Anti-procrastination techniques

Cut up big tasks into smaller tasks. A smaller task seems more easier to do.
When you feel you are procrastinating start with doing a small task to get some confidence.
If you're completely stuck ask someone else to order you to start doing something, it can be harder to disappoint someone else than yourself.
Write down the things you have to do.
Start relatively soon with the things that have the highest priority and those task you hate most to get them out of the way.

 

Unplug the internet.

It may sound over simplified but it is my secret to getting work done, without the internet to distract me I can get vast amounts of work done

 

Do a little bit of the assignment over a few days and reward yourself when you reach a goal. 50% done, 80% done, etc.

 

I put my iPod (and therefore, games, Internet, apps, etc.) away... It's the source of all my procrastination.

 

I haven't found an effective deterrent. Studying is boring, and I will find something better to do, one way or another.

 

i'm a master of procrastination and i don't ever discipline myself. i'm the kind of person that on a monday i'm thinking like, shit i HAVE to do laundry today. then next thing i know it's thursday afternoon, i'm ready for some brews with my boys in like 3 hours and every single article of clothing i own is dirty. so i either go to the mall and buy more clothes or i do approximately 1/10th of the laundry that needs to be done.

i'm one lazy son of a bitch, i tell you.

 

I don't procrastinate.
I'm just waiting a while to finish my homework, drawing, animation, organize my clothes and workout.
I'll get it done right after I....do this important stuff!
Like watching stupid videos on youtube.

 

If I've got stuff that MUST be done, then I write down the items on a simple list and hang it on the wall. It usually works... except with items that had to do with writing or creative stuff. It starts with the need for documentation, and you end up two hours later somewhere on the internet where you'll find everything but the stuff you need the documentation for.

 

Define studying. That's a term I've never understood. To me, to "study" means to read about a subject, but to everyone else it has a completely different, esoteric meaning. I ran away from college an hour before I ever started my first class, withdrawing from the registrar and catching a bus home where I holed up and cried and the day before I did that everyone told me to "study hard," and those words are as empty to me now as they were then, because to me, to "study" is to investigate, to examine. To college students it seems to be something entirely and altogether different.

 

That actually doesn't work for some people. If you are like me and have a big imagination, you will end up looking into the space thinking about every thing but your studies... Focusing on stuff is hard...

 

I put my phone in a drawer with all notifications but calls and texts off. I also don't go on sites like EC, Facebook or Tumblr. The most important thing is not to absent-mindedly click a bookmark or type in the first letter in the search bar; I sometimes delete my history or go to another browser to do work. If it takes more than a few seconds' effort to get to it, it'll be so much less tempting.

Then I set stages. For a history essay, I find sources, collect notes on them and prepare to put them in a bibliography and footnotes. That done, I can rest. The next stage is writing a draft, and then writing a final essay later and then the fine-tuning and editing. That can take well over a week to do, so it's easy to set each individual stage for a specific time for however many hours. To me, working on a single project without stopping (except for tea and bathroom breaks and the like) for eight or so hours isn't particularly difficult, so it works for me, but others might not like it. I find it a bad idea to lightly start on something and do it in really small steps.

The most important thing is to break a task into smaller chunks that can be done from the beginning. Otherwise, it can seem pretty daunting to have to do it all at once at the last minute.

I also find going to libraries helps; I go to two libraries (one university library, and the other the largest reference library in the country) where speaking is absolutely not on and the idea of doing no work feels impossible or at least very guilt-inducing due to the high productivity of everybody else. Sometimes, it feels too constricting. Other times, it's exactly what I need.

 

When I was at uni I tried to turn my work into a game and used to set myself challenges to try and complete within certain time limits. It kind of made more boring tasks a little more fun and I found myself being so much more productive if I knew I had something to work towards! I also used to find that sitting in a public place to do my work helped. To write essays I used to go to a coffee shop with free WiFi and plug sockets. I guess with different people around it made me feel kinda pressured into making myself look busy!

 

Gamifying helps. Lets take chores for example. If you hate cleaning a particular room you could set a timer and see how fast you can do it in (and then next time see if you can do it faster). Alternatively you can set a countdown timer for a set period (say 10minutes) and see just how much cleaning you can do in that 10minutes. Didn't get it all done in that time? Well you can carry on if you have the momentum, if you choose not to though you can think "hey, thats 10minutes of cleaning that I wouldn't have done otherwise". Its far better to do a little than to do nothing!

There are actually smartphone apps where you input tasks you need to do and it turns it into some sort of RPG where you level up for completing them.

---------- Post added 27th Nov 2014 at 03:09 PM ----------

You beat me to it!

 

Write a list of things that need to be done today. Make the list achievable by yourself, according to your current ability, willpower etc. Then act on each item in the list, one by one, ticking them off as you go. This will give a sense of accomplishment, and it also breaks down what can seem overwhelming (having 'so many things to do') into manageable, pint-sized 'chunks'.

 

You're doing it right:

Structured Procrastination

 

If today's anything to go by, pretend that the Steam sale doesn't exist.

 

Sometimes, I use a basic reward system. Such as if I complete at least 1/2 a college paper or even just a solid outline, I allow myself to do something rewarding...whatever it is I want to do at the moment (usually, it helps to walk around the block and clear my head and energize before returning to the undesirable task).

Just a little technique I use.