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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Stop Procrastinating!


As we near the end of semester stress levels are at an all time high. Projects, presentations, term papers, and final exams are pretty much the only thing on any students mind.
For me, this semester has been the busiest of all. Over the last four months, I have slowly learned how to stop procrastinating, and not feel as stressed about the mountains of work I have to do. Here are some of the tips I taught myself along the way:
1.     Write a to-do list.
2.     Separate projects into smaller sections, and do a section a day.
3.     Use an agenda!!! Spread out what needs to be done over each day so you can look at it and know what needs to be done by which date. This also helps remind you of important due dates coming up.
4.     Don’t make a project seem bigger than it is. Breaking the tasks down help ease the workload, and allows the projects seem less daunting.
5.     Start the project with the soonest due date. Getting something done before the due date is the best way to relieve stress.

2 comments:

  1. You have some good tips Natalie. Rita Emmett, author of “The Procrastinator’s Handbook” offers a few more suggestions to help bust procrastination.

    • Set aside planning time every day. Figure out if you have all the tools necessary for the day’s tasks or find out how to get those tools in time to meet your deadlines.
    • Get rid of the clutter in your life. Having piles of messy notes can make studying more dreaded than it should be. Have a place to keep your notes organized so you don’t waste study time by shuffling papers.
    • Consider the costs of procrastination. Besides the obvious such as late fees and interest charges, consider other costs. Procrastination could be holding you back from getting that dream job, getting an “A” in your class, or taking that perfect vacation.

    I have found Rita Emmett’s books very helpful in getting myself more organized. Her website at www.ritaemmett.com has useful tips to stop procrastinating and get rid of clutter. She also sends out a monthly newsletter with tips and stories. Receiving that newsletter every month gives me a reminder to keep myself in check.

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  2. Procrastination is a killer of dreams.

    Keeping your goals in a place you can see them and so can others is also important. If you have a goal to do something declare it to your friends, family or who ever will keep you too it. But never declare it only to your self.

    Also having a system is important. Your system is very organized and I can attest to these thing working.

    As for Catherine's comment I find ironic that your tip about being organized is one of the biggest thing that i procrastinate about. My study needs a serious reorganization but it takes effort and too much time.

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