If you are reading this, then there is a high chance that you currently struggling to finish your assignments. Well this article might not help you right now and right away (too bad for you), but I promise it will prove to be useful the next time you procrastinate. This small guide written by yours truly is written for you guys who are still in early years of college especially.
Why Do We Do Things On The Last Minute?
So what do you need to know about procrastination? It usually happen when we think we can't achieve the perfection or target for the tasks that we set in our mind. For example, you have assignments due next week. You really, really want to complete your assignment perfectly: answer every questions, do a high class writing, getting the right answer on the hardest questions etc. But when you do the tasks, you think it is too hard or unreachable. So you decide to do it later. When you want to start on the tasks again, you feel like "there's nothing I could change about it". You keep doing it until the due date is tomorrow...then you'll start working on it with the mindset of "It'll be okay if I just finish it, I don't care about the quality anymore".
The other one is you are afraid to ever look at the assignments, so you'll leave it until you are truly pressured then you'll open it. But the problem is the same: you want to do it the best but you'll afraid you can't.
If you have ever feel like this, then don't be sad. You are not alone.
Now you can see the problem properly. It's not that you cannot do it, it's just you expect too high of yourself from the beginning. There is a way around for this. So now we move on how to procrastinate properly.
Planning To Procrastinate
It might be a contradiction to plan to procrastinate. It's like two very different things like? But I believe they are not mutually exclusive. Careful planning is important to give ourselves a time frame on when to do what. The strength lies in organizing your thoughts. So what is the strength of procrastination then, you ask? I believe you know the answer: it's in the pressure that you receive.
You have to finish it by tonight, so you push yourself to the limit to finish it. We all do this, at least once. But why not turn the pressure into a more positive force for you to get your lazy ass working? In the same time, we'll also use the benefit of planning things ahead.
1. Positive thoughts
First, don't think procrastination is a bad thing. It is bad only if you think it is. The power of last minute jobs shouldn't be overestimated. If you have a task, and you still have time to work on it, then just say "I want to procrastinate". So now you are on the stage 1: you are ready to procrastinate.
2. Be Brave To Admit
Then, you should ready to admit. Admit that you are currently not good enough for the task. This is important because you NEED to look into your assignments. Just read the questions, know what they really want, understand which part you don't know, and know what knowledge do you need. I couldn't stress enough how big of a difference it will make when you know what you don't know or not. When you truly understand what you are lacking, it's time for a little work.
3. Do Some Research on WHERE You Can Find What You'll Need
If you need to do an article, at least know where to look for the sources. You don't have to read the sources first, but at least know where do it exists. If you need to do calculus assignments, know which part of the book you need to concentrate on or who do you need to turn to if you need help.
While it is better to learn just learn what you don't know, it is suffice to at least know where to look for the information you'll need. We are here to procrastinate, remember?
4. Be Happy and Do Your Own Thing
Now you are ready to procrastinate. Don't believe me? I'll tell you the reasons in a moment. For the last step...
5. Put a Block of Duration of Things To Do
On the day itself when you finally want to do your jobs (boo hoo), try to allocate on the time limit on when to finish a certain part. Or if you can do it earlier, if you think you are awesome enough. Maybe you can put a third of your night to do the first part, a third for the last part, a little less than that for recheck, and the remaining for final editing. Or the first hour to read your sources and get quotation, and another two hours for writing everything. You'll get the idea.
The Good Stuffs About Planning To Procrastinate
From my own experiences, there are a lot of benefits by planning to procrastinate. Here's why:
1. The Best of Both World.
Planning is great for organizing, and procrastinating is great for keeping you in the job. Planning can also be too rigid, and procrastinating tend to lower the quality of your output. When we combine this both, we can overcome the weaknesses of each and take what we want the best. But beware, you need to follow the guide above in order to make this work.
2. No Stress on the Pressure
So now you need to do your assignments. But you are already prepared on where to look, how much time should you allocate on each time, and when do you need to finish (unless you are planning not to sleep. I did that a lot). Better than just go straight into doing your assignments, right? The time limit will be your driving force, but it won't make you feel stressed as much.
3. Enjoying Your Time Before
This is what I like the most about planning to procrastinating, and probably the whole reason why I even bother to write this article. By planning to procrastinate, you can go enjoy what you want to do without worrying too much. You got at least 80% of your tasks under control. The only thing you need to be aware of if it has certain randomness of it (like if you are doing research on the weather) or your over-estimation of your abilities.
Overall, this is the method that I developed while I was studying in the US. It helped me a lot too especially with my papers (I usually got above 20 out of 25). Keep in mind this method is not perfect, nor does it can help you every single time. But at least now you know one more skill in life that I'm sure will prove useful to you. You can integrate this skill to your own liking and as it may suit you.
But in the end, remember that what most important is the knowledge and skills that you gain from doing your tasks. It is better to make mistakes and recognize your own weakness rather than just throwing everything but in the end you still got nothing. Careful planning and doing earlier might benefit you more. So don't just get stuck with one and only one method. Go explore your possibilities, as I believe we all haven't tap that special power inside us yet.
Thank you for reading this post, and I hope you at least learn something. Feel free to suggest any better method, improvement, or even argue with me ;)
Why Do We Do Things On The Last Minute?
So what do you need to know about procrastination? It usually happen when we think we can't achieve the perfection or target for the tasks that we set in our mind. For example, you have assignments due next week. You really, really want to complete your assignment perfectly: answer every questions, do a high class writing, getting the right answer on the hardest questions etc. But when you do the tasks, you think it is too hard or unreachable. So you decide to do it later. When you want to start on the tasks again, you feel like "there's nothing I could change about it". You keep doing it until the due date is tomorrow...then you'll start working on it with the mindset of "It'll be okay if I just finish it, I don't care about the quality anymore".
The other one is you are afraid to ever look at the assignments, so you'll leave it until you are truly pressured then you'll open it. But the problem is the same: you want to do it the best but you'll afraid you can't.
If you have ever feel like this, then don't be sad. You are not alone.
| Your face when you are stress are probably thousand times uglier than this |
Now you can see the problem properly. It's not that you cannot do it, it's just you expect too high of yourself from the beginning. There is a way around for this. So now we move on how to procrastinate properly.
Planning To Procrastinate
It might be a contradiction to plan to procrastinate. It's like two very different things like? But I believe they are not mutually exclusive. Careful planning is important to give ourselves a time frame on when to do what. The strength lies in organizing your thoughts. So what is the strength of procrastination then, you ask? I believe you know the answer: it's in the pressure that you receive.
You have to finish it by tonight, so you push yourself to the limit to finish it. We all do this, at least once. But why not turn the pressure into a more positive force for you to get your lazy ass working? In the same time, we'll also use the benefit of planning things ahead.
1. Positive thoughts
First, don't think procrastination is a bad thing. It is bad only if you think it is. The power of last minute jobs shouldn't be overestimated. If you have a task, and you still have time to work on it, then just say "I want to procrastinate". So now you are on the stage 1: you are ready to procrastinate.
2. Be Brave To Admit
Then, you should ready to admit. Admit that you are currently not good enough for the task. This is important because you NEED to look into your assignments. Just read the questions, know what they really want, understand which part you don't know, and know what knowledge do you need. I couldn't stress enough how big of a difference it will make when you know what you don't know or not. When you truly understand what you are lacking, it's time for a little work.
3. Do Some Research on WHERE You Can Find What You'll Need
If you need to do an article, at least know where to look for the sources. You don't have to read the sources first, but at least know where do it exists. If you need to do calculus assignments, know which part of the book you need to concentrate on or who do you need to turn to if you need help.
While it is better to learn just learn what you don't know, it is suffice to at least know where to look for the information you'll need. We are here to procrastinate, remember?
4. Be Happy and Do Your Own Thing
Now you are ready to procrastinate. Don't believe me? I'll tell you the reasons in a moment. For the last step...
| Or you can be a penguin, if that's your dream |
5. Put a Block of Duration of Things To Do
On the day itself when you finally want to do your jobs (boo hoo), try to allocate on the time limit on when to finish a certain part. Or if you can do it earlier, if you think you are awesome enough. Maybe you can put a third of your night to do the first part, a third for the last part, a little less than that for recheck, and the remaining for final editing. Or the first hour to read your sources and get quotation, and another two hours for writing everything. You'll get the idea.
The Good Stuffs About Planning To Procrastinate
From my own experiences, there are a lot of benefits by planning to procrastinate. Here's why:
1. The Best of Both World.
Planning is great for organizing, and procrastinating is great for keeping you in the job. Planning can also be too rigid, and procrastinating tend to lower the quality of your output. When we combine this both, we can overcome the weaknesses of each and take what we want the best. But beware, you need to follow the guide above in order to make this work.
2. No Stress on the Pressure
So now you need to do your assignments. But you are already prepared on where to look, how much time should you allocate on each time, and when do you need to finish (unless you are planning not to sleep. I did that a lot). Better than just go straight into doing your assignments, right? The time limit will be your driving force, but it won't make you feel stressed as much.
3. Enjoying Your Time Before
This is what I like the most about planning to procrastinating, and probably the whole reason why I even bother to write this article. By planning to procrastinate, you can go enjoy what you want to do without worrying too much. You got at least 80% of your tasks under control. The only thing you need to be aware of if it has certain randomness of it (like if you are doing research on the weather) or your over-estimation of your abilities.
Overall, this is the method that I developed while I was studying in the US. It helped me a lot too especially with my papers (I usually got above 20 out of 25). Keep in mind this method is not perfect, nor does it can help you every single time. But at least now you know one more skill in life that I'm sure will prove useful to you. You can integrate this skill to your own liking and as it may suit you.
But in the end, remember that what most important is the knowledge and skills that you gain from doing your tasks. It is better to make mistakes and recognize your own weakness rather than just throwing everything but in the end you still got nothing. Careful planning and doing earlier might benefit you more. So don't just get stuck with one and only one method. Go explore your possibilities, as I believe we all haven't tap that special power inside us yet.
Thank you for reading this post, and I hope you at least learn something. Feel free to suggest any better method, improvement, or even argue with me ;)
Salah satu cara untuk motivate diri sendiri buat kerja - reward yourself after siapkan some partial kerja etc. sharing is caring :D
ReplyDeleteowh itu pun satu cara gak. tapi aku reward diri aku banyak sangat hahaha
ReplyDelete