#like honestly if a prof was like 'the deadline is midnight on sunday but please pretty please make sure you submit it by tuesday morning'

[mashkaroom]

i have carried 2 cups of soup and some food in between plates vertically in my back-pack back to my dorm without spilling a single drop! I can do anything. Specifically *through gritted teeth* i can do this stupid essay

[katsstudykorner]

How to stop Procrastinating (and how to prevent it)

Alt title; how to stop procrastinating when the time pressure doesn’t kick your ass in motion

Alright so I asked what people wanted to see tips for, and procrastination was a request! To be honest, I’ve never been a huge procrastinator (my anxiety would make me combust), but there’s definitely been one or two times where I have.

So first, I’ll start with preventative tips.

First, make yourself a schedule, written or not. I never write my schedules down because I’m honestly too dang lazy. But I know in my head that if I have a paper due on Tuesday, I want it to be done by Sunday so that I have Monday to edit. Which means I have to start it by the Sunday before at the very latest. So essentially I always give myself a week and two days minimum to do all papers. I do the same with exams. If the exam is on Thursday August 1st, for example, I know I have to start studying by at least the week before. Mental schedules work best for me, but if you find writing it down is better write it somewhere you’ll be forced to see it, like an agenda or in your phone

Second, break things up into small parts. As someone who likes to sit down and get things done in one sitting I used to H A T E being told this. I get it. But find a way to break it down best for you. If you work better in small segments then make your goals small. Ie. if you have a 2000 word paper, do 500 words every day. That should take you only 30 min to an hour tops and then your free, and in the end it only took 4 days (maybe 5-7 if you include planning and editing) If you do better in big segments like me, break it up big. I usually go for a rough outline in one day (just the absolute basics with quotes). Then I do the final outline in a second day. Then the third day I write the essay paragraph by paragraph (I take 20 min break after each paragraph or two). The whole point is to make the essay, project, studying, or whatever seem less daunting so you’re not too nervous to start it.

Third, even when you’re not studying or working on the assignment, think about it! When you’re on the bus, on your break from work, eating lunch, waiting for an ad to be over, anything. I do this mostly for papers, but it really helps with studying too! The more you think about something outside of your studying time the more likely you are to remember it. It especially works if you talk about it with someone. I don’t know why this works, but it does. And when you do it with a paper, by the time you sit down to write it you already know what you want to convey.

Fourth, get into the habit of treating yourself. I always treat myself after handing in a paper or finishing a test or exam. Usually with something sweet and something I normally wouldn’t spend money on. But. I only do it if I feel proud of the work I’ve done. If I know I could’ve spent more time on something... no treat. It gives me something to work towards

Now onto how to STOP PROCRASTINATING

1. Take away all distractions. Use an app that locks your phone, put it in a different room, give it to a friend. Something to get it out of reach. When I really need to crunch down on something I delete all apps off my phone except for google docs and my music. Force yourself to work

2. FaceTime a friend who’s also studying. Keep in mind this won’t work if you two don’t work well together. You have to find someone who you can sit quietly with. My friend and I play a fun little game where we FaceTime and force each other to focus. When the other person is focusing you don’t want to distract them, so you do your work too.

3. If your stressed or overwhelmed, cry it out, eat, take a nap, do whatever you need to calm down. Give yourself 30min to an hour. The get over it and push through. The sooner you push through, the sooner you can relax

4. If you’re confused about something, no matter how close you are to the deadline, email the prof. Call them. Do whatever it takes. Get the answer

5. And honestly, if you’re like 3 hours away from a deadline and not even half done and you haven’t slept... give up. That sounds super pessimistic but email the prof.explain your situation and ask for an extension. Even if you don’t get an extension, give up. Take the L. Most profs dock you between 2 and 5% for being 1 day late (starting one minute after the deadline). And it doesn’t go up until 24 hours after the deadline. Ie, if the paper is due August 1 at midnight, you lose 5% for handing it in between August 1 2:01AM and August 2 12:00AM. It makes more sense to take the extra 24 hours, get some sleep, and make sure you’re writing coherent sentences than it does to hand in a rush sleepy paper. Chances are, if it’s rushed and you were half asleep while writing it, you’ll lose a lot more marks than you would for handing in a good paper late. (Obviously this doesn’t work for exams)

6. Still break things up into parts, as mentioned above, to make the task less daunting

7. For every 30 min you procrastinate, take something away from yourself. Kinda like how your parents would take things away from you when you were a kid if you misbehaved. Take things away and don’t give them back to yourself until your done

And that’s all I can think of! Please add on any other tips!