Hey there,
How many homework assignments do you have? Have you touched any of them? Attempted any of them? Even taken a look at them? That’s all right, I’m not expecting you to have any of it done. But, what are you doing instead of that? Are you on your phone, watching a TV show or playing Wordle? Although all of those things are great, there are other ways that may be more productive to spend your time.
Our first instinct when we don’t want to do homework is, naturally, to pull out our phones and headphones, lie down for what was supposed to be just 10 minutes and instead get distracted for more than an hour. Let’s talk about some ideas that will take just as long as that and be more fulfilling than looking at a screen.
For starters, when you begin to get into that mood of procrastination, rather than grabbing your phone, think about the things you have been meaning to get to but keep putting off. This can range from cleaning your room, going to work out, writing in a journal or finally calling that family member you’ve been thinking about lately. By doing these things, you are using your time wisely instead of feeling guilty for wasting time.
We have to remember that we are college students. That simply means we have the world in the palm of our hands as we go through new experiences and see these foreign places around us. When the thought of procrastinating comes into your mind, take a step out of your room and go explore campus.
You could stay on campus and discover a building you have yet to go into, treat yourself to a snack at the Mizzou Market or just go for a walk listening to your favorite music. Take a trip downtown and take note of some of the restaurants and stores you want to visit but haven’t yet had the chance. When you feel satisfied and refreshed, head back to your room so you can start working again.
The key is to not spend too much time doing things that make you completely forget about the assignments you still have to do. I recommend setting a timer to alert you or taking a mental note of the tasks you still have to attend to. Think to yourself, “If I do X for this amount of time, I will do Y for this long.” This will help you remember you are taking a break and you will eventually have to go back to the important things.
Procrastination will never go away. As time goes on and the schoolwork doesn’t get easier, it will continue to pile up if you don’t get to work. But, you can balance things out by separating school and personal tasks to make them painless to do once you finally return to finish them.
As always, wishing you well.
Galena
P.S. Submit any questions you want advice on to Galena with the Google Form down below:
Edited by Abby Stetina | astetina@themaneater.com
