Procrastination is a vicious cycle. It's always "I'll do it tomorrow, I'll do it later." And then you don't do it later, and you feel guilty, and you start to feel bad about yourself, and then you get overwhelmed when you realize a deadline is coming up... and it starts again with the next assignment. Take it from a retired professional procrastinator, breaking that cycle is one of the BEST things I've ever done.

Being on top of my tasks and accomplishing everything I want to accomplish is such a great feeling. I feel good about myself and the work that I do. When you stop procrastinating you will actually ask yourself why you didn't do it sooner.

In honor of a new academic year starting soon, I have created a seven step guide for all of you to follow when you don't feel like doing your work. I follow these seven steps each time I tackle an important task or assignment, and they help me tremendously.

1. Be willing to overcome it

This is hands down the most important step to overcoming procrastination. Trust me, I know how easy it is to get stuck in the lazy cycle, but you have to really want to be productive. I truthfully cannot help you if you don't want to help yourself. In the words of Troy Bolton, you gotta getcha head in the game.

2. Get enough sleep, food, and water

This is so important! Don't expect your brain to work with you when you aren't giving your body what it needs. You might space out frequently or get distracted by your hunger. Pro tip: when you sit down to work, bring a healthy snack and water with you so you can't use it as an excuse to stop five minutes later!

3. Have a planner or to-do list

I'm sure you've heard this a hundred times before. Whether this is a bullet journal, a weekly or monthly planner, or just a simple to-do list for you, it's absolutely necessary for kicking procrastination and being productive. When you have a visible, tangible list of tasks to be conquered in front of you, there is no way for you to forget anything, and you'll feel fabulous when you can physically check a task off your list. Lilly Pulitzer agendas work well for me, and I'm currently loving this planner.

4. Try to do most of your work before lunch

And do your assignments as soon as you know they exist. This might require waking up a bit earlier (which is a totally healthy and fantastic habit), but you will feel so accomplished knowing most of your work for the day is finished early. After lunch we tend to hit a slump, and honestly, who feels like working at night when there are countless other excursions awaiting besides...studying?

5. Go to a place where you work well

For you this might be the library or a coffee shop or your own desk. Basically a place with little to no distractions where you just feel good and get stuff done. Wherever it is, find it! It may take a bit of trial and error, but you'll be glad you found it.

6. Have an incentive

Friends - "The One With The Poker"

You need something to look forward to. This could mean an episode of the show you're currently watching on Netflix, reading, catching up on YouTube, going out with friends later, you get the point. You could tell yourself "Ok, I'm going to do productive thing x, and after I'm going to do super fun activity y," or "I need to sit down and do this because if I don't I won't have any time for myself." It's helpful to know that you're not sitting down to an endless abyss of working time.

7. Find a playlist that works for you, turn it on, put your phone down, and leave it down

If you're the type of person that likes to listen to music while you work, pick music that won't distract you (i.e. instrumental). Unfortunately, jam sessions and productivity don't often happen simultaneously. There are some awesome study playlists out there though. These Harry Potter inspired mixes usually do the trick for me, but since 8tracks limits its users to an hour of free listening time per week, I've been loving the Mellow Beats playlist on Spotify and Pure Ambient on Apple Music. The Forest app is an incredible incentive to stay off your phone.

I hope you decide to give these seven steps/tips a try, and I hope they're helpful. Dropping your procrastination habit is such a great feeling, you'll be like a totally new person!