Overcoming Procrastination

Instead of working on an essay, project, or exam, you may be overwhelmed by the task’s scope, afraid of failing, or have other stressful thoughts in mind. It may help to remember that the perfect paper does not exist, and that’s okay. Start simple and then revise later. Your first draft is not your final draft. You’ve likely done this before and definitely can do it again. Likewise, the perfect time to write, when you feel “in the mood” to write, does not exist either. It is good to plan time to relax or take care of your needs, but do what you can when you can in gradual steps. It may also help to seek support. Talking through your ideas with a friend, family member, a writing center or VAWLT tutor, or library staff can help you get started, and they can work with you along the way as the project progresses. UMA also offers counseling and academic success services for all students seeking assistance with mental health and goal or task management. Breaking the task into manageable chunks and taking short breaks at least every hour or so will help when crafting a larger project. 

For some, time management in college is not familiar. For instance, there are some students who are able to handle high school assignments with ease and tend to finish them in one sitting. This may make it difficult for them when they need to adapt to a college setting because these students may not develop supportive time management strategies in high school to bring to college. Some students may have been out of school for a long time, or may simply be put off by the level of time management and energy required by assignments. So, these individuals might avoid time management altogether.

It is essential to develop the necessary time-management skills in these cases. It usually becomes easier with practice; like learning the piano, it is a skill.

Reading and comprehending an assignment is the first step to completing it. It may sound like a simple task, but often it proves challenging. Sometimes there may be information that seems to be missing, the guidelines seem unclear, or there are other barriers, such as in language translation. There are a few things one can keep in mind that may help ease the process.

Reading the guidelines early will help you get timely perspective on assignments. This frames the assignment’s scope and enables better time-management. If there is anything that is not understood about the assignment, this step will also allow enough time to ask the instructor for clarification. Most instructors are happy to provide additional information. Providing more detail when articulating what is confusing to you will enable broader depth in the instructor’s clarification. There may also be Writing Centers and other tutoring services available to help in the writing process. These sources, in addition to clarification from an instructor, can help with assignment comprehension.

It can be a challenge to generate new ideas, which can delay an assignment’s completion. This is often referred to as a “block” (writer’s block, artist’s block, etc.). This may be due to a variety of reasons, including anxiety (see “Anxiety”) or boredom (see “Relevance”). In many cases, the ideas just don’t seem to come.

Look back to the assignment instructions and see if that helps to specify what needs to be achieved. In many cases, an assignment will be presented with questions, and answering these questions can be a good place to start. If the assignment does not ask any questions, see if you can create questions for yourself based on the assignment guidelines. In some cases, the assignment will be an analysis. If ideas are not forthcoming, especially if the assignment guidelines are not specific about what these ideas could and should be, try to analyze the piece again: Reread text, reinterpret a painting, look at the fine details in architecture, and all the while take notes on what you are analyzing. These notes can form the basis of your analysis. 

If you know what you will write about, but not how to begin, it may be beneficial to start in the middle and return to the beginning later on. This allows you to create a context that the introduction can be based around later.

The University of Wisconsin – Madison has detailed numerous other strategies for generating ideas here. 

Some writers may have difficulty with assignments because they find themselves easily distracted and drawn to other things, or because their environment does not allow them to easily concentrate on the assignment. In these situations, it may be best to minimize any distractions you are able to. Keep only what you need to complete the assignment nearby. Close social messengers, turn off the television, and remove any other outside influences. If possible, find an environment with minimal distraction; being removed from a personal space (like your bedroom) may help you to focus on the task at hand. For example, some prefer the quiet areas of a library. Some writing centers encourage students to come in and use the center’s space to work, which has the added benefit of a tutor nearby. This may be tempered with occasional short breaks while studying to avoid burnout and to assist in concentration and retention. Consider taking a fifteen minute break every 50-90 minutes. 

Sometimes it is difficult to stay on track with an assignment because the assignment may seem boring or the writer feels that the assignment is not relevant to them. In these situations it may be beneficial and motivational to remind oneself of life goals and see the assignment as a step in the right direction towards meeting those goals. In some instances, it may be possible to change assignment topics or to rework an assignment to be more relevant to the writer. Determine how much say you have in how the assignment will be written by talking to the instructor, then make any necessary adjustments to the topic or themes of the assignment. Usually, the best topics are those we have the most personal interest in.

It may help to determine the scope of how the assigned topic will affect you and the community. What will you learn? What will be put into practice? How might the assignment help your audience or the community? Personalize the topic to the best of your ability, both in the interpretation of the assignment and the content. In most cases, the instructor or a tutor can help in the process.