Undoubtedly, everyone has suffered through a bout of not being able to do work..
Whether it’s due to being caught up with sports and other extracurricular activities or simply not being in the mood to do work in a timely fashion, procrastination affects everyone.
While some say that the pressure that comes with doing homework at the last minute is the secret formula to producing great work, sometimes it can cause a steep drop in grades.
Below is a list of things to do for the next time you feel the urge to delay doing work:
1 Don’t think, just do
A lot of the time, people chalk up the inability to do work to anxiety. Stressing over what grade you could potentially get is not going to help you do your work. In fact, over thinking will only hinder you. Instead, you should create a rough outline of your assignment and jot down all your thoughts. Once you have something written down, even if it is arbitrary, it will be easier and less exasperating to get through the work.
2 take a deep breath You will not be able to do your work efficiently if you are on edge. Pushing through the work will only make you more nervous and will probably lead to mistakes and low quality work. The best thing to do when this happens is to just relax. Take a 30 minute power nap. Watch an episode of your favorite show on Netfllix. Eat a snack and drink something soothing like green tea. Go through a few reps of your preferred stretches. Once your brain has calmed down, you should feel rejuvenated enough to return to your work.
3 Do easy things first
Teachers oftentimes leave the harder questions for the last page of the test, and there is a reason for that. If you do easier things first, you will build a momentum that will make it less of a burden to do the harder assignments. Also, doing easier assignments first helps build self-confidence that you have the ability to do the rest of your work.
4 Break up your work
Trying to study for a big test or annotate a book the day before will put too much stress on you. It will feel impossible to complete the work, and you likely won’t do that well. To help with big assignments, you should break down your work. Spread out assignment over several weeks, and do it bit by bit so that it will feel like less of a hardship.
5 manage your time You can do multiple extracurricular activities, have a social life and still be able to complete your tasks in a timely fashion. How? Take advantage of your time. When teachers give time in class to work on homework, use that time. Don’t waste your time talking during W4; utilize that time to get work done. For after school and the weekends, come up with a schedule of when to do what assignment. Buy a calender or whiteboard to make time management easier.