How can I stop procrastinating and being lazy?

I do well in school but the problem is I procrastinate too much and Im very lazy. Next year I’m taking all honors and one

ap class for sophomore year but Im worried that my procrastination and laziness will make me do horrible in all those classes. What should I do?

You’ve done the first thing, which is realize this is a problem. Personally, I like to make lists and cross things off them, and I’ve found that scheduling when I’ll do things (which requires a time estimate) helps avoid the last minute rush. You will need to re-train yourself and realize that you are going to slip up from time to time. Because you’re trying to break a habit, it may help to do something different – like go to the library rather than your room.

There’s a book called “That crumpled piece of paper was due yesterday” and while the intended audience is your parents, you could certainly read it and see which strategies look like they’d be effective.

Alright. Thank you.

I used to never study and procrastinate all the time and I think sometime recently during my sophomore year, I actually started studying and not procrastinating. I guess I’ve realized that as school gets harder, I’m going to need to try more to maintain A’s. What I’ve been doing and simply doing my homework right when I get home from school. I resist the urge to use my computer to play games or whatever and instead, I put on classical music online and make myself sit there and do my work.

Some people work best under deadline pressure, so they put things off until they feel the pressure. Perhaps you could give yourself earlier deadlines and pretend they’re the real thing, to give yourself that feeling that it must be done now.

Also, try thinking of a reward for yourself once you complete something.

You might also consider your work environment. It may be that you procrastinate because there is something frustrating about where and how you work – maybe you don’t have a clean and organized desk to work at, or you can’t find the tools you need when you want them, or there is distracting noise. See what you can do to create an ideal work space and ambiance to help you focus and feel organized, to support getting things done.

Another trick is to just force yourself to work on something in 15-minute intervals – it seems like a bearable length of time for something you don’t really feel like doing. Once you do a few of those short bursts, you will have made some progress, and you may even get into it and keep working till you finish.

Something else that helps is simply being completing fascinated by the topic or task, to where you would do the work even if it wasn’t required for a class. Every topic can be interesting if you give it a chance. Figure out something about each subject that appeals to you, so you want to learn more and do more.

Competition can also work. People who aspire to be the best at something can have a drive that puts them into motion. Maybe competing against your classmates or your own past performance will inspire you. If you determine that you will have the highest grades in your classes and have that goal to work toward, then you might be eager to put in the effort to reach that goal.

Exercise helps some people focus and have energy to work. You might consider exercising before starting your homework, and see if that helps.

To a large extent, defeating procrastination is in the mind, and it has to do with willpower and simply deciding you won’t procrastinate.

I’m trying to figure that out myself. ._.

What usually helps me get off my butt, though, is thinking about how if I start working NOW, I’ll be able to do all the fun stuff I want later worry free.

I also compete against my friend group in Chemistry for good grades, just like in @mommyrocks 's post.

Try out a lot of things and see what works best for you!

Write down what you need to do.
Prioritize the list.
Do what’s most important first, not what’s easy (and thus another form of procrastination)

@joyce1517 sounds good. I will try that.

Make a schedule for the week/day. For example:
-do lit hw
-study for AP
-etc

One of the major things I, personally, procrastinate in is essays. I suggest if you start a week early everything will be easier to manage. I know that you may not like to start before a deadline but it really makes life easier (you will regret and repeat this cycle so don’t do everything late)

Manage time!! <— most important thing ever!
You want easy things that take 10-30 mins done as quickly and accurately as possible. If you can get in the habit of making those easy hws/quizzes done and ready, then u are set. You seriously don’t want to spend a whole day searching random things to avoid it and then realize you still haven’t done it. As soon as it’s done --> you go do whatever u want! Now the hard tests/essays u need to make sure those are reviewed/worked on over a period of time like I mentioned before or else you will be freaking out.

And lastly stress management! I think last minuting everything just ruins ur time. It’s like the day before a test and ur stuffing ur brain with random knowledge and might end up the whole night awake and then ur exhausted the next morning. I understand u might have those days but it really messes up ur grade.

Procrastination just wastes time. Maybe u are wasting time on CC to avoid another assignment idk (lol don’t worry I am too rn but I will leave as soon as I’m done) You just need to constantly remind yourself that you wanna ace that test/essay/etc and feel proud!

@luckyruby1 Thank you for the advice! That last part had me cracking up. I don’t have any homework now but I do need to study for math lol.

@luckyruby1 hey did you get done what you need to get done today? I got plenty of stuff done today. I’m so glad I didn’t procrastinate today.

Yes I did, it was really easy stuff though :slight_smile:

@zoriez Yeah, the competing part works but the first part you mentioned doesn’t work for me. Even though it should work, whenever I’m procrastinating, I don’t have the mindset of if I do this I can do fun stuff later. Thanks for the advice anyways.

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing thread as the OP is no longer on College Confidential.