Saturday, July 27, 2013

Study Smart: Beat Procrastination And Improve Your Study Habits

By Lachlan Haynes


Are you a procrastinator? Do you like to sleep in, half-complete tasks and leave everything to the last minute? Well join the club! 94% of people worldwide are in the same boat as you. And 94% of people also love saying the following four words: "I'll do it tomorrow". We say these words to ourselves knowing that an assessment date draws closer and closer or the list of chores gets bigger and bigger, but we just keep on saying it anyway! Unfortunately, this doesn't help us in the slightest because it results in well, nothing! And that's the point, nothing is getting done.

Unfortunately, tomorrow doesn't literally mean "tomorrow", it actually means "never". But in the now, nothing can stop you "tomorrow", because "tomorrow" is the first day of the rest of your life, tomorrow you can do anything! Tomorrow you are committed, strong and determined and the world is a different place, a place where you work so hard and fast that you complete everything in mere minutes let alone hours (in your mind anyway). But when that doesn't happen you think, "But tomorrow it will happen! Tomorrow I will be strong!" Do you notice the delusion that is happening here?

Do You See The Problem?

Believe it or not procrastination has a purpose and creates something that people actually enjoy (for reasons way too deep to discuss today - drama! Procrastination creates panic. It creates a sense of urgency. It creates excitement and adventure. Someone asked me to do something but I'm not doing it, what will happen to me? Let's find out after this commercial break.

We're not here to tell you that these excuses are necessarily complete untruths but if these phrases are familiar to you then you might just be a serial procrastinator. You probably tend to spend a lot of time convincing yourself of these lies and ultimately you will most likely believe them to be totally true. The major problem with this approach is that it will ultimately bring no long-term satisfaction to you at all. In the short term you are off the hook but the list of tasks you need to complete gets very long and you start feeling very unhappy. Sound familiar? If you do tell yourself these things, stop it immediately! You are just lying to yourself. Stop the lies and accept the truth. Find the real reason for your procrastination.

Get Out Of Your Own Way

It's time to stop, take a deep breath and think for a moment about why this is happening. What could the "payoff" be? What is reinforcing the behavior? What is making you want to procrastinate? Do you like drama? Do you enjoy the rush of having to get lots of work done in a short amount of time? Do you hate being told when to do work? Do you want to have a great time first and do your school work later? Are you worried your friends won't think you're "cool" if you do your school work and hand everything in on time?

When you next notice that you are procrastinating ask yourself the following questions: 1. Am I bored, or do I really want some drama and excitement in my life? 2. If so, what can I do about it? Can I do something differently to create excitement? 3. What about procrastination is desirable to me? 4. Is there any way I can create the same desirable outcome without procrastinating? The more you challenge yourself the sooner you will be able to overcome procrastination get to work!




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