Ever done everything you can possibly do to put off writing that dreaded research paper or studying for that monster mid-term? Maybe you find yourself doing the most menial things – like dishes, laundry, cleaning the toilet, and calling your mom — to keep from getting your work done. Maybe you prefer to go have fun and routinely save your homework for the last minute. If any of this sounds like your life, then you, like hundreds of other college students across the nation, are a procrastinator.
Procrastination is often a student’s greatest enemy in college. It leads to unnecessary high levels of stress, many a miserable all-nighter, and sometimes leads otherwise bright students to fail. Here we will discuss some new ways of thinking that can help you tackle a bad pattern of procrastination.
A common expression used today to help people get things over with rather than procrastinate is having a "swallow the frog" mentality. The idea comes from a self-help book called Eat that Frog, the premise of which is to imagine that every day, at some point, you have to swallow a slimy, live frog. It doesn’t matter whether you do it first thing in the morning or at 11:59 p.m., but you’ve got to swallow it at some point. Why not do it as soon as possible so you don’t have to dread it all day long? No matter what else happens throughout the day, nothing could be worse than swallowing the frog. The "frog" represents the academic tasks in a college student’s life that they do not enjoy doing.
Another thing to recognize is that procrastination is a habit. Like all habits, they can be broken by forming new habits. While studies have shown that it often takes much longer than the stereotypical 21-28 days to form a new positive habit, it is definitely possible. You can break the cycle of procrastination by making it a habit to complete your homework as soon as you receive it and to study a little each day for your tests instead of cramming for them in one long, wretched night.
Another helpful hint: When you have work to do in various subjects, tackle the most important, difficult or tedious work first. The rest will seem like a breeze in comparison, and you won’t have drained your mental energy for tasks that don’t matter as much.