i seriously need to stop procrastinating!!! help!!!!?

Question

i seriously need help and ideas of how to stop procrastinating.
this is what happened last year at school: the teachers dump piles of assignments on us. i have to stay up to 1am every night just finishing them!! sometimes, i put off projects to the night before, so i can sleep earlier, and get my "required" 8hrs of z's.
also, i try to study for a test day by day, but it doesnt work, b/c i end up putting off studying all the hard sections on the day before a test!
all suggestions are welcome =] thank you!

Answer 1

First you have to come around to feeling so strongly about how you just can no longer live with the horrible mess and stress that procrastinating creates that you just cannot and will not ever proscrastinate again. This may seem like a difficult aim, but its what you have to aim for (even if you slip up in the beginning of your reformation).

You have to imagine life without some of the pressure and loss of sleep that you now have as well.

Then you have to forget about anything other than getting done what comes up as soon as possible. One thing you can do is this: If an assignment is due two weeks from Thursday you have to change that due date to, say, two weeks from Monday. Lie to yourself, and say that's the absolute deadline. Then build in a margin of error (or mess-up) by telling yourself you have to get as much done as possible by one week from Monday, not two.

Essentially, what you have to do is establish your own deadlines that 1) are well ahead of the real deadline and 2) that give you a "draft" deadline that's even earlier. What you end up with is getting most of a project done - a week and a half early; and you can use the two-weeks-from-Monday final deadline you set up as your date for getting the finishing touches on.

When you're thinking about what you have to do for a day, here's another trick: Look at what can be done very quickly. Sometimes you can check off a whole bunch of quickie things by devoting an hour or an hour and a half to those things. Decide to get rid of all the minor stuff in that hour or so you set aside each day to do that.

Break down big projects into small tasks. By doing that you can add more small tasks to your quickie list and get them done in your quickie hour rather than trying to think of a more complicated set of tasks/project later.

With studying for tests - same kind of thing. If the test if Friday and you know about it then study for it as soon as you know about it. Brush up Thursday night before it gets too late. An hour of brushing up Thursday night should

If you were to try to adopt a plan like this you'll have to accept that in the beginning you'll have to give up much of everything other than your aim to get yourself on top of things. In the beginning, you'll probably have old stuff to take care of and have new work coming in. Set aside a weekend or a weekend and a couple of nights to try to get as much done as possible and try to figure out what you can get away without doing right now. (If you got an extension on some deadlines from a teacher what is now old and late could become "new" and part of your new approach.)

Make the most use of your study hall times in school. Set a "closing time" at night and don't work past that. Set aside a few hours either each afternoon or each night - solid, uninterrupted time; and work from your quickies list first and then see if you can break up any of the larger projects and do at least part of them.

If you structure you day so you have a starting time, an ending time, a "closing" time (when you can stop doing stuff and just relax before bed) it helps you not see each day a giant, unstructured, vast landscape of nothing in particular. If nothing else, if you know that at 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. you will stop doing everything else and get to work it helps free up your brain from wondering when you might start working and it takes away the opportunity for you to be "creative" about changing when you'll start projects.

If it is possible for you to just decide you can't stand the mess with procrastinating any longer and just structure things and lie to yourself about when things really need to be done; you'll find that in a very short time you will feel enormously better, get more done, be more relaxed, and be more in control of your life. It will feel so good you'll never want to become a procrastinator again.

Good luck. .

Answer 2

Get Organzied Homie. Motivate Yourself. You Can Doi, But You Just Refuse To. Stop Wasting All This Time On The Interent And Start With Tha Books, Ya Dig?

Answer 3

I used to be a major procrastinator but I've gotten better over time. I think it's really about learning to prioritize things well without letting them overwhelm you and being able to accurately judge how long a project will take. But these aren't really skills everyone is just born with, I picked them up through trial and error. I think it would help a lot if you see a counselor who can help you with time management skills. Since you are in school, if you have an advisor they might be able to suggest someone for you.

Answer 4

I had the same problem...

First, you require a change of attitude - meaning you should realize that you have to get to WORK instead of "Ahh...I'll come back to this later." Next, you can help yourself settle down with a nice and workable schedule. This will keep you on track on the things you should be working on and the things to come. Also, make sure to steer clear of the things that would make you lose your focus. Everything else is really up to you!

Hope you the best...just hope you're not too much of a procrastinator to read this.

Answer 5

Make yourself spend so much time daily on studying and give yourself one day off on the weekend. Reward yourself when you stick to it. Remember when you finish school and hopefully college the choices you make now will affect your paycheck later. I hate to procrastinate because It just makes me feel bad. You can buy some great tunes to listen to while you study. Also maybe you can make a deal with your parents a great reward for a great report card. Good luck!

Answer 6

its freaking hard, if u ask....i try my hardest to avoid that........lets see.....

for studying for test, what i usually do is spend about 5-10 minutes (depending on the lenght of notes or chapters) trying to pick out the main points and putting them in short form...this usually cuts my studying down a lot in the end...i don't like to read for a long period of time my max is about 15mins...try to shorten ur notes....it reduces studying time and adds more sleep
advanatage of starting early...bonus!!! bug the teacher about test material so u know what to study for......if they're too cheep to tell you.....ask what's not going to be on so u know what to avoid!!!!

Assignments.....i usually divide the process by 4...(1 a week if due in 4 weeks)

research/ just gathing a buch of info...don't worry if they are realted or not

rough/putting ideas together, brianstorming process

first/trying to put in together as one project

final/typing or polishing the assignment..

Well hope this helps....i would with a study skills tutor to help me organize for college because i had the same problem organizing my things and not knowing where to start.....some maybe finding one or someone who studies well can help you study or at least give u some tips inorder to improve test scores..... i went from a D student to a B+ and A student

Keep in mind that everyone learns differently....what might work for me may not work for everyone.....i think it has to do with learning styles as well:

visual (learn by seeing)

verbal/auditory (learn by hearing)

reading/writing (learn by processing text) (This category is not always listed.)

kinesthetic or practical (learn by doing).

Answer 7

Bah! First, you need to get your *** off of your comp. Second, getting 8 hours of sleep each night doesn't qualify as an extremely tough time in my book. Work until you only get about 4 or 5 hours, then we can talk.

Answer 8

Well, if you have parents tell them not to allow you to do anything unless your homework and studying is done. Promise yourself you'll do something and keep those promises.
Don't give up on yourself and keep doing something that you're supposed to be doing something else.

Try and try again.

Answer 9

I can't help you with your procrastinating, that has to come from yourself. Write a list, organize and prioritize.That's the only thing I can suggest.

Answer 10

Write out a plan for the week, budgeting your time for study, work, and whatever else, and stick to it.