Tips & techniques for managing procrastination

• Needing to be in charge
• Things should be done “my way”
• Pleasure seeking
• “Life is too short”
• Fear of failure or disapproval
• “I must do things perfectly, or I’ll fail and people will think badly of me”
• Fear of uncertainty or catastrophe
• “I’m better off not doing and not risking”
• Low self confidence
• “I’m inadequate”
• Depleted energy
• “I can’t do things when I’m stressed, tired, depressed or unmotivated”
• Have you always ‘got away with it’ in the past?

Never set yourself up for an unachievable task.

• Are you aiming to spend, e.g. 12 hours, at home studying more or less the whole time?
• Are you aiming to finish a whole subject area/topic ‘by the end of today’?
• Planning to go over all lecture notes by the ‘end of this week’?

Consider instead the session model of revision with the goal of increasing efficiency and productivity; so no more than:

• x7 50-Minute sessions in one day
• Break for lunch
• Break after each session

• Just do it: like getting into a cold swimming pool
• Plan it as part of your routine
• Break the task into smaller tasks
• Think differently; lower your expectations
• Plan rewards and reinforcements
• Set goals (not deadlines) and work towards them
• Imagine how it might feel going into an exam prepared, rather than with crossed fingers.
• Worst first: do the worst goal or task you're dreading first
• Using momentum: do a task you like and while in the zone start a task you have been putting off
• 5 minute plan: spend 5 minutes on the task, then reassess. Can you spend another 5 minutes?
• Set time limits; 30 minutes and stick to it, even when going well