I can’t even begin to recall the number of Sunday nights I’ve spent scrambling to get my homework done before school the next day. The sensation is like no other; your heart is trying to break through your rib cage, your mind is operating at 300 thoughts per second, and the fear of not making that 11:59 p.m. deadline is suffocating your brain. Then there’s the crippling anxiety that comes with the general responsibilities of life like finances, social groups, and deciding your future. This, my friends, is what procrastination feels like. And I hate it. I hate it with a burning passion. I hate knowing I have something important to do that needs to be completed as soon as humanly possible, and then putting it off until the last possible moment just because I wanted to more enjoyable things. I hate rushing and doing sloppy work when I know that if I gave myself the proper amount of time, I could create something of real quality. The thing about procrastination I’ve hated the most, however, is feeling trapped in that cycle, no matter how many times I’ve tried to correct it.
At the end of last year, my sophomore year at FSU, these same exact thoughts were going through my head. I had passed all my classes with flying colors, but my constant procrastination had cost me both my mental and physical health. I was tired of being the cause of my own anguish.
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I started thinking of ways I could escape the seemingly endless cycle. I wrote my plans for the week down on paper. That didn’t work. I bought a planner and wrote everything down in it. Didn’t work either. I even used to stupid reminder app built into the iPhone to set timers fro when I should complete certain tasks and assignments. Still didn’t work. What was wrong? I had tried everyone’s suggestions for better time management. What was I missing?
Then it dawned on me. I wasn’t committed to breaking the cycle. Every step that I was taking to prevent procrastination should have been working, I just didn’t care enough to put in the extra effort. The influence of the pleasures in my life had drawn my focus away from the necessities, causing me to grow complacent and comfortable. I needed to make myself uncomfortable.
However, instead of starting where I needed to most, I decided the best course of action was to focus on an area of my daily life that I actually enjoyed: going to the gym. I set a strict schedule for my workouts, down to the exact time. I’ll admit, the first few weeks were a bit of a train wreck. But, with enough dedication and perseverance, I began to see results rather quickly. I then moved onto my eating patterns. I had always had a habit of snacking on all the wrong things, so I made a conscious effort to stop eating and to stop purchasing those particular items, and replace them with healthier options. Little by little, I moved through multiple areas of my daily life until, finally, I reached the point where I felt completely comfortable and in control of almost all of them. Of course, there were times when life got in the way, but I simply adjusted my routines and commitments to compensate for the sudden obstacle. After sticking with each of my commitments for a while, I noticed my health and general well-being improve drastically. Life was awesome again.
If you’re like I was and procrastination has you pinned down, don’t try to beat it by tackling the hardest obstacles first. Start small. It’s so much easier to form better habits when you start out doing things you enjoy and that don’t take too much of a toll on you. However, in order to fully break the cycle of procrastination in your life, you need to make the commitments you make to yourself gradually bigger. For example, instead of going to the gym twice a week, start going three times a week, or, instead of going to bed at 3 a.m., start going to bed at midnight. I guarantee you’ll start seeing other areas of your daily routine because of it, along with your own well-being. All you have to do is commit.
