Student describes ways to avoid procrastination

Ryan Selvy, Design Editor
October 15, 2009
Filed under Lifestyle

Day by day, hour by hour, your due date inches closer at an alarming rate. But honestly, by a show of hands, how many of you complete an assignment earlier than the day before its due? Anybody? Didn’t think so. 

I am no stranger to the process of procrastination. A paper due at 12 midnight is a paper uploaded at 12 midnight. This seems to be the lifestyle of a high school student.

However, even the best of us know the art of procrastination. I’m sure you understand what I’m talking about. Remember that one time you started an assignment 30 minutes before it was due? Yes. Those fun, fun times.

Fortunately, God created people like me. I have discovered a set of skills that will let you get work done efficiently, without sacrificing your precious free time. 

Most people think that concentration is controlled merely by self discipline. In reality, using your surroundings to conquer laziness by brute force is a more dependable approach. 

Take your computer for instance. A few clicks of the mouse and some taps on the keyboard gets you from your blank word document to planting crops on Farmville. To that, I say neigh! The times of getting distracted are over! 

I introduce you to the latest Selvy discovery: Darkroom. It is an application that blacks everything out on your screen except for text. Similar to the interface of an ancient computer, the program takes away all distractions. The blinking windows in your taskbar are now invisible. Now you can ”do work son.”

You have now conquered the distraction of your computer. But don’t trust yourself too much. Both you and I know that you’ll find another way to procrastinate.

To make things simple, use common sense to isolate yourself into a state of misery. A state where the only thing you can do is think, breathe, and work. 

Silence your phone. I understand this takes great effort because you just love hearing that ringtone, but take a few deep breaths, put it on silent, and tuck it away. If you are paranoid your friend will call you because he cut his legs off, feel free to check your phone every 30 minutes or so. Nothing less than that half an hour. If you don’t trust yourself, swallow your pride and give your phone to your mom. 

Be smart about choosing the adequate environment. Television: off. Music: air-guitar level. Your friends: politely told to leave you in peace (if they’re good friends, they’ll understand). Clothes: not your pajamas. Falling asleep on your laptop is not acceptable!

Give yourself time limits. Don’t spend four hours on an opening sentence. Taking that much time is only a waste of effort.

So hold your head high, soldier. Now you can brave the front of procrastination and battle that paper with the full force of your brilliant mind.

Ryan Selvy can be reached for comment at rselvy@jcpatriot.com