How to Stop Procrastinating

How to Stop Procrastinating So youve put off the big project until the very last day, and now youre rushing to finish it before 11:59 pm. Or you keep not calling your dad for your weekly talks, and you suddenly realize you havent talked in two weeks. Or your mom told you to do the FAFSA, and you keep not doing it because if you ask for last years tax information now, shell know you havent done it yet. And yes, these are all personal examples. Ah procrastination, the murderer of good night sleeps and the cause of daytime stress. And yet we cant stop. Had I written this post in a reasonable amount of time, this would be a more uplifting, optimistic, get off your butt and work! blog. But because this was left to the very last minute, my Psych class read a New York Times article just on this subject. So now were here to help you figure out why we procrastinate and hopefully give you the tools to stop it. Why do we procrastinate? When we think of procrastination, we often think of ourselves as lazy or unmotivated. In reality, it goes a lot deeper than that. Procrastination is about how we feel, and were more likely to procrastinate if youre in a bad mood or the thing youre procrastinating makes you feel bad. And its not like, I dont like doing math so Im not going to do my Calculus homework. Rather, its, Doing this homework makes me feel stupid and like I dont belong in this class, so Im not going to do it. These bits of self-doubt and anxiety and insecurity are what incline us to procrastinate. So to avoid feeling bad, we procrastinate even though we know that doesnt fix our problems. The entire time were procrastinating, were aware that were putting off things that actually need to be done. But procrastination is all about our brains trying to make us feel better short-term. It isnt considering how much more stressed well be when we only have an hour to finish something when we technically had all day to do it. It also doesnt account for how much we blame ourselves for our own downfall. In the end, were left feeling even worse than before and the cycle continues. So how do I stop? Because procrastination is about stopping bad feelings, you have to find real solutions to feeling better. Studies have shown that forgiving yourself for procrastinating leaves you less likely to procrastinate in the future. It allows you to stop focusing on the mistakes of your past and move forward to new things. Another similar method is using self-compassion and being nicer to yourself. If you procrastinate and something ends up turning out worse than you thought it would, dont spend the day shaming yourself for making a mistake. Instead, remember that were all humans and were all imperfect. A more technical solution is to make the devices of your procrastination harder to use. Make the password on your phone more complicated or put your laptop really far away so if you wanna use Netflix you have to really travel to get it. Little things like that will lessen the mental incentive to procrastinate. Or the opposite of that is removing every obstacle to doing your work. Make Compass your homepage or keep your textbooks right next to your bed. Make it so easy to do your work that you cant not do it. Conclusion Procrastination is something that everyone struggles with. I procrastinated writing this blog post until the day it was due, and I am procrastinating several other things at this very moment. But understanding why we procrastinate and using these tools can get us that much closer to not procrastinating. studying Jada Class of 2022 I'm a journalism major with an interest in film and television. In my spare time I blow bubbles on the Quad, write blogs and reviews for various websites, and douse myself in glitter to dance at obscure music festivals. That last one's not for attention, I just like glitter.