It is super easy to say you are going to do something, but often a lot harder to actually sit down and do it.

You say you’ll get around to it when you have time or tommorow or next week. Now it’s no secret that this procrastination is super common but the questions is how do you stop it?

Well the solution comes from knowing why you are procrastinating in the first place. After working with thousands of students we have found that there is one main reason you end up procrastinating…

When a Task or your work load just seems WAY too big.

When you feel like there is too much work to do or your work will take too long you tend to put it off until “later” or “tomorrow” and by doing so you are actually making it bigger and you’ll probably be under more pressure and stress.

It is important to remember that every big achievement comes from a series of little achievements that are accomplished along the way. Whenever you feel like you have too much work or a task seems overwhelming just remember it can always be broken down into smaller more achievable tasks to help you get through it.
The most important thing to do, is write them down and create a to do list of all the little things you have to do to get your homework or the assignment done. There are a few simple guidelines to follow to make sure you list keeps you on track:

Start every task with a VERB. Instead of just writing what the task is, write down, for example, “answer questions 1-16 pg,78” or “summarise chapter 7 – evolution – pg 19-25” This way your mind recognises it as an action to be carried out and gives you some direction. This can help you plan big projects by breaking them up into smaller tasks that need to be completed, like “plan introduction”, “write introduction” and all of a sudden you are chipping away at the assignment one step at a time and before you know it you are done.

Know when you’ll stop. When listing everything you have to get done do not just write “biology homework” as there is no clear start and end point, instead make sure you write exactly what the task is “questions 1-16 pg.78” so your mind can recognise it isn’t as much as it appears to be. Biology homework could mean anything, whereas this way you have more direction, you know exactly what you need to get done, and when it will be finished

Assign time limits. You can make sure you stay on track by assigning time limits to each task you have to complete. You can check out our blog post on cutting down homework time for a guide on exactly how long each task should take you. The key is to ensure you are sticking to the time limits. An alarm can be super useful to help keep you on track.

By creating a more specific task list with verbs, end points and time limits you can get all your homework and assignments done with less procrastination and less stress.

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