Have you ever been given a large assignment? What do you do? Do you start immediately, or do you wait until the last minute? I wish I could say that I was the kind of person who got an assignment and started working on it right away. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. And this bad habit has led to many unpleasant experiences in my life. Fortunately, there are solutions for this problem! But first, I think that we should address exactly why this is a horrible habit to continue in your life.

First off, this habit leads to lots of unnecessary stress. There have been many times in which I have had an assignment due in a few days and I had barely started to work on it. I worry about when I’m going to have time to do it, and how I’m going to do it. And the worst part? It could have been avoided and none of the stress was ever even necessary!

Additionally, it creates a very bad and continuous habit. When you eventually get a job somewhere, there will most definitely be things you have to do! But if you wait until the very last second, you might not finish it in time. It might be incomplete, and if you are seen as a worker who doesn’t complete their work, there is a very high likelihood that you will get fired.

Finally, it wastes a TON of time. If you wait until you have one day left to do something important, you can’t guarantee that you’ll even have it done in time. Then, all the time you spent not doing your work was wasted. You will always have chances to have fun and be yourself, but you will not necessarily always have time to finish your work if you wait until the last minute.

Okay, so we’ve addressed the issue. But what good does addressing the issue do if we have no solutions? Well, worry no more about not knowing what to do! Here’s some solutions that I (or others with the same issue) have found that help with the problem.

Sometimes, it takes making a to-do list to keep track of what I have to do. In fact, I’ve found that there’s a certain sense of completion when you’re able to cross something from a list of things to do. It reminds me of the things I’ve completed and is also a good guide for what I have yet to do. This is the most effective method for me but might not be for you. If you have trouble keeping the list up to date, then it won’t help much.

Another thing that helps with procrastinating is to start working as soon as you receive your assignment. When you see the sheet with the information, start brainstorming ideas; this’ll lead you to starting the main body of it as quickly as possible. If you start early, you can end early. However, I’ve found that this method only works for some assignments.

Finally, one of the best ways to get your work done on time is to give yourself a schedule. Make sure you have certain parts done by certain times. Additionally, if you finish one part very quickly, you can move on to the next part and thus be ahead of schedule. This method is effective for people who like to be organized and neat, but don’t always end up that way. If you hate planning, this probably won’t work as well for you.

By this point, I’ve shared almost everything that I’ve learned about how to get my work done on time. Whether you plan out how much you need to have completed in a week or make a list and fill it out as you go, I hope at least something in this article helps you. And take it from me; I too am terrible at getting my work done quickly or on time. So, the next time you have a 7-page essay to write or a math test to study for, remember these helpful tips and tricks from me, a fellow procrastinator.