How to deal with procrastination

Do you remember that time when you got home from school at 4 p.m., took a shower and a nap till 6, went on social media for an hour and a half, ate dinner, and started homework at nine, resulting in an all-nighter or bedtime at 1 a.m.? For some people, this is a daily schedule, and maybe for a rare few, this never happens. But whether you do this or not, everyone knows what this disease is. Procrastination.

“I have three tests tomorrow; I’m going to fail.” “I hate my teacher, he gives us so much homework.” “Don’t take that class; you’ll never get out of the house.” As I walk around school, these are the stuff I commonly hear from my fellow classmates.

As we get older, we’ll take more challenging classes and the stress will inevitably build up. From our studies to extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or volunteering, how do we make the time to do everything? And what about time for ourselves?

I sympathize with you, I really do. I’m in the same situation myself. I’ve often thought to myself “Why can’t the day be longer than 24 hours?” But the length of the day doesn’t matter as people will still waste their time doing whatever. So I find that the only solution is to not procrastinate.

Now, I don’t want to sound like a nagging parent, but managing your time well will keep you organized, focused, and it’ll make your high school experience a lot less stressful. If you finish your history project that’s due in two weeks, then you’ll have two weeks less of history homework. If you have a math test on Friday, and you study for it on Monday, then if you have a ton of homework in the middle of the week, at least you’ve studied a bit and you can just refresh your mind Thursday night. Isn’t that better than cramming all the information in your head at midnight?

Some other tips are to work on homework for half an hour, then go on your phone or step outside of the house for ten minutes. The objective of this is to work for a while and take a break. It’s a fact proven by science that short breaks can keep our brain fresh and focused. Another tip is to keep all technology hidden away while working. Our phones are tempting, and they’re the biggest reason for why we don’t get things done.

There are some people that say they work best when doing things last minute. And maybe procrastinating does work for them. It’s their choice, and no one can take charge of someone’s life. Just keep in mind that you’re the only person that can decide how to handle your 24 hours a day, so choose wisely.