How to Avoid Procrastination

Procrastination. The biggest enemy of us students. Who can blame us? We are sooo burdened by work that we tend to procrastinate, that is, delaying our work to preserve our mental health. Once or twice delaying and taking a break is okay. But over time it becomes a very bad habit that we are unable to overcome. 

I got so addicted to social media during my 11th std that it became very difficult for me to focus. I used to procrastinate my studies just to scroll for some time. When 11th standard full portion mock tests arrived, I scored very low, around 300. Then, I realised that I had wasted all my time laughing at memes and procrastinating. I HAD to deal with this, here’s what helped me.

Recognizing the Causes

The first step to approach any problem is to understand the reason behind it. I sat down and asked myself ‘Why am I procrastinating?’ and I found some answers. These are the reasons for procrastination:

1. Not in the mood: This means that either there is a lack of motivation or that I don’t find the task interesting enough.
2. Too tired: This means burnout, I have worked so much over the previous days that I cannot work anymore.
3. It’s too much: This response means that I am getting overwhelmed by the task, it feels very difficult to do.
4. What’s the point?: This response is just fear of failure. I am scared that even after studying I won’t get results
5. Ughh: Laziness, when I whine or complain about having to work I understand that I’m just being lazy.

So, based on these responses and their meanings, I devised a plan to get back to work. Here is the plan.

Strategies to Overcome Procrastination

1) Overwhelmed by work: 

Set goals

Setting goals is very very important. It helps with a lot of things. See, if I feel like a task is too big and too difficult I will just break it into smaller easier tasks. So, if I am trying to study a physics chapter, say ‘fluid mechanics’, I will break it into topics and then study topic by topic. The topics can be assigned time blocks- this just means that I will assign the topic to a certain part of the day. 

I can easily complete one task after I wake up, before I have my breakfast, so I will assign one topic to this time block. Time blocking is better than allotting hours as it is more flexible. If I have a definite hourly time-table I usually feel a lot of guilt if I can not complete the task within the time frame. And then I feel a lot of resistance to start the next task too. 

Another thing that setting goals will help with is that it will take away the inertia to get to studying. Usually when I start studying, I’m very confused, ‘What to study?’ ‘This or that?” and in this confusion, I end up procrastinating the task.

I know, you might be doing the same thing. Trust me, set goals for the day, they should be specific and realistic. Don’t set vague goals like ‘Study Biology’ Set very specific goals like ‘Study this chapter in biology from the NCERT and solve 50 questions based on it.’

Time Management 

Sometimes, you might feel overwhelmed even when you are working continuously, this might be a sign that you are not prioritizing your tasks properly. You should set your goals based on priority. If you have a test on mechanics this weekend, put mechanics on priority, get it done by the weekend. If you are studying some other unit instead, any work done will not make you feel secure. You will not get feedback on your work this way. Be smart about how you set your goals.

I usually advise setting weekly goals and then breaking them down into daily goals. This not only helps in setting priorities and managing time properly but it also helps with the task of setting goals itself. As I said, confusion is a very big problem.

Also try to have a good routine, wake up early if you are sleeping late, and wake up super early if you are sleeping early. Having a definite routine also makes you habituated to work, you will want to work more.

2) Burnout

Taking a break:

This is NECESSARY. You NEED to take a break if you are burned out, you cannot deal with tiredness with more work. Understand when your brain needs some chill, be smart.

Go out for a movie or spend the day with your family, you can also paint or draw, or do whatever you like. One day or even half a day off will help a lot. 

Breaking down tasks: 

I’m talking about taking breaks while working. It is an important step of getting out of the procrastination loop or the burnout loop. Obviously you won’t be able to work for 15 hours a day suddenly. So, to make sure that you are working as much as you can, take short breaks during a task. Use pomodoro method, but a little modified. I would suggest working for 45 minutes and then taking a 15 minute break. What you should do in the break will be discussed later.

This will also make sure that you are getting small breaks thus preventing further tiredness, and also that your link of study does not break. You can focus on one topic long enough before the break. Pomodoro helped me develop a good study ethic. Now I can work continuously for hours and hours without having to take a break. Keep using Pomodoro long enough and you will be able to work just like me.

Also read: How to study for long hours without feeling burn out?

3) Lack of motivation

Task-reward loop.

Remember I asked you to use pomodoro with short breaks in between. Well in those breaks you should set up a short reward for yourself. I loved reading novels in my preparation days, so I would usually read one chapter of my novel in the 15 minute break. Sometimes, I just went to the kitchen to sit down and talk with my mother. It was relaxing and thus I thought of it as a reward too. I like painting so sometimes I used to paint or doodle during the breaks. You can also watch an episode of some TV series during this break. Remember, indulgence in social media and TV series is not prohibited, but if you are getting addicted then remove it for the next two years.

Basically, I did anything that made me feel happy or relaxed. I urge you to do the same, it will give you a short dopamine rush. To associate this with your study session, you can avoid doing these fun activities when you have not completed your task. This will make your brain associate the task with the dopamine rush. It’s similar to Pavlov’s conditioning, you will feel more motivation to work. This is short term motivation. For long term motivation, read the next point.

Motivation Wall

Set up a wall in front of your work desk, put up pictures of your goals, put up a picture of a stethoscope, a white coat, your parents’ pictures, basically anything that makes you want to work. Anytime you feel demotivated, look at the wall and remember why you started working in the first place. You will feel much more motivated.

Another thing you can do is write a journal or a diary. Ask yourself questions like ‘Why am I doing this?’ ‘Why am I working so hard?’ ‘What will I get from this?’ and then write down the answers that you get. You can read this journal daily to feel motivated.

This will be your long term motivation.

4) Disinterest:

Creating a good study environment, WHICH IS NOT YOUR BED.

You might be feeling bored and disinterested because you are not in the right place, and thus the right mindset to study. Create a place where you sit and study. It should not be your bed, your body is in the habit of sleeping there. If you study in the same place, you are confusing your mind. Sit on a good table and chair, put up the ‘motivation wall’ as I said and stack up some books, some dry fruits and a 2L bottle of water on the desk. 

If you cannot manage to set up a study table, just sit on the floor. Avoid sitting on your bed at all costs.

Alternating between interesting and uninteresting subjects disinterest

During my NEET preparation I hated inorganic chemistry, it was all memorization, no fun. The exceptions were mind boggling. So, naturally I did not feel like studying this subject. To avoid procrastination, I used to study this subject with physics. (I found physics interesting). I would alternate between one topic of physics and one topic of inorganic chemistry. This helped me overcome my disinterest and get back to work. 

5) Fear of failure

Dealing with Perfectionism 

Most times when I do not feel fully energetic, I procrastinate studying. I do this thinking that ‘I won’t be able to solve questions based on this chapter anyway, why should I study it?’ And then I don’t even try.

See, maybe you won’t be able to solve questions from that chapter after studying. But if you don’t study, you definitely won’t be able to solve questions from that chapter. You should keep this in mind and start working. 

Honestly, I still face this problem to date, and the only way to solve it is to keep aside my fear and start working. I tell myself that it is okay if I can’t solve all questions from that chapter, any progress is progress. One question solved is 4 marks gained, it can make all the difference in the world.

6) Laziness

I don’t want to give you an answer, just work? What are you doing? If not for yourself, work for the people who have so many hopes from you. Work for your parents and siblings. Make a to-do list and JUST WORK. 

Conclusion

All in all, don’t blame yourself a lot for procrastination (unless you’re just plain lazy). Try to understand the cause and work on it. I am sure you will get past this phase. 

Just follow the tips in this blog and notice the difference it will make. ALL THE BEST.