13 Tips To Stop Procrastinating And Finish Your Assessments Before Deadline

Despite our best intentions, sometimes it’s hard to focus on our studies. And with so many distractions at our fingertips these days (cough – Instagram – cough), it’s harder than ever to stop procrastinating.

Lucky for you, we’ve come up with some top tips to prevent procrastination and help you make the most of your time at Uni and still have time left over to socialise.

1) Live close to class

Whether you plan to live in private student accommodation or find student roommates, make sure you live close to campus. The less time you spend commuting to class, the more time you have to finish your assignments before your brain taps out for the day!

2) Plan ahead

Give yourself designated time-slots for studying and stick to them.

3) Work in short bursts

Committing to bite-size chunks of work is easier than sitting down for 5 hours to write a mammoth essay.

4) Write a to-do list

Seeing what you have to do written down in front of you will help you see the big picture. Ticking tasks off one by one can also be immensely satisfying and weirdly quite motivating!

5) Reward yourself

Reward yourself with a cup of tea, cold beer or a bit of TV downtime once you’ve completed the tasks you set yourself.

6) Step away from your phone!

With so many distractions like Whatsapp, Instagram and SnapChat notifications pinging off all the time, your phone will not be a helpful study companion. Put it away.

7) Switch off the Wi-Fi

Unless you have to use the internet for research, remove any temptation to check your Insta or watching random YouTube videos.

8) Give into stress

Have you ever been so stressed that you spend hours just looking at your to-do list rather than actually working through it?

Avoid this by allowing yourself to give into your stress. Give yourself 10 minutes to feel overwhelmed and then put it aside and get to work.

9) The 10:2 method

Give yourself a task and only focus on that task for 10 minutes. Then give yourself a 2 minute rest. Repeat.

10) Just Do It

Sometimes you just have to stop thinking about it and do it. If you’re stressing out over your long to do list, just ignore everything else and simply start on one task. Then that’s one less thing you have to stress about.

11) Stay positive

It’s all about your mindset. Give yourself plenty of encouragement.

12) Do tasks straight away

Gearing yourself up to get started on a mountain of assignments is ridiculously tough. Complete your assignments as soon as you get them, then you never have to think about them again!

13) Find the right space

It’s a lot easier to work once you’re in the zone. Whether that’s on your bed, at a local coffee shop or in the peace and quiet of your postgraduate student accommodation workroom or e-library, find a place that works for you.

This also applies to your choice of student living accommodation. If you know you’re going to have to put your head down this year, opt for a small student room or quieter student housing accommodation. Or if you’re going in to a house share, use a student roommate finder to find other hard-working students looking for roommates. You can still have a good time, but at least you’ll be surrounded by people who have the same attitude to studying as you.

Everyone struggles to stay motivated sometimes. So don’t stress, take everything in manageable doses and stay positive. Remember, Uni is about enjoying yourself as well as working hard!