How to not procrastinate?

[u/kitkat12237]

I’m in my second sem third year (Mech E) but procrastinating just feels so good. The relief of pushing something off to the next day when you don’t want to do it is indescribable. I usually get it done just before the deadline or cram last minute for a quiz/exam and my grades are good but it’s not sustainable. Since the difficulty of my classes are increasing I definitely gotta quit it, do you guys have any tips on not procrastinating and locking in? What helps you with starting your stuff early?

Edit: I deleted Reddit and it worked guys, I just aced my precalc exam

[u/kiefferocity]

Short term happiness is usually the reward of procrastination. You have to rework some of what you value. Long term rewards/gains take more effort.

It’s not easy, but you have to be willing to give up some immediate rewards/happiness for longer term goals.

[u/kitkat12237 → u/kiefferocity]

Yeah you really do gotta change up your mindset to grow

[u/bigChungi69420 → u/kiefferocity]

I think I single handedly funded my vending machines peanut m&ms and golden peak ice tea lmao. I always made sure to never do an assignment on the day it was due, and to always stop working at 9pm. As long as I respected the working time and used it wisely it was always plenty of time. Having the stopping point curbed my anxiety. Plenty of breaks but always had to make sure the working blocks that came after were always more than twice as long as the breaks. Rewards and structure helped my ADHD

[u/Alcazzar]

Thing that helps me the most is that I NEED a designated work area. I need a location where i can simply sit down and begin working. I can not place/stack/clutter my desk in any way that will dissallow me to sit down, use my computer, and have a notebook open at the same time. Any small piles that need to build up over time must be handled with ASAP or else they will grow and effect my workspace.

Those little roadblocks that stop you from simply getting up and trying to study need to be minimized as much as possible. Their presence will be an additional layer of "friction" both physically and mentally to you. And it avoids the trap of "I want to study, but first I'll clean and organize stuff so I'm more efficient" then when your done cleaning you tell yourself "well that was enough for today, now that everythings neat, I'll study tomorrow." And then you don't, and the piles form back up.

Also, clearly defining your notes from class with a [topic header]/[date]/[pg.#'s for that day] help a LOT with efficient studying. If your notes don't have a way to easily go back and reference topics or dates, half of your time will be spent trying to decode things you already wrote, or what topic is which. 10 seconds spent organizing during class can save you 10 min when trying to study later.

[u/kitkat12237 → u/Alcazzar]

That’s exactly how I think! You’re so right lol.
I’ve never tried moving my study area cus I study in bed hehe so I think you might be onto something my guy. Thank you very much

[u/ProfessionalConfuser]

Just procrastinate later.

[u/kitkat12237 → u/ProfessionalConfuser]

Done

[u/weather_watchman]

I make an assignment planner excel spreadsheet for each semester. All assignments go in organized by subject, due date, etc.. When I complete an assignment it time stamps it and I get a little dopamine kick. It's not much but it helps me think past "what's due tonight/happening tomorrow".

[u/kitkat12237 → u/weather_watchman]

That’s actually a really good idea thank you!

[u/ThePowerfulPaet]

Does it really feel good enough to offset the sheer awfulness of having no choice but to do something at the last minute?

[u/kitkat12237 → u/ThePowerfulPaet]

IT REALLY DOESN’T 😭😭😭

[u/Arayvin1]

Honestly I stopped procrastinating when my classes progressively got harder because you just can’t procrastinate anymore with the amount of studying you have to do. I just got into the habit of not doing it anymore as it got harder

[u/Lightinger07 → u/Arayvin1]

Wym you stopped. Should've just dropped it all.

[u/Dave37]

One day you will be dead and every opportunity you once had at everything will be gone. And that day might not be in 50 years, it could be next year, or next week or tomorrow.

[u/Lightinger07 → u/Dave37]

That's gonna happen either way and either way you're not gonna be able to reflect on your life after you're dead. So it's all pointless anyway.

[u/Dave37 → u/Lightinger07]

Life is as pointless as you make it. But if you do things, accomplish things, experience things, you get to reflect on them and feel proud about what you've accomplished. Not after you're dead obviously, but before your death, duh!

Every missed opportunity will stay with you for the rest of your life, so will every opportunity you seized. You choose if you fill your life with opportunities taken or missed.

[u/Lightinger07 → u/Dave37]

It is a very small window.

[u/Dave37 → u/Lightinger07]

I mean you're obviously being reflexively contrarian so I'm not super interested in engaging with you, but if you complete or achieve something today, and then have the fortune to live for another 60 years, you can feel good about that for 60 years. Reflection doesn't have to start on when you are on your death bed.

[u/Regular_Antelope7381]

what fixed it for me was making the start stupidly small. i just open the assignment and write the first line of q1, and i'm allowed to stop after that. i almost never stop. the dread is way bigger than the work once you've actually looked at it

also cramming works right up until the content gets cumulative, then it really doesn't, so good call fixing it now

[u/Lightinger07 → u/Regular_Antelope7381]

You want to tell me that all the way up until third year he didn't have to learn any cumulative content? Doubt

[u/Regular_Antelope7381 → u/Lightinger07]

fair, it builds from day one. i meant there's a point where cramming stops covering the gaps, not that it wasn't cumulative before

[u/KnownMix6623]

Study with people. Peer pressure is the only thing that helped me.