Senior year makes it so easy to fall into the habit of procrastination. You’ll get to it eventually. However, in college procrastination is about as deadly as rat poison. If you procrastinate in college, you will be up all night scrambling to finish your 30 page English paper and putting the finishing touches on that project that is due in your 8 A.M. You will need about 4 times the amount of coffee you usually drink and you can forget about learning anything at all the next day.
There is really no point in waiting until the last minute to do all of your work when you have ample amount of time to do it. Professors will tell you about due dates in advanced, they won’t spring things on you last minute. Use your planner to plan out these projects and papers. Mark out small amounts of time every day to work on them and spread it out over a period of time. Make sure in these plans that you give yourselves a day off from all of the work so that you don’t burn yourself out. Give yourself enough time to get work done. If you can’t work in your room, go to the library. If you need help, contact your professor and ask them questions when you need to. Go to the writing labs and get someone to read over your paper or look over your project for any detail that you may have missed.
After every finished product, reward yourself. Watch that movie you wanted to watch, go out for dinner at your favorite restaurant, go out with your friends, do something that will make you happy so that you feel great about finishing your assignment early and then you will want to do it again.
If you do find yourself in a situation where time really go away from you, do not panic, that would be the worst thing to do. Yes, you will have to pull an all-nighter to finish, but there are tactics that you can use to help you get through it. You should drink some coffee and plug in your lap top, sit back and get started on that essay. Map out your time throughout the night, after you finish a portion of the assignment, take a break. Pour some more coffee, take a shower, take a power nap, eat some brain food, etc. Do this periodically throughout the night so that you can finish the assignment and stay motivated while doing so.
survivingthedorm 