Most of you have crammed for an exam at least once. But, truth be told, most of you have made a habit out of late-minute cramming, which is synonymous with stress, anxiety, panic – care to complete the list?
However, what triggers this? Why is it that you won’t start studying until the deadline starts to terrify you? We’d like to shed some light on the subject.
- You Don’t Get Enough Sleep
Did it ever occur to you that there’s a link between sleep deprivation and motivation? If you didn’t think about this till now, note that, according to research, insufficient sleep is a contributive factor to your inclination to procrastinate.
Therefore, next time you’re thinking that staying up late will help you to get the best results, think again. A solution to this would be, of course, to develop a consistent sleeping schedule, and make it a priority.
- You Anticipate You Have More Time
Many a time, your anticipations are entirely different from the reality. That is to say, you might assume that you can cram your studying in half the time you’d actually require for the task. In other words, you anticipate that you’ll be very productive and in 2 hours’ time you’ll be done.
So, next time you gauge that you can get things done in a minimum timeframe, reconsider. Factor in your disposition and short breaks. For instance, employers use handy apps such as OnTheClock to give their employees a real sense of their time in relation to the assignments.
- You Wait for the Perfect Moment
Idealists know what I’m talking about – do you know that feeling when you keep on waiting for the perfect studying moment? Perhaps you expect to be overwhelmed by an unmatched feeling of motivation to actually start studying. However, that motivation may or may not come – and you cannot depend on its moodiness for studying.
Instead, you should aim at fostering motivation. One way of doing that is by concentrating on the outcome of your studying efforts.
- You Assume You Don’t Need That Much Studying
This feeling comes from a false sense of security. Perhaps you’re one of the top students and you are usually active in class. Still, this isn’t a guarantee that you’ll be able to reproduce your thoughts at a test, as you’d be expected to. On the opposite, always quiz yourself if you want to determine your preparation level.
- You Dread the Assignment
Many a time, procrastination is triggered by a fear or anxiety of the difficulty level of an assignment. That is to say, you know that the work will imply a lot of your time and energy, and you prefer to postpone it till last minute, ignoring that you’ll eventually have the double amount of work.
In this respect, your best bet is getting organized and focusing on what you have to do – make a schedule and stick to it.
- You Focus on Easier Tasks
Obviously, you are naturally inclined to concentrate on easier, less time-consuming tasks than the most demanding ones. And this isn’t the right approach – as it makes you believe that you’re working, when, in fact, you’re postponing the real work. Alternatively, you should make a studying plan and try to mix and match complicated and easy assignments to have a balance.
So, these are some of the main causes to your tendency to procrastinate. Now it’s time to acknowledge them and do what you can to do better! Whilst things are less likely to change overnight, they will change with determination and consistency.
If you would like to contribute an article or contact our contributors, you can get in touch here