#procrastination help

If you’re a bad procrastinator like myself, likely it’s a quality you vehemently hate about yourself, but also something you can’t let go of. You’ve got homework and assignments and a pile of books in the corner you want to read and hobbies and dreams you never get a chance to work towards. It’s depressing, it feels horrible and unfulfilling, and you’re desperate to break out of it, but you don’t know how to take the first step. 

So here’s my suggestion:

Set this rule for yourself: if you’re not going to be doing homework (or some other unpleasant obligation) you need to be doing something productive. Whether that be cleaning your room, doing the dishes, going for a walk or working on one of your hobbies. 

That way, instead of wasting your afternoon on Youtube and feeling stressed and disappointed in yourself, at least you’ll be doing something pleasant or getting some other sense of accomplishment. 

At the same time, it’s a lot easier to transition from tidying your desk to doing your maths homework than it is from scrolling through Instagram. 

Once you get into this mindset, it’s a lot easier to build self control in this area.

I’m not allowed to watch Youtube, but the thought of starting my English essay fills me with a horrible sense of dread? Okay, then I’m going to reorganise my shelf, then I’m going to get rid of all the rubbish in my room, and then I’m going to vacuum the kitchen. And now that I’m done, hey you know what? That English essay doesn’t feel as impossible to start anymore!

I find that a good way to make sure I get things done is to make a list on paper or using the reminders app on my phone.

Usually, procrastination is the feeling of not wanting to Do The Thing tm, and making yourself forget about it. However, if you make a list and keep it next to you or make your phone remind you, it’s a lot harder to forget.

This method works best if you make sure not to check off that you’ve done it until you have completed it. In my case, I hate when I have those red notification circles, so I’m motivated to Do The Thing tm so I can clear my notifications.

You can use this for other things as well, like doing your laundry, taking your pills, or going for a walk. Anything that you’ve been putting off and forgetting. Even simple things like “Ask Mom about Saturday” work.

Do understand that this will not work for everybody, however it works for me so I thought I’d share.

 A lot of self-care practices are things like resting, taking time for yourself, and treating yourself to things, which is cool and good--but sometimes, if you're burnt out on doing nothing (i.e. a procrastinator like ya girl :,D ), the regular kind of self-care is actually counter-productive and makes you feel worse. For these kinds of situations, the most healthy thing you can do for yourself is actually do SOMETHING. Start small, and then work up to the biggest, most annoying tasks. 

these are things I do that somethings help and I thought I’d share (its ok if they don't work we’re all different) but these aren't a ‘cure’.

1. do some scheduling, sort what you have to do and when youre gonna do it. it can be calenders, weekly schedules, what you’re gonna do that day anything really.

2.  clean my room, this usually puts me into a productive mood or i give up and do work to get out of cleaning my room. 

3. bathe or put on a face product, it can be any type of face product, a simple cleanse or scrub.

4.  remove all distractions, put on a spotify playlist, put away the phone and close any tabs that aren’t useful for the task at hand.

THE TOP FIVE METHOD 

A productivity approach inspired by an article from entrepreneur Sean Ogle of Location Rebel.