Procrastination is a problem that many students will face (including myself). But when you have exams approaching - procrastination can cause stress and worry. If you feel yourself slipping down the rabbit hole that is procrastination - don’t worry here are some tips that I find help cure my procrastination.

Find an accountability buddy

Finding a friend or just anyone that can hold you accountable to do your work. This can be anything from asking your parents/ carers to see the work you have completed in a set time frame. Or scheduling a video call with your friends, muting yourself and completing a pomodoro session - at the end of the session you both have to see each other's work. I find this forces me to do work, especially when I am finding it hard to start or putting off revising a topic I don’t enjoy.

Think about your future self

If you are scrolling through tiktok or instagram when you are meant to be studying - set a reminder and have an honest conversation with yourself. Think about how stressed out your future self will be when you haven’t completed that homework and as a result of your procrastination, you have to stay up all night completing it. Just by asking yourself the simple question of - “what will future me think of this procrastination?” you can persuade yourself to get to work.

Trick your brain

Our brains are very complex, however you can still outsmart them. If you are struggling just to get started on a task. Tell yourself you are going to sit down and do that task for only 5 minutes. As you are telling yourself it's only 5 mins, you are more likely to actually get started. However, as human beings, we like completion, so you will most likely stay working for the extra minutes you need to actually finish the task!

Romanticise studying

If you need to do a big revision day, plan it out the day before: create an inviting desk space, go to the shops to get your favourite study snacks, pick out a great study playlist ( I recommend the website study together’s self study feature) and plan out your revision for the day and schedule in rewards for completing certain tasks.

Change of location

I find if I really can’t get any work done at home, if I set out to go to a local library or coffee shop I am much more productive. This is because you have already set out and made your way to somewhere different, so naturally, you want to make the most of your time there and you don’t have the same distractions that you would at home. As a result you are more productive. If it is the weekend, perhaps you can increase the scale of your location - for example going to the British library for a study session.

I hope this blog post gave you some tips on tackling procrastination and that they can help you in the future. By Emma P