Back in college, I was an all-star procrastinator. Paper due? Bring on the Red Bull and pull an all-nighter. Exams coming up? Go yet more hardcore with caffeine pills and two consecutive all-nighters.
Let me tell you, things have changed. It turns out that at 26, I’m no longer capable of performing minor academic miracles while grinding my teeth into nubbins and leaping to catch pencils that aren’t actually rolling off my desk. Staying up all night not only breaks my brain, but also makes me old-lady tired the next day—you know, at my actual adult job. The problem is that for those of us who go to school while working full-time, the urge to procrastinate can be pretty potent. The last thing I want to do after a long day at work is write a paper, and the idea of working over the weekend is even less appealing. Yet the more I procrastinate, the more anxiety I generate and the less productive I am, leading to more anxiety and yet more procrastination. Thankfully, there are ways to break out of the vicious cycle.
Don’t waste your time on guilt. If you planned to spend a whole weekend working on a project, but then wake up on Saturday only to discover you would rather be eaten alive by rabid Pekinese puppies than do anything productive, just take the day to relax. Don’t spoil this gift you’re giving yourself by feeling guilty about it.
Don’t fall into the “I’ll start working after…” trap. “I’ll start working at noon, and I’ll just treat myself to a little reading/TV/some other fun activity first.” No. Why shouldn’t you do this? Because fun things feel good, and then you’re all, I’ll just do this for another forty-five minutes…or an hour…or a few more hours…but now I’m hungry so I’ll just start after dinner…OH MY GOD IT’S 10 O’CLOCK IT’S TOO LATE TO DO WORK OH SWEET BABY JESUS PANIC ATTACK. If you’re going to do work, get out of your PJs, mosey over to your workspace right after breakfast (studying or writing in bed can be a bad idea, as I have found it leads to many naps), and get it done.
Don’t overthink it. I routinely convince myself that the task at hand is going to be sheer torture, and it never ends up being as bad as I think. Sometimes the work even turns out be kind of fun, and the feeling of achievement is always satisfying. So just remind yourself that it’s almost certainly not going to be as awful as you’re dreading.
If worse comes to worst…Sometimes life happens, and if you need to put finishing touches on a school assignment at work, it’s not the worst thing in the world. Lunch breaks are a good time to get proofreading and last-minute changes done without any added guilt.
Photo Credit: Editor182 from Wikimedia Commons
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| So alert! So awake! So much TMJ! |
Don’t waste your time on guilt. If you planned to spend a whole weekend working on a project, but then wake up on Saturday only to discover you would rather be eaten alive by rabid Pekinese puppies than do anything productive, just take the day to relax. Don’t spoil this gift you’re giving yourself by feeling guilty about it.
Don’t fall into the “I’ll start working after…” trap. “I’ll start working at noon, and I’ll just treat myself to a little reading/TV/some other fun activity first.” No. Why shouldn’t you do this? Because fun things feel good, and then you’re all, I’ll just do this for another forty-five minutes…or an hour…or a few more hours…but now I’m hungry so I’ll just start after dinner…OH MY GOD IT’S 10 O’CLOCK IT’S TOO LATE TO DO WORK OH SWEET BABY JESUS PANIC ATTACK. If you’re going to do work, get out of your PJs, mosey over to your workspace right after breakfast (studying or writing in bed can be a bad idea, as I have found it leads to many naps), and get it done.
Don’t overthink it. I routinely convince myself that the task at hand is going to be sheer torture, and it never ends up being as bad as I think. Sometimes the work even turns out be kind of fun, and the feeling of achievement is always satisfying. So just remind yourself that it’s almost certainly not going to be as awful as you’re dreading.
If worse comes to worst…Sometimes life happens, and if you need to put finishing touches on a school assignment at work, it’s not the worst thing in the world. Lunch breaks are a good time to get proofreading and last-minute changes done without any added guilt.
Photo Credit: Editor182 from Wikimedia Commons
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