long term projects and studying for tests will result in the need for more than one cup of coffee. Below are some tips that may help lessen procrastion, but are not sure fire ways to completely getting rid of the habit.

Tip one is easy; write the official due date a day earlier. By doing that, rushing through all the work the night before that day will guarantee completion and may give you more time to edit out last minute mistakes. It will let you have some relief, and in return, will give you more time to not have to be bothered with other homework.

The second one isn’t that bad either; estimate how long it would take to finish the assignment and add an hour or two. Doing that would help for estimating how much time should be set aside to finish the homework. Knowing how long it would take to finish it will ensure when it would be best to start on the almost due project.

The third tip depends on the type of person; either take away all distractions during rush work or blast music and the TV to high volume. To work at the last minute takes motivation, so a quiet atmosphere may work for some or an entire rock album would work best for another.

It may seem needy, but asking a person who is working on the same assignment for help is a fourth point. Doing an assignment which is difficult and confusing will take awhile to complete, so why not ask for some last minute? Finishing will be quicker if someone who’s done it can help.

The last tip that might be helpful is to not sleep at all (which is not really a surprise). If a project is due the next day and only a small percentage of it is completed, then don’t waste those few hours of sleep to, well, sleep. The consequences may be brutal in the afternoon, but it might be worth it if a grade is on the line. Sleep belongs to those who’ve prepared, so procrastinators should concede to going without.

Stopping procrastination is sometimes futile, so it is best to at the least lessen the burden in one way or another.