What, why and the consequences

Procrastination is delaying what needs to be done now for something less urgent, more enjoyable or immediately gratifying. In students, procrastination tends to derive from low self-esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure, dislike of the task, the belief that they can work better under pressure, busyness, balancing social and academic life, the desire to do as little as possible or only what's necessary, to reduce distress caused by the task, or in some cases, it's the result of an existing mental health issue, such as depression.

sounds simple and eventually, it will be

Although procrastination delays the undesirable task, research shows it often results in lower than expected or achievable grades, low GPA, stress, anxiety, cramming, missed or late assignments, poor performance on tests, and even dropping out.

Practical ways to stop it

• Recognize it before it occurs. Keep a list of scenarios that precede procrastination. Were you about to pick up the tv remote, game controller, your smartphone or dive into bed? Were you experiencing negative emotions when you sat down at your desk, glancing at a stack of books? Did a friend just text you to do something today? Before proceeding, ask yourself if that's something that urgently needs to be done and if you were about to procrastinate. Then, don't.


• Break down tasks and set interim due dates for yourself. Ask a non-procrastinating friend or relative to act as your project manager and report weekly progress.


• Know your optimal productivity time and commit to studying at those times. If you're always tired in the morning, dedicate a few hours each and every afternoon to study. Do more when you can, but stick to the hours you know you feel freshest.


• Regularly practice the above to develop a habit of stopping procrastination before it turns into a bigger problem.

Simple solution. Challenging implementation.

There's no clear, one-size-fits-all solution to procrastination, probably because there are numerous causes of which some are serious. But if it's plain old study procrastination that you're trying to solve, the general consensus amongst researchers is to firstly be aware of the problem, recognize it when it occurs or is about to occur, and choose not to follow through with it. It sounds simple and eventually, it will be.

Experiment

Habit stacking is one of the easiest ways to ensure you don't procrastinate on particular tasks. Each morning or evening, try using use a step-by-step ritual: Get out of bed. Shower. Brush teeth. Put phone in a different room. Go to desk. Set timer to 2 hours. Don't pause timer! Read / highlight / annotate / take notes. When alarm goes off, have breakfast.