Procrastination. Even the word can be enough to make you feel guilty about the tasks that you’re currently putting off! Unless you are a superhuman productivity machine, you almost certainly procrastinate from time to time – everyone does. You’ve got a deadline, yet you still find yourself scrolling through social media, watching irrelevant videos on YouTube, checking your email for the hundredth time, or playing a game on your phone. 

In the majority of cases, procrastination won’t cause you any major headaches; it will just delay the completion of the task in question. However, when it becomes more serious, it can result in significant harm to your college or work life. In addition, the stress of knowing you’re avoiding something that needs doing can harm your wellbeing.

So, if you’re currently undertaking graduate-level study or are about to enroll i such a program and want to overcome your habit of procrastinating, this article is for you. It’s got some top tips to help you stop wasting your time and become more productive – getting you ready to ace your course!

Understanding Procrastination

In basic terms, procrastination is the act of delaying or avoiding doing a task, specifically in a way that is unnecessary, irrational, or counterproductive. A prime example would be binging a Netflix series when you’ve got an essay deadline looming or reading to do for your next lecture. However, procrastination doesn’t always have to involve actions that people consider lazy. For instance, if you should be working on your Ph.D. thesis in astrophysics but instead decide to clean your room, that can also count as procrastination.

So, why do people procrastinate when they know it’s bad for them? There are lots of possible reasons. It might be that the size of the task you need to do is overwhelming and you don’t know how to begin, or perhaps you’re worried that you won’t be able to complete it to a high enough standard. This kind of perfectionism often results in an inability to start a task and a tendency to procrastinate instead. Sometimes it’s simply that you’re waiting for your muse or some magical inspiration to strike – which often leads to a lot of wasted time!

Don’t worry, though. Whatever the reasons behind your personal habit of procrastination are, there are tips and tricks you can employ to help you break out of it and maximize your productivity during your postgraduate studies.

Techniques for Overcoming Procrastination at College

Right, it’s time to get into the most useful part of this article: how to tackle procrastination. The good news is that there are many different strategies out there that can help you knuckle down and get the task at hand done. These productivity-and-procrastination-busting tactics will be helpful no matter what postgrad course you’re taking, whether you’re a nurse doing a DNP or a passionate educator boosting your credentials with an MA in education.

Remember that different techniques will work better for different students, depending on personality, mood that day, and life circumstances, so experiment with several options and see which are the most effective for you.  

• Break up large imposing tasks into ones that are smaller and more manageable. For example, instead of ‘pass my foundations in linguistics module,’ you might begin with ‘do the reading for week one of my foundations in linguistics module.’
• Reward yourself when you achieve one of these smaller goals, whether that’s with five minutes on social media, a chocolate bar, or anything else that motives you.
• Speaking of social media, if this is a prime procrastination culprit for you, try using an app to block your access to it for a certain amount of time – you can also do this with other websites that distract you from your studies. Plus, you should always switch off your cellphone notifications when completing tasks to minimize distractions and temptation.
• Craft a personal study schedule so that you always know what you should be working on. For extra impact, try to match it up with the times of day that you are most productive.
• Take a break in the middle of a long study session to go for a walk. Fresh air and sunlight will help clear your head and boost your mood. In fact, being out in nature has been shown to improve both creativity and productivity.
• If you find it hard to start studying, try using the Pomodoro Technique. This is where you set a timer for 25 minutes, work until it beeps, then take a break for five minutes. It can help you ignore interruptions for those 25 minutes and get a solid chunk of work done. If 25 minutes is too much, try starting with just 10 minutes – you will probably find that you can keep going for longer once you’ve started.
• Form a study group with other students, whether with people on your program or those studying another subject. You are much less likely to procrastinate when you know other people are around to spot it! Make sure that you choose students who are driven and productive themselves to avoid the risk of you all ending up procrastinating together. 
• Study in the library instead of your dorm room, as there will be fewer opportunities to procrastinate there. Plus, the atmosphere is usually more inspiring and conducive to learning

A Special Note for Distance-Learning Students

If you’re studying an online program from home, procrastination can be more of a risk. This is because you generally won’t have other students around you, a college library to work in, or a set schedule of lectures and classes to attend. 

Follow these specific additional tips for distance learners to stop yourself from procrastinating:

• Set up a dedicated study area at home that’s free of distractions. Ideally, you want to remove all temptations such as games consoles and magazines from the room and have a door you can close to prevent too many interruptions.
• Spend some time working in a coffee shop or your local library. Having other people around you – even if they’re not students – will reduce the risk of procrastinating. Also, there will be fewer opportunities for you to do other irrelevant tasks in such locations.
• Connect with other students on your online course and set up a virtual study group. This can be just as beneficial as attending one in person.