Procrastination – Is It Your Friend Or Enemy?

Procrastination is something everyone may do at some point. This is especially true in college. Between having a full course load and a part or full time job on top of that, it will be much too easy to put things off and do them later. The problem is when you’re in college, assignments tend to build up. Before you know it, you’ve put things off for so long that you run into the deadline and may end up not doing the work at all. Your college professors will not be as lenient as your high school teachers may have been when you turned work in late. In fact, your professors may not accept late work at all. How do you get through procrastination in college? It may sound weird, but the key is to do that homework first. If you aren’t very good at a subject or you just really dislike the subject, you’re going to want to make that homework your first priority. The concepts taught in the class will be fresh in your head so you don’t have to search through your notes as much once you sit down to work on the homework. 

The other key point about doing the homework you dread first is that you don’t have a few days or weeks of dreading. We’ve all done it and said it – “I’m dreading writing that English essay or Math homework.” You know what happens when you don’t do it right away? It sits in your mind and then when you do have to work on the homework, you’re either angry, frustrated, or you no longer remember what it was you had to do or the concept behind it. Trust me – if you do the homework you dread first and get it done and over with, you’ll feel much better! Plus when you relax with friends and watch a movie or go shopping, the thought of the homework you have to do won’t be hanging over head and making you feel guilty for not working on it.

You may think the good part of procrastination is that it gives you focus. You know you have to get the work done, so you force yourself to work on it and shut out everything else around you. The problem is that this isn’t a guarantee. Once you’re creeping up on a deadline, you may have less focus on the work itself because you’re panicking in your head that you need to get it done. In other words, it’s going to be quite counter-productive. If you need more focus while working on homework, try things that can help you, such as going to a quiet coffee shop or bookstore to work on homework if your dorm room is distracting. Maybe you need to make a checklist and break down your homework in a To-Do List that you can cross things off as you finish them. The key is to figure out what works best for you early in college – you’re going to be in college for a while and you’ll need some good study habits. Of course you may end up adjusting or changing your study and homework habits as you go through college, that is normal as you adjust to college life. However, you won’t be able to get through college with no study and homework habits at all. Having routines down for studying and homework will help you be more efficient and even allow you more relaxing time with friends later!