5 Tips for Getting After It on Your Projects This Semester:
- Start badly. Yes, I said start badly. As long as you are starting. Get going while you’re not up to your best work, sure you’re going to do a mediocre, lazy, pathetic job and I would throw it back in your face—or worse but here's the thing- you can change it because you started it! Procrastination, for most of us, is about being concerned we won’t do well, so we put off our work. We let that inner wimp voice come out and dictate what we do - or don't do. Tell that voice to "shut up!" Yes, it’s counter-intuitive, but when it comes down to it, procrastination is largely about perfectionism. “I can’t start because I just can’t do to this paper, project, etc.” Knock it off. Quit whining and get going through the motions. Because as long as you are "going through the motions," you're going through the motions ahead of time and starting on the project. Too easy. That doesn’t mean you should settle for handing in less than your best. It just means you have to start somewhere. And that somewhere is rarely your top effort. But getting going gives you the opportunity to get something down to work with, reconfigure, edit, recalibrate, or redo. Until you’ve started, all you have is that blank space. Once you’ve started you can scrap 90% of your first pathetic attempt and still have 10% of good stuff to work from. No more blank space, Taylor Swift.
- Prioritize and Execute Every project, paper, etc. is worth a lot of points. You fail one section, you're going to suffer. So here is what I like to do. I take the smallest, easiest thing I can accomplish and get that done. Then I move on to the next. I repeat that process until I have nothing left but the biggest piece of the entire project to focus all time and energy towards. I write down what I have to do first, second, etc. on a list so I can cross them off and keep track of what else needs to be done. Furthermore, I don't just write down my tasks either. I write down what I'm looking forward to doing when the project or paper is done. That way it forces me to keep on my warpath and stay the course. So keep a list of the things you have to accomplish. Once you have them on paper they don’t have to distract you from the project at hand. Every time you’re tempted to go off course, write it down, and remind yourself you're being weak and lack discipline, or I mean, that you can get to it later.
- Move Perhaps this isn’t the best time to change your room around or take another bathroom selfie and contemplate your next Instagram photo, but you’ve got lots of flexibility to move your study space. Sometimes just a change of scenery is enough to put some discipline back in your body. Do you need the stimulation of more people around or the input of a classmate or the solitude of your room? If you’re getting nowhere, consider an environment that will give you more of what you’re missing. And contrary to popular belief, having air pods in your ear does not help you study. Nothing Post Malone raps about will make you remember the causes of the French Revolution.
- Move more Maybe it’s not the environment that needs shaking up but you, your undisciplined body. Get up and stretch. Go run. Go to the gym. Take up jiu-jitsu. Walk around the block. Climb the stairs. Just do something active! After a bit of physical activity, you’re more likely to have the energy and focus to get after that project you’ve been avoiding.
- “Waste” more time This one ties into number 4. Are you one of those people who feel so guilty about all the procrastination you’ve done so far that you deny yourself the essentials of sleep, nutrition, fresh air, or time with others? I'm guilty of that myself. Are you trying to accomplish something before you’ll reward yourself with a break? Guilty on all charges. Guess what? You're losing more time in the process. Cut your losses. Give yourself a time-limited excuse to recharge, whether with a nap, decent food (not any fast-food garbage that will seriously kill you), a conversation (in-person, not on the phone or text), or whatever will energize you. Chances are strong your time will be more productive when you return.
Get after it,
Mr. Thompson