<p>Procrastination is an inevitable and unavoidable burden for most of us. How do you deal with it? What's the best way to pull through procrastination? People usually say don't procrastinate to begin with, but that doesn't help.</p>
<p>I try not to procrastinate too much, but sometimes, you know, I just don't feel like completing that chem worksheet or the history chapter questions. Especially when I know I have the rest of the summer to do it. ;] But anyway, like you said, it's better not to procrastinate at all, but of course there will be times when you just have to, in order to maintain your sanity and whatnot. Just do something interesting for a bit, and then you'll remember, OH! I have to finish those questions tonight! and then you'll work diligently the rest of the night, really.
=]</p>
<p>Give yourself a reward every time you don't procrastinate, and deprive yourself if you do. Stick to the little things: if you have chores to do around the house, do them right away when you get home; do some homework; give yourself a break, but get right back on it. Even if you're not crunched for time, sticking to a schedule will help you get things DONE.</p>
<p>Which reminds me, I should really get off CC for the night o_O</p>
<p>I hardly procrastinate, but when I do, I snap myself out of it by:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Shutting the door (I cannot STAND it when people at home keep on blatantly trespassing that area in front of my door--it makes me feel like I'm under tight surveillance)</p></li>
<li><p>Eating in my room (yes, it saves me lots of time if I just sit there and eat in my room while completing my tasks)</p></li>
<li><p>Getting into the "OCD" mood (compulsively doing your homework with an indestructible love affair with it--maybe I'm weird?)</p></li>
<li><p>[If you have instant messaging] putting my away/busy message up (because it's always nice to be sadistic and watch people suffer as they realize you're not going to answer their questions =] Jk, but yeah)</p></li>
<li><p>Setting up "mini" goals for myself so the task isn't so overwhelming (and perhaps indulging in little rewards each time a mini goal is reached)</p></li>
<li><p>Talking to myself/persuading myself (sooner or later you're going to do it, so why not do it now and get it over with?)</p></li>
<li><p>IF ALL ELSE FAILS... TURN OFF THE DAGNABBIT COMPUTER/TELEVISION/ANY OTHER THINGYMABOB THAT'S GOING TO DISTRACT YOU!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Err yeah. Maybe that was too general of me to say. But I hope I helped, somewhat. I'm sure there are a lot of other effective methods out there.</p>
<p>...besides, why procrastinate if you know it's going to cost you later on?</p>
<p>slap yourself in the face every time you look anywhere other than the piece of paper or computer screen in which you are doing your work (also works for tests and, beileve it or not, the SAT)</p>
<p>rjimenez_1824, you are a genius. ;) Lol, I've actually done that before.</p>
<p>I gave up on trying to avoid procrastinating a while ago. Anyway, I do my best work when Im under pressure anyway- except major tests</p>
<p>Make sure you know your limits concerning how long you can procrastinate before REALLY going insane. Know yourself - how much you have to study, or if you have to at all, stuff like that. Also, invest in a great coffee maker.</p>
<p>I wrote this a few days ago in an attempt to figure out how to stop procrastinating so much. It's pretty self-referential, but some of you might relate.</p>
<hr>
<p>The purpose of procrastination is to put off unpleasant things in favor of instant gratification. Thinking about it in relation to schoolwork, though, I had to wonder why exactly I consider work to be so unpleasant. After all, Im reasonably intelligent, I dont have difficulty putting words together, and I genuinely enjoy learning; there seems to be no real reason for me to dread work so much. Last night when I was procrastinating I wrote a list of reasons I procrastinate, analyzed them, and reached a tentative conclusion.</p>
<p>Why I procrastinate</p>
<p>Fear of failure. I'm so afraid of writing anything that isn't excellent that I react by not writing at all.</p>
<p>Excuse-making. "I wrote it at two in the morning while cracked out on caffeine and aspartame" excuses bad writing. I'm afraid that if I don't procrastinate the bad writing will still be there but the excuses won't, and then itll be completely my fault.</p>
<p>Losing focus. I spend too much time overanalyzing every aspect of my life, and it takes energy away from more important things.</p>
<p>Losing perspective. I dont know how to break a large assignment into smaller pieces. I feel overwhelmed and worry myself sick but dont actually get anything done.</p>
<p>Impostor syndrome. "When they read my work theyll realize I'm not nearly as clever as they seem to think I am." Im convinced that everything Ive accomplished until now has been dumb luck and that its only a matter of time before Im caught.</p>
<p>Fear of disappointing others. I'm terrified of failing to live up to other peoples expectationsreal or imagined. If I hand in work late thats already a disappointment (of which I am in control), and the disappointment of the actual assignment becomes secondary.</p>
<p>Fear of disappointing myself. With that kind of expectations, is there a way not to disappoint?</p>
<p>So each reason besides losing focus is based on fear. I exaggerate the difficulty of the work to myself until Im literally afraid to do it; each new assignment gets its own mini-neurosis. The only work Im not afraid to do is math and simple worksheets and short-answer questions, because less space for independent thought means theres a smaller possibility of error. I cant allow myself the possibility of being wrong because then Ill be of no value to people and theyll have no reason not to hate me. Im afraid of work because Im terrified of being judged.</p>
<p>Intellectually, I know my thinking is distorted, but this line of reasoning is so ingrained that I dont know how to change it. I feel as if Im only a worthwhile human being if Im able to give something to people, and besides my (supposed) intelligence, I feel I have nothing to give. If that led to increased productivity I guess it would be convenient, but instead I crumble under pressure and do nothing and hate myself even more for it.</p>
<p>It feels self-indulgent to be writing this, but I suppose I can draw the semi-useful conclusion that before I can approach something resembling healthy work habits, I need to get over the fear. I need to understandnot intellectually, but emotionallythat no one will hate me if my work is less-than-perfect, that teachers are here to help, and that whatever it is Im panicking about at the moment probably isnt all that hard, all things considered. </p>
<p>As usual, I need to calm down and stop worrying so much.</p>
<p>Turning off distracting things doesn't help. If I'm deprived like that, I go straight to sleep.</p>
<p>Procrastinate while making the best use of your time management skills. For example, my school days are usually (1) chemistry, math, computer, study block, and Japanese or (2) biology, engineering, computer, study block, and English. I get to school forty-five minutes early to do either chemistry, biology, or math homework. I do English homework in engineering, computer class, or during my study block. If I have too much homework, I usually do them throughout computer class, lunch, and study block.</p>
<p>THIS IS NOT FOR CLAUSTROPHOBICS!!!</p>
<p>build another room for your house, paint it white, and make it with one knob -on the outside-. That way you can keep studying until someone comes to tell you to take a shower or go eat. Then again, maybe you would die from starvation.</p>
<p>:D j/k</p>
<p>just give in to it.</p>
<p>most people work better under stress anyways :)</p>
<p>i procrastinated from 7th to 11th grade. Now I regret it now since I only got like a 3.7 gpa. Last week was the most stressful period of my life. Writing a 20page paper for ap bio in 2 days...I hate myself right now</p>
<p>aww, dont hate yourself</p>
<p>You can stop procrastinating by procrastinating more (because you start to feel guilty after awhile =p).</p>
<p>Just make sure <em>eventually</em> you start to feel guilty...haha or it wouldn't work as intended. =)</p>
<p>Hey I procrastinated a ton and still has 4.0 GPA and 8 APs...but I guess procrastination explains why I'm not off doing projects like Intel and Siemens...haha.</p>
<p>nope- i definently dont feel guilty. I think teachers should stop giving me so much time to do my assignments- The give us like 2 months to write a stupid paper- I always end up doing it last minute because I keep thinking that i have plenty of time
I still do good- but I hate the panic attacks i have on the night before its due
procrastination cannot be helped</p>
<p>When I feel like procrastinating, I just go to sleep. At the very least, sleeping doesn't waste time. Then, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I do the dreaded homework. Set an alarm clock if you must, but just don't oversleep!</p>
<p>drink tea and when the ipod is out of battery life dont recharge it again.</p>
<p>When I procrastinate, I lose all sense of time, guilt, and thinking. I usually just get out my camera and so some photography. My theory is that if I am going to procrastinate, I might as well spend that time honing some artsy skills.</p>
<p>But if I have a huge project/paper due the next day, I usually buckle down and just do it.</p>
<p>I give myself breaks sometimes, but if I find out that the break is leading one thing to another and suddenly over 20 minutes or so, I start guilt tripping myself. I go to a private school, so I'll think something like "Your father just spent eight hours in the office working like crazy to pay for YOUR education, and you can't even finish this paragraph? You wimpy pathetic excuse for a daughter!"</p>
<p>But you have to watch yourself and know yourself. Negative thinking might start you down a road of depression. </p>
<p>Sometimes when I procrasinate, I forgive myself. Like yanners, if I'm doing something like making up a song, or choreographing a dance piece, I feel like I'm working on my art.</p>