My name is April Coan, and I am an academic success coach and the assistant director at the Office of Undergraduate Student Success. Throughout the fall semester, I will offer tips and suggestions in The Current, which will focus on topics like success in college and taking advantage of the unique opportunities available at NSU.
Monsters are real. They don’t exist in any physical form, at least none that can be seen, but they do exist in our minds. As children, we’re haunted by the monsters we believe are living under our beds. As adults, we’re haunted by procrastination. It seems like procrastination is always lurking beside us, waiting to attack us and make our lives infinitely more complicated.
As the semester draws to its inevitable end, our to-do list seems to grow larger each passing day, and procrastination seems to grow stronger. With tasks piling up such as tests, papers and quizzes, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and to put things off for later. Putting things off is a problem because it is temporary fix and usually makes things worse in the long-term. To beat the evils of procrastination once and for all, try these three simple techniques:
- Break it down. There’s an old saying that goes like this: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Sometimes when you have a lot of things to do, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and give up. Unfortunately, that type of response isn’t very productive. Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, try making a little progress each day instead of doing everything all at once.
- Remind yourself why. When you have a lot of things to do, sometimes the reason why you’re doing things can get lost in the hustle and bustle of your everyday activities. Reminding yourself with pictures, inspirational quotes and other reminders can help you remember the purpose of your hard work and can give you the extra motivation to complete tasks now, rather than put them off for later.
- Remove distractions. We live in a world full of distractions. Between emails, Netflix movies, tweets, Facebook posts, text messages and phone calls, it’s amazing that we get anything done at all. Sometimes, beating procrastination can be as easy as temporarily removing the things that distract you the most. Instead of gratifying your impulses with distractions, try completing tasks now and rewarding yourself with distractions later.
Just like a monster from a horror film, procrastination rarely disappears completely once defeated. It will more than likely come back. However, these three simple techniques should help you ward of the evils of procrastination each time procrastination strikes back.
