That's right. Procrastination, the untimely demise of those last-minute students like myself. Considering how I'm into my eleventh week of school already, the projects, and homework just keep coming. And me being me, I wait until the day before it's due to finish them.
In middle school, this routine was successful. But I've come to realize it's a lot trickier to manage once in high school. Instead of the usual one project in a week or two, you now deal with the possibility of two projects a week. And, the more complex they are, means a lesser chance of completion.
So for those of you who deal with this curse, I've surfed the Internet for some tips to counteract my do-later personality that have helped me, and might help you as well.
1. Break the job into smaller pieces.
Seeing the project can frighten people enough to not want to do it. You can break the job into smaller segments and finish them at certain deadlines which lead up to the final product in the end.
2. Use short-term goals to achieve the long-term goal.
Whenever I do a project, I think of my long-term goal as the completion and success of my project. I set up smaller goals such as doing research that ultimately leads up to the long-term goal.
3. Choosing Locations.
Are you the type of person that gets distracted easily? I know I am. If so, you should try to stay out of loud environments when working on something. I mainly stick to my bedroom where it's nice and quiet and remove anything that will distract me from the room.
4. Just do it.
Many of us have trouble when it comes to starting the actual project. The problem is, we don't know where to begin. What I do to solve that is take a piece of paper and start writing. It doesn't really matter what I write because in the end, I'll keep the bits that actually make sense and lose the ones that don't.
5. Optimism
Try to be more optimistic when it comes to projects. For instance when you have a ten page report due an have completed five pages, don't think about how you have to do five more pages. Instead, think about how you're already halfway done. I've come to realize when I have a negative attitude, it takes me a lot longer to get something done because I'll take a lot of breaks. When I'm in a positive mood I actually have the spirit to get thongs done.
Hope these worked as well for you as they did for me. And remember, "You may delay, but time will not." ~Benjamin Franklin
