Procrastination is when you keep on delaying a task that you must do. That at the end you wouldn’t get anything done and end up stressing about it, especially when the deadline is near.
Still, procrastination is normal because it’s our way to prevent mental burnout. However, constantly delaying the task that you need to do, won’t allow you to progress. You can read and watch countless blogs and videos on how to stop procrastinating, or plan things out but nothing is going to happen when you still refuse to take action at the end of the day.
1. Only Keep the Essentials on Your Desk
Before studying, always arrange your workplace first. Remove all the unnecessary things that are not related to your subject. Especially the things that can distract you. When studying for a certain subject you only need essentials such as a laptop, books, notebooks, pen, and a calculator if needed.
By doing so, it can help you focus and not get distracted by the clutter all over your desk. Another thing is to make sure that your workplace has good lighting to reduce eye fatigue and headaches.
2. Write Down Your Goals and Task
Writing your task for each study session helps you stay focus on what you should be finishing for the day. It will guide you on what you need to achieve, and by when. Just remember when writing down your goals and task, always write down the things that you think you are capable of doing for the day. To avoid being too overwhelmed by the task that you need to do.
Moreover, what I suggest is to keep your task in a step-by-step matter so you won’t be overwhelmed, and to also highlight the task that must be finished for the day so you will know what you should be prioritizing.
3. Listen to Music or Find a Quiet Place
Find a quiet place where you can study like your room, or if your home is full of distractions you can always go to a library, or to a café where you can enjoy your favorite drink. This is important because being able to focus and being productive is difficult in a noisy environment.
Another solution is to listen to music. To lessen the background noise and be able to study properly. Listening to music can help you relax, have a positive mood, and beat stress while studying.
What I suggest and I found effective is to listen to soft classical music and relaxing environment sounds, because it helped me a lot in being productive. However, it’s important to take note that if you’re easily distracted it is much better to avoid music. Especially loud or agitated music that can only affect your concentration.
4. Put Away Your Phone
The phone is literally the biggest distraction with continuous notification urging you to check it out, and with the urge of just using your phone just because you don’t want to do the task anymore.
I know how hard it is to not check your phone every time but it is a must because giving in will only lead to distraction and procrastination. The tip here is to keep your phone literally away where you can’t see it, and then mute it and preferably turn the wifi off.
You can also use study apps like Forest on the laptop and on your phone. You can set a timer on it, on how many minutes or hours that you’ll use to study while growing a tree. This can also help you to be able to concentrate and get things done.
5. Take a Break
Studying for long periods of time can lead to exhaustion which is why it is important to take a break. By doing so, you’ll be able to refresh your mind and be able to think clearly when you get back to what you were doing.
What you can do is after you have studied for 40 minutes, you can take a 10-minute break, to stretch or to eat when you’re hungry, then you can study once again. A constant reminder is to not sit too long because it can be bad for your back, take a stretch first and inhale and exhale when you’re stressed out.
6. Assess Your Time
Assessing your time is very important because it will help you be aware of your time. Assess how much time you spend on social media, playing games, and watching shows, and compare it to how much time you spend on studying.
By doing so, it will help you have good time management. That will allow you to accomplish more in a short period of time and more free time for yourself.
7. Have Incentives
Having incentives like treating yourself if you managed to finished a hard task, is a great way to show love to yourself. By treating and thanking yourself for always working hard and never giving up despite all the challenges that you faced.
This will motivate you more to push and challenged yourself to achieve your goals. However, don’t be too hard on yourself, don’t stress yourself too hard, and just believe that you can do it. If you didn’t achieve your goal then it’s fine, as long as you learned something from it then it could never be a loss.
Related: 200 Amazing Ways To Treat Yourself
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