A lot of people rely on pure willpower when it comes to procrastination, convincing themselves that they will “just do it”. The key problem with this is that willpower is finite throughout the day and will therefore be the least available when you need it the most, especially after a long day of school, sport, or just working for a large chunk of time. Using brute force to get yourself to do something may work briefly, but it is not a complete solution.

Procrastination does have solutions, however, and it is not a character flaw.

Make starting smaller than what you think is reasonable
The key problem often lies between what you are currently doing and what you would like to be doing. Your plan might be to do your Economics notes; however, you are currently sitting on your bed and cannot bring yourself to start.

In this scenario, I find that the best way to start is by setting yourself a super small goal, so the whole task does not seem unachievable. This may be as simple as opening your book.

Once you get over this barrier, it gets a lot easier. You get into the flow of doing work, instead of wasting time thinking about having to start and complete a big task.

Build a consistent routine
A critical component to overcoming willpower is to set guidelines, so you remove the internal decision-making. This looks like setting up your routine to study at the same time, same place every day and with a specific task already designated. This removes almost all decision-making and makes doing tasks almost autonomous, as everything is already set up for you. All that is left is to execute the task.

These two simple things will go a long way in removing procrastination when you have to study or revise for long periods of time.

Hayden McCarthy