How do I prevent myself from procrastinating?

Question

I am the queen of procrastination.School is re-opening next week and I really want to break out this nasty habit of mine.Any suggestions?

Wow 370 ans!Yes I read all of them except the ones with the really low ratings.Thanks I really learned a lot.In fact I'm making a sked and turning off my computer when I'm finished.The main thing I learned is to just do it.Again thanks to all of you who answered.Peace!!!

Answer 1

The only trick there is is to just do it. Every time you are thinking about doing something and then start coming up with reasons not to do it. Stop yourself and remind yourself that if you don't do it now, you never will. Until it's too late. Even if you have to mentally reprimand yourself, do it. It really works. Also, remind yourself that if you don't do it now you will have to do it later. Later usually means a really inconvenient time or a time where you REALLY don't want to do it. I was always really bad at procrastinating all the time. This is the only way to help fix it. It's not gone all the way. But I find that I do it less often, and chew myself out a lot less often. You can give it a shot.

Answer 2

Ok, I'm also a huge procrastinate. I'm also a senior in high school and it wasn't until my sophomore year that I really figured out what was the problem and why I procrastinated.

I'd always go to my room, or the family room, or even a library to do my homework. The problem was the things that I couldn't control. I would be surrounded by other people, and there were computers, other books, and music that I personally just can't function well when those things are all around me.

What I did, besides keeping a school planner with all of my assignments due tomorrow and due later, was I found a place that was free of distractions. It has no computer, no music, If I shut a door, no one else will go in. At the library in my city, there are special meeting rooms that you can request and most libraries have them (the main branches, a big library).

Also, apart from finding a study space, turn off your cell phone
and don't be playing any games or be on myspace or facebook or blogging, and actually, when you're doing homework, stay off this site =P

Never assume or try to convince yourself that if you watch TV now, and do homework later, it'll be ok. Eventually, something will come up and you'll be stuck. I hope these tips helped you!

Answer 3

There are several ways, but finally whate'r you do matters the most. In the end you might feel that oh! I could have done that with out the aid of all these external help.

1. You can keep a wall sticker with these or some such sayings, "Postponement postpone thy aim," I am sure you would feel inspired for first few days. Then change that to something similar but in different words. Because our psychology is such that we get bored about some thing very familiar, especially advices.

2. You can keep a flap on the page of a very interesting book which you have read that keeps your spirit alive. And keep this book on the top of your table, so that you can open that page directly and read that inspiring words of a hero of your heart. This will break the monotony and keeps you alive at all times. That is another psychological reason behind procrastination, feeling monotonous and bored.

3. It is said, "laziness is a disease" (this can be your wall reading-see point 1). But I feel, laziness is due to the cause of some unknown disease in us or some kind of sickness. Our body and muscles needs to be kept alive and vibrant. For this you need to have a moderate but healthy food. Take good amount of vitamins and mineral based food. That will keep your body happy and make you look around for a work to spend the refreshed energy. But do not take nerve stimulants. They too make you feel the same, but at the end of the day, you end up spending extra energy and more weakness. Therefore, laziness is weakness born out of unhealthy environment, sorroundings, and ones own poor health.

Try these first. Hope, others here would give you new suggestions.

Answer 4

Picture the worst case scenario. Generally, I procrastinate because nothing bad has ever happened before- procrastination has worked for me. I have never had a situation where something horrible happened that could have been prevented had I not procrastinated.

Picture, if you will, procrastinating on a final exam paper that will be worth 50 % of your overall final grade in a class. You wait until the night before it is due, because you are good at this class, you've never had a problem with the class, and the topic is easy. However, something unexpected occurs.

You forget that the paper is due, thinking that you had it taken care of, until you were about to get into bed for the evening. Then, you scramble to find the outline for how to write the paper, and you can't find it. It is gone.
You call all your friends in the class, and with some you have left voicemails, some are already asleep and their parents will not wake them.

You try to remember as much as you can without the outline. You manage to get something typed up, although you know it's not exactly what the teacher wanted.

You begin typing on the computer, franctic, because of the stress, and because you're so tired, you just want to go to bed since you have tests in other classes that you need to rest up for.

You are in such a hurry that you forget to save what you're typing every few minutes, and your computer suddenly crashes. By the time you get the computer and internet back up and running, it is 2am. You begin typing what you did remember you had written.

Half an hour later, you get a call from a friend, while you are still working, saying he couldn't sleep and had woke up in the middle of the night. He happened to check his cell phone and got your message. He gives you, over the phone, the instructions for the assignment, and they are far different from what you thought.

So you begin your preparations, ready to print your assignment, and your paper is finally done at 4am.

You can't print your paper because it is out of ink.

What will you do then?

You can't email the paper to yourself- there is no time to print it out in the lab before school.

What would you do?

Here you are, an A-student, very smart, standing on the verge of failing a class, all because of procrastination?

Don't let it happen to you this year.

Answer 5

I have this same problem myself. I find that getting started is the hardest part of all. I will make deals with myselft to start small. Like, if I have a report due in a week, I will tell myself that on Monday, all I have to do is get some books from the library, that is all. I don't have to start the report yet or anything. Then Tuesday, I have to make my outline....so on and so on. However, I often find I end up doing a lot more than I planned just because I got over the initial hurdle of starting the darn thing. If you can accomplish just one thing without having to rush at the last minute, you will be amazed at how relaxed you will feel, and you will be less likely to procrastinate in the future.

To do lists are another great tool. It is harder to put something off when you see it in black and white in front of you. Also, schedule set times to do school work everyday. Say, 2-4 everyday will be devoted to studying, homework, etc. Just get it out of the way. Do you work at the same time each day, in the same place (ie lilbrary or desk), and get rid of all distractions. If you can force yourself to do this for one week, that is enough to make a habit form.

Answer 6

1. make up a sked. like on your outlook and set alarms to keep reminding you.
2. keep to your sked. just promise yourself. you will be the only "victim" if you don't stick to it.
3. concentrate. focus on the work at hand. you can do other tasks after.
4. baby steps. when you make your sked, allow yourself enough time. don't make it too tight or you are just setting yourself up for failure.
5. ask for help. that is pretty self explanatory
6. don't be idle. when you are stumped on something, move on to the next. but make sure you will go back to it. make the proper changes on your sked.
7. be patient. it will take time before you get all your stuff in order. just try focus on finishing one thing at a time.
i too am a procrastinator when i was in school. then i realized the only person getting the short end of the stick is ME. the person getting the bad grades is me. the person not getting into a good college or getting a great job is me. If you have dreams then you have to stop procrastinating.

Answer 7

It is really a mind over matter thing. Start the year out great and finish it that way. I am not sure about you, but many people will start school out with a bang doing everything they are supposed to do. They show up to class on time, take plenty of notes and actually study those notes when class is over. Then gradually they stop studying the notes by putting it off for another day, then they stop with taking notes, and then things fall apart. It is good to have a support group or fellow classmates that you can study with and will motivate you and you can motivate them. It is hard trying to keep up with school sometimes, especially after breaks and vacations. If you set a goal and write the goal down so you visibly can see it, then you will do great. Just focus and make sure you only have positive people around you.

Good Luck This Year

Answer 8

I would recommend creating a detailed schedule and then setting a time frame for each. You can also have a loved one create a schedule for you so you are not able to fall back into old habits. Since you are the queen of procrastination, I would recommend being as detailed as possible with the time frames you give yourself.

For example:
8:00 am wake up
8:15 eat bowl of cereal
8:25 go to bathroom get ready for day
9:00 clean dish etc.

As you work though your day cross off all the completed task. Make sure that you are completing the task at or before the time on your schedule. After you follow this routine for a while you will really get in the habit of just doing it. As time goes you can eliminate the minute by minute details and focus on the actions. By putting yourself on a min by min schedule you end up making yourself want to complete the task before the time has passed. You can also set rewards for yourself after each days goals are completed. You can opt to take a bath or order a movie.
Or you can be more strict,
For example if on Monday you have not completed all your tasks take that extra $20.00 and put it aside. Once you are able to complete all your task and stay on track take the money and go shopping, go to dinner, or anything else you may have wanted to do.

Answer 9

i'm definitely a procrastinator too, so i have a few tips that could help you. these won't exactly cure your procrastination, but they'll hopefully keep you focused.

1. take a 5 minute break every twenty minutes. do something you enjoy; play an instrument, go outside, watch tv etc. doing this will keep you calm and make you more likely to finish the task.
2. start your homework as soon as you get home. no exceptions.
3. people say to turn off all distractions. and if you can do that, more power to you! if you can't, like me, just turn on your favorite song but turn the volume down pretty low. this will help keep you calm. if you have a whole playlist, you might want to sit there listening to it for a while!
4. think of what else you can do once you get the homework done. however, do NOT rush under any circumstances.
5. do you have a favorite snack? maybe eat a little bit of it every few minutes. however, stay focused.

i've learned these tips in school, and i hope they help you! =]

Answer 10

I have the same problem! Here are a bunch of things that I've tried or thought of. See what works for you!


The best thing to do is to try to mentally change your priorities. If you will make school important to yourself or enjoy it more, you probably won't procrastinate as much.

You could ask a parent or close friend to help keep you focused.

Get up early and set the tone for the day, you can always slow down later if you want to.

For some people it's hard to remember things that aren't in front of them, write yourself a note and put it where you will see it.

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Talk to someone who is good at getting things done!

Get rid of the distractions... if it's your computer, don't turn it on until you get all of your studying done. If you need the computer for school, place it where others can watch you and tell you to get back to work!

Encourage yourself when you make a choice to not be distracted. It's not easy making the right choice! Pat yourself on the back or give yourself a mental *Nice Job*.

Realize that you will still have time to do the fun things after you finish everything, and you will be more free!

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Sometimes procrastinating and getting away with it is fun, try to stop enjoying it.

Pratcice doing a project without thinking, so doing what you need to becomes a reaction (for example, you automatically sneeze if someone puts pepper under your nose, it's automatic). If you have a hard time waking up, set an alarm and when you hear it JUMP out of bed. Often it is the first few seconds that make the difference of doing the right thing or procrastinating.


Overall, it's not an easy habbit to kick, but you can do it!!

I forgot one thing, for me it helps if I see a large project as little pieces. When I get one part done, I congratulate myself. Sometimes looking at the whole project is overwhelming, so break it down!

Answer 11

I hear ya. I struggle with this problem as well. It's very hard to conquer. "Why do today, what you can put off till tomorrow? :)" I've learned that people who procrastinate tend to have a couple of possible things going on. One is a somewhat of a perfectionistic personality . . . if it doens't come easily, and they feel they can't do it perfectly. . then it keeps getting put off. The other thing that might be going on is a fear of success which a deeper issue that might need exploring with a therapist. One suggestion is when you have a project to do, at least commit to working on it for 5 minutes. Many times that 5 minutes will expand to longer because its just getting to the point of taking the first step that's the biggest problem. 5 minutes is not a long time to commit to, and you can stop the project if you like, and then do the same thing over, and over at different times or different days. Eventually your work will get done. Also reward yourself after each session.