How can I avoid procrastinating when completing my assignments?
Sometimes, even when we have a nice block of quiet time in which to study, we find ourselves doing other things. Suddenly mundane tasks become all important. Before you know it, the quiet time is gone and not a word written.
Some of us can spend days searching the databases for the ‘perfect article’ for our topic, or hours and hours writing the perfect introduction to the essay. We comfort ourselves by acknowledging the hours of study we have put in, but the essay is still no nearer to completion (see ‘How can I become more effective rather than virtuous’ in the ‘Work smart’ section of the guide).
Northedge (2005) suggests that we are drawn to these distractions because they feel safe - they are routine and make few demands on our creativity. Writing an essay, on the other hand, is scary – what if I can’t find the right literature, what if I can’t think of anything to write, what if I get it all wrong, what if I fail?
Why do I procrastinate?
Sometimes naming our demons helps us to realise how irrational they are.
- Perfectionism (Only perfection is good enough, I must get it right first time or else I am worthless)
- Anger (I worked hard last time and I still didn’t get a good grade, but I don’t understand why)
- Self-downing (I never do anything right, so why should I imagine I will manage to do this?)
What will help me to get things done?
There are many benefits in overcoming procrastination: peace of mind, a feeling of strength and purpose, a sense of being in charge of your life.
Here are some tips that may help you with the task(s) that you are procrastinating. Please rank them in the order of their helpfulness to you in your situation.
Suggestion / Rank- Set a deadline. It is easy to put off a task that has no deadline attached.
- Set up a reward system, and make it fit your perception of the level of challenge of the task. Don’t talk yourself out of your reward on the basis that “other people wouldn’t have found this difficult or scary, so I don’t deserve a reward!”
- Give someone permission to check up on you regularly to help you to make sure you are still on track.
- Schedule the jobs you are most likely to put off for the beginning of the day, when you have the most energy to deal with them.
- Break the job down into small sections – maybe even just five or ten minutes long. That might be just what you need to get you started. For example, you might just write one paragraph.
- Identify just one small element in the task that is slightly less challenging than the rest and start with that.
- Check your goal and your time frame. Are they realistic? Perhaps you have set very high standards and are afraid of not meeting them. Some people are overly optimistic and imagine that they can write a good essay in a couple of days. If your expectations. are not realistic, how might you readjust them?
- Make a tick list. Some people find it easier to tackle the jobs they put off if they can take satisfaction from seeing ticks accumulating on a list as each one is accomplished.
- Join or form a study group. You can encourage each other, and share your fears with them. Knowing that you are not alone in finding an assignment daunting may help to restore some of your self-confidence.
You will find other suggestions in the section of the guide called‘How can I overcome writer’s block?’
E-Portfolio activity: One way to motivate yourself to tackle even the most challenging tasks is to visualise yourself at the end of your course, celebrating your success. Can you see yourself walking across the stage to collect your certificate? What will you be wearing? Who will be there? What will you be thinking and feeling? You could record your thoughts in your e-portfolio.
If this section has uncovered any reasons for procrastination that you weren’t aware of, you might find it useful to make a note of them in your e-portfolio too.