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Any good student has been there at
least one time in their life. At first they're thinking, “I have to
start studying,” until their stubborn brain kicks in and gives them
a list of potential excuses to pick from.
Some people procrastinate by thinking
they have something significantly more important to do. While they
should be studying, they realize there is a show they want to watch
on television or a party that they can't afford to miss. Don't have
this excuse? Don't worry there is a whole list of others you can pick
from.
If you don't have anything better to do
then one of your best options for procrastinating is pretending that
you're trying to study better by procrastinating. Instead of saying
there is something more important to do, say that studying is too
important to try to do in the moment. Maybe you're not in the mindset
for studying. Maybe your roommates are making noise. Anything works.
Now you can't study as good as you could later. Congratulations, you
have your excuse.
Bare in mind, these are just wild
excuses your brain uses to try and convince you to avoid the pain of
studying. Studying can be difficult. If you're studying right then
there is a very good chance your brain wont want to do it (unless you
happen to be curious.) There are a few simple things you can do to
stop study procrastination. That being said, if you're getting to the
point that you have these thoughts, you've probably already lost the
battle...
There are ways that you can stop study procrastination from ever rearing its ugly head.
Habitual Study
Getting yourself to study is tough. It
requires a ton of discipline if you're not already in the habit.
Every time you try and force yourself to study you're going to need
to muscle down all those excuses that will be popping up. The best
way to ease the pain of getting into studying is to make it a habit.
When you're in the habit of studying,
your brain doesn't have time to make up excuses for not studying.
If, after class, everyday, the first thing you do is pick up your
textbook to study, within a few weeks, you're going to be buried in
study material by the time you come up with excuses. When you're
already studying, you're bound to knock back those excuses like
they're nothing.
Sure, habitual study has its
challenges. You're going to need to maintain that habit through the
busy times and the slow times but it's advantages far outweigh the
disadvantages. In fact, after learning habitual studying, most
student get to cut their study time in half.
Habitual studying means less cramming
is required. Using smaller lengths of time for studying, you're able
to remember more of the information faster. Now, you won't always
have the luxury of a habit to pull yourself out of procrastination.
When you don't have the habit, there are a few things you can do to
make your life easier.
No Think Start Up
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This is a study strategy that's based
on the advantages of habits. It can work like a charm for some people
but it tends to be a bit of a hit and a miss for others. Instead of
the regular back and forth your brain has between studying and
excuses, with the no think start up, you're going to want to stop the
back and forth completely.
When you first realize that it's a time
you planned on studying, focus on not thinking until you're into the
study material. At that point, ignore everything else in the world
and pick up a textbook. (The house fire can wait till later to be put
out... For legal purposes: That is a joke.) The point is not to
perfectly blank your mind. The point is to not give any credence to
doubts you have.
You don't just realize there is
something more important to do when you procrastinate. When you come
up with some excuse, you need to back it up with a list of good
reasons in your brain. The goal of the no think start up is to
prevent that list from building. Your brain will be fighting for
excuses, give those excuses no chance to become real in your mind.
Your studying has been set and treat it
like stone. You can't change it. Anything important that comes up
must wait. The faster you're able to get into studying, the better
off you'll be.
This can be one of the most effective
ways to build a habit. That's mostly what this should be used for.
There is another trick that works better for those that can't quite
clear their head.
The Honest Approach
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This approach to studying isn't as
effective for developing strong habits but it can get you to study
when you need it most. Whenever you start to hear your excuses to
procrastinate studying, you need to stop yourself and ask a simple
question. Do I want to study?
Forget about all the excuses you have.
You don't need them. You don't have to study if you don't want to
study. Tell yourself that and follow through with it. Just force
yourself not to lie with pointless procrastination.
What happens then?
Most people lie at first. I know... You
probably don't... but most people do.
Most people say, “I want to study...
but...”
That's probably a lie. Look at whatever
excuse you're making carefully and either prove it to be a lie or
accept that you shouldn't be studying. You might think, “I could
study better if I did it later.” That's probably a lie. You might
also think, “I left the stove on...” that might be a legitimate
excuse. (That explains the house fire I mentioned earlier.)
If you admit that you don't want to
study then you're probably being honest. At that point, don't study
until you want to study. The funny thing about this is, most students
end up studying 5 minutes after they decide not to study. You don't
have to do anything you don't want to but most students quickly
realize they want to pass the test, they want to learn some of it,
and they want to have the habits of studying.
If you want to study and don't have any
excuses then doing it just comes naturally.
There is an old joke about
procrastination that tend to ring true for the way many people deal
with procrastinating. It's the last piece of advice I'll provide
because in most cases, this can end up being all that you need to
break the pattern of procrastination.
Every time you're thinking of
procrastinating, just put it off. Procrastinate your procrastination.
You'll have plenty of time to slack off tomorrow but today you're
going to study.
While this holds very little weight,
thinking it can help your brain get back into a positive pattern of
thinking. Try it out sometime.
To get the grades you're looking for,
you can't afford to have procrastination getting in your way. Until
you're able to stop study procrastination and keep it out of your
mind, you're not going to be doing as well as you could be. While you
can probably get by, if you're the type student that reads this,
that's definitely not enough.
Do you want to learn more ways to study
faster and more effectively? Be sure to follow this blog.
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