Alex was a sophomore in his new high school .He began his new academic year with the resolution
that he will study hard, burn the midnight oil and eventually get good grades. He attended his first day
at High School and got a pile of Homework to complete but as soon as he returned home, what he did
was to open up his Computer and play his favorite Video game for whole evening. In night, as he was
about to start his homework , his favorite TV show came on air and his whole night went staring on TV
screen forgetting about all the bunch of Homework he made a goal to jot down . Later, as he slept, he
felt sorry and regret that he could not stick to his resolution and made up mind it to try it tomorrow.
But, the story goes on repeat with him daily procrastinating on his resolution and failing to stick to his
goals.
All of us start our year with new spark and aspirations but later we find it difficult to stick to our goals
and accomplish our tasks. Then, later we regret and feel sorry for ourselves. Procrastination has always
been a hard nut to crack for teens and children living in 21st century because there are too much hurdles
and distractions that make us astray from our Goals. Be it Homework, Assignments, Tests and Exams,
those who delay always face problems because they let their habit of Procrastination control their every
action and once activated this habit always leads to downfall and failure. But Guess what, as every
disease has a cure so there are some methods that actually work and act as a cure of
"PROCRASTINATION ". So if you are the best procrastinator world has yet seen but really want to Get
Straight A’s, Get appreciation from teachers and be on the Top then read on as these tips will surely dig
out the best in you.
1) Count the Cost
The biggest mistakes that we make while making our resolutions and plans is that we just never look at
the sacrifices and consequences we might face while we stick to our goal. For example if you make a
resolution to Get good Grades then you might have to decrease you Screen time( TV , mobiles , IPods)
and sometimes wake up till late nights to complete the assignments and projects. You might need to
stop your daily visits to Facebook to complete your studies. The best planner is one who makes a goal
and also enlists the consequences he might face to stick to his code. By counting the cost, you will never
ever do the tasks you have planned to avoid and eventually this will lead you to best outcomes.
2) Appreciate Yourself
By appreciating yourself I mean reward yourself when you complete a particular task that you planned.
After all you have accomplished something and acted against the procrastination germs disturbing you
time to time so you deserve to be rewarded. You can get yourself a break and surf your favorite
website, eat ice-cream or do anything that has positive effects on you and makes you happy. By
rewarding yourself, you actually gain motivation and energy to conquer now bigger and nail-biting
tasks.
3) Get, Set and Go!
One of my friends (whom I know to be a great Procrastinator) always did not completed his assignments
and when inquired by the mentors he used to say these classical lines “I knew all the requirements of
the assignment but didn’t knew where to begin the work from “and later gave up always. Well the
problem is serious, if you are also a great procrastinator (like my friend) so the problem to find the
starting point is natural. To cure this problem, you actually need to write your daily work (assignments,
subjects) and enlist them. Then, prioritize your work and arrange the work in the order you like. Some
people prefer to start from difficult and end up on easiest while others prefer to go with the easiest task
first. Find the way you are most comfortable in. But if you can’t choose between both (because
Procrastinators always find reasons) then try both for few days and then you will eventually find your
work pattern. Gear up yourself and START without delay !
4) Put first things First
We always tend to put upon us too much burden and eventually find it difficult to get desired results
that we want from our assignments, homework or tasks. Well not now, because the tonic to this is to
put the tasks in hand in order of priority and importance. By order I mean that you should do tasks by
dividing them in two sections
1. First those that require immediate attention and are urgent (let’s call them Me Firsts).
2. Second are those that are important but not urgent i.e. you still have time for them (Lets call them Me Later).These include the assignments, homework’s or assignments that you need to submit
tomorrow and need to be done as soon as possible. They are important but you will not lose much if you do do them inch by inch or bite by bite.
The urgent tasks need to be done first so first allocate the time for them and complete them. Later
when you have completed the urgent tasks (Me First) move towards the important tasks (Me Later) and
complete a part of it daily so that you can submit them on required deadline. Note that 90 percent of
the tasks that we put in me first category are offshoots of Important tasks (Me later) that we
procrastinate till the last days. Isn’t it interesting ! . By this plan , you will not only complete the tasks
that are urgent but will also complete other tasks one by one so that you will not have to face the
trauma and stress that we feel by completing them in the last days . It will also subsequently release
much of your tasks that you turn into urgent by procrastinating on it. Don’t we all want that!
5) Time It All
Think about it we all have the same amount of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as Albert Einstein, Marc
Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Nelson Mandela,Muhammad Ali Jinnah then what actually makes them so great and successful among all of the individuals on Earth? It’s the time that they gave to their cause and passion that makes them unique, the time they could have wasted by playing, hanging out but it was their utilization of time in hand that makes me write them as an example for you.
The way we utilize the time in hand is what makes us unique and successful in the long run. So who
doesn’t want to be like successful in his goals ! Obviously we all and the only way is to follow a
schedule that makes you make use of your time. We all learned how to divide the tasks, now let’s tune
them perfectly by allocating specific time for those assignments and tasks. We all have our own ways
and limitations up to which we can study so make your schedules in the way you feel comfortable (Do
make it) but while making your study timetable do checkout the following points
- Make it according to pace at which you study not the way you want to study because each and everyone has a pace and specific time period up to which we can study at our level best and store the learned information in our memory for long time .
- Maybe some problems might stop you from beginning your task on time or the task can be too lengthy or time-taking to complete within your allocated time .That is why , remember always to put some extra time (emergency time) at the start and end of each and every work you schedule to do.
- Have a life as well ! Studies are important but if you cut off yourself from the world for it you will miss the most important moments in the most important phase of your life. So make a schedule that doesn’t interfere with your social or family life and lets you keep a balance between studies and you’re other portions of life.
- Study the subjects you are interested in first so that you start enjoying the studies and get charged up for the difficult tasks ahead. Then, when you will move towards difficult ones you will find them easier to do and the best thing is you might will start enjoying them as well.
- Design your schedules ones and for all. Do not edit it daily and trust your intuition and guts that this will work out. After all you have worked hard to make it.
- Do get some space for breaks. After each task you do spare out some time to reward yourself.
- Spare some time before studies to effectively plan your all tasks and to arrange them inorder of priority. It is recommended that you make a To Do List before start of your studies daily.
6) Break Please
We all are Humans and we cannot perform all the tasks at a time. We need some break to renew our
selves. Similarly, in studies if we continue them without any break, we will eventually get bored and
quit in a few days the whole study plan we planned so keenly. We need some time between tasks to
get refreshed. There is no specific time for breaks because whenever you study your own intuition
warns you when it needs a break. You just need to discern these warnings. You know it’s time for break
if you can’t figure out what you are learning at your studies , get bored , feel hungry or Even yawn ( that
happens much , doesn’t it ! ) . Recognize these signs and take a break. Reward yourself with the things
you love to enjoy or do. Get your energy level back and then return on the battlefield between you and
that homework. If you can’t still figure it out ,then take a break of 15-20 minutes after completing each
task on your to do list . Then, reward yourself for this big accomplishment (it actually is) because you
have won one part of the battle against the disease they call “PROCRASTINATION “. Later, come back
and start from where you left!
7) Own Your Studies – Make it yours
The best way to do a thing is the way you love doing it. Same principle applies to your studies and
assignments. Until and unless, you make them fit the way you actually do other tasks, you will not
understand the topics clearly and will only memorize them until the next paper .The next morning all
vanishes away. Studies show that a student will memorize the learned topic for much time if he enjoys
learning it with full concentration.
There are many ways you can make our studies interesting. You can listen to lectures and learned topics
online (trust me they exist), download your lectures online to your phone and listen them through your
headphones. You can also make a set of flash cards to memorize a topic. I you love music and cannot
plug out those earphones then it is highly recommended that you download some instrumentals on
your phone and play them during your studies. Recent studies show that Instrumentals do have a
positive effect on memory recall and helps increase your verbal and mathematical skills . You can also make study groups with those that share same interests like you and study in group. It gives you two benefits, first you will love studying with peers and second, you can also share your knowledge with one another through which each one of you benefits. Whenever you come across a difficult topic, always look for the methods to make it easier. If you get trouble remembering all those equations in math’s, chemistry or physics make them understandable to you (For example E=mc2 can be E= milk chocolate2) ! You can also make shortcut methods in math’s and some of your own definitions of formula’s you have difficulty to remember.See, learning is not limited and to actually love learning you need to go out from traditional methods and study in your own way to grasp and remember what you learn for lifetime. Gone are the days when rote memorization was the way you got assessed, now you are checked by your concepts and understanding. They only develop when you start loving and enjoying what you learn and study with your own creative methods.
To sum it all up, time is not the problem, it’s how you handle it that breeds Procrastination and once
activated this habit always leads you towards downfall. Don’t let yourself be victim of that. Don’t wait
for the perfect moment to start what you should start now. Tommorrow is an illusion. The only time we
have is what we have now. Make it count. Conquer challenges you face in your studies and learn what
you long to learn. You might face problems, your schedules and plans might not go as planned but don’t
give up all. You are better than millions of all those students who aren’t trying to make to make their
lives productive. It’s all worth in the end. It might be scary to loose and experiment something new but
you know what’s even scarier?? Sitting at one place and doing nothing for yourself. In life we only regret
chances we never take and opportunities we left or gave up in the right time. This is the right time as
you all have now started new academic year and this is the moment to make things happen and plan
your year ahead. Go and triumph in your studies for this year because you are worth it. Good luck!
