<p>This doesn't really have to do with death, but I seem to procrastinate a lot when my professors give assignments that are long term projects, and I was just wondering if maybe anyone had a way to stop procrastinating? All of my assignments are online things, so cutting the internet or power probably won't help.</p>
<p>I tend to do the same thing. If I have a research paper or something that’s not due until the end of the semester, I tend to put it off…until the end of the semester. I had a 20 page research paper for English Comp II last semester that was due the week before finals. I started it about a week before the due date. I still ended up with a 96% on it though.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’d necessarily recommend my method to anyone, but my college career thus far has taught me that I’m a better writer when I’m under pressure. Aside from honors projects and lab reports though, I don’t really have any writing in my classes anymore.</p>
<p>The best way to avoid that procrastination is to simply initially start. With research papers, the hardest part can be typing that first page or so and laying the foundation. If you simply force yourself to get started on it, it’s more natural to want to keep going on it. </p>
<p>If distractions on the internet are the problem, you can install certain programs that will block your computer from internet access and such during certain hours. That can pose as a problem in internet based classes or in research papers that may require online resources though.</p>
<p>Ah. The joys of being a student. Those who don’t procrastinate are the exception.
I do it but feel happier starting sooner rather than later. My best friend is a chronic procrastinator. I remember her sticking pieces to a science poster on the train to the college for her final project submission. She does tend to get very high marks so she’s not had much incentive to change her habits beyond the stress it causes her.</p>
<p>Try making a plan for tackling the project as soon as you get it. Split it up into the main actions e.g. background reading, editing, writing up and be honest with how much time each will take you. Better to over estimate than under estimate. Plan so that you’re aiming to get your project done with a couple of weeks to spare. This gives you some wiggle room in case you get ill and lessens the last minute panic. But don’t overload too heavily on one project in a week unnecessarily. Spread them around. If you get bored easily, this can help provide diversity and make you feel like you’re progressing at a sensible pace. </p>
<p>Also, make yourself a timetable. A physical printed out timetable you can carry around as well as one for your dorm wall. Put down meals as well so you’re not having a 2 hour lunch break. Learn to say ‘no’ to when friends want you to come out but you know you’ll be behind that week. If you’ve planned well enough, you’ll have free time scheduled on Friday/ Saturday nights. when you have work to do. Also schedule some exercise/sport if you don’t already do any. Healthy body, healthy mind. </p>
<p>It’s not easy. But well done for being proactive and if one method doesn’t work for you, try another. Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree about just forcing yourself to get a decent start. At least outline what you have to do.</p>
<p>One thing you could try is to create self-imposed deadlines. Break up bigger projects into smaller chunks and give yourself deadlines for each of those chunks (or just a deadline for the overall assignment that is earlier than the actual deadline). Force yourself to stick to the deadline as if it were real. You may still procrastinate, but at least, you’ll be doing pieces of the project earlier, rather than later, or you’ll hopefully get most of it done by your earlier deadline. If you can’t get it done, at least you still have some buffer to the actual deadline.</p>
<p>If you find yourself unable to stick to the deadline (either the professor’s or your own), maybe you could come up with some sort of system that works for you. You’re not allowed to go out until you finish doing something, or you can give yourself an award when you finish part of the assignment. If you still can’t stick to your deadlines, have someone else hold you accountable. Tell a friend not to let you do something you want to do or nag you about it, until you finish what you need to finish. Set up a study group or have a study buddy, and meet with them to finish the assignment. If someone is counting on you to show up at the library to study, you might be more likely to do it (it’s like having a gym buddy). Or you could always put money on it. Write a check and give it to a friend (that you trust!)–if you don’t stick to your schedule to finish the assignment early, then they get to cash the check (or you could do the same thing with cash). If you’re going to lose a hundred bucks if you don’t stick to your deadline, you might be more likely to do it.</p>
<p>“I seem to procrastinate a lot”</p>
<p>The best tip I can give you is to stop distancing yourself from your own choices. Own your actions.</p>
<p>The sentence above puts a distance between you and the action you take: “seem to”</p>
<p>Be honest: “I procrastinate”</p>
<p>You are not watching yourself involuntarily perform the whims of some puppetmaster. <em>You</em> procrastinate.</p>
<p>I procrastinate, too. And I thought I was powerless to do anything to change it until I realized how much power I was spending - no, wasting - on the act of procrastinating in the first place.</p>
<p>It’s as if I were driving a car…</p>
<p>Me: I can’t turn left. Arrrgh!</p>
<p>Passenger: Maybe that’s because you’re turning the wheel to the right so hard your knuckles are going white. Just saying.</p>
<p>Me: (looks at himself) Ohh! How did I not notice that?</p>
<p>Once you realize that you are actively swerving away from the work that needs to be done, then you can address the question “Well then, why am I doing that?”</p>
<p>Procrastination is ultimately an act of avoidance, and it’s usually not the work itself you are avoiding. It’s something deeper, something tied to an anxiety or fear.</p>
<p>When you acknowledge that procrastinating is something you do, not something that happens to you, then you can address that fear you are avoiding.</p>