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Writer's pictureMike Acker

How to Deal with Procrastination at College


Students face many challenging tasks in college. They deal with boring lectures, irregular schedules, and test anxiety.


The University of Calgary conducted a study that indicated that about 75% of students labeled themselves as procrastinators. Out of that number, 50% mentioned that procrastination was a consistent problem.


Everybody has their way of dealing with procrastination. Some people are lucky enough not to have this challenge, while others try hard but still find it difficult.


How can you deal with procrastination? These tips can help:


1.Organize every aspect of your school life. Anything can become a source of procrastination. So, to minimize the issue, organize your school life.

  • Plan out your week when you start classes.

  • If there are homework and exams, indicate them in the plan.

Keep track of not just the assignments but also their deadlines.

  • When you organize your school life, you get an orderly framework from which to work.


2. Minimize distractions. In the pursuit of overcoming procrastination, it's easy to succumb to distractions. Distractions make us lose sight of what's essential. They turn us from people who get things done into people who don’t do the things that we know are necessary.

  • If you want to master procrastination, it’s important to cut out distractions. These may include emails, phone calls, and social media. Remember that this practice is temporary, but guarantees your success, so hang in there.


3. Learn to prioritize. It's easy to get distracted. It's easy to think that the only way to get things done is to do them all simultaneously. That won't work. You have limited time, and you can't do everything at once.

  • Addressing the most important tasks first will make it easier for you to do everything later.

  • To illustrate, imagine you needed to fill a bucket with sand and stones. If you start with the sand, you will pack the bucket, and you won't have any space for rocks. However, when you start with the stones, you will have enough room for the sand, and it will seem easier to fill the bucket.

  • That's why it's better to note down your priorities in writing so you can guide yourself and achieve more. You'll also find that everything is more likely to fall into place, just like the sand.


4. Use rewards and incentives to beat procrastination. Everyone procrastinates for a reason. If you have a lot of work to do, and you wonder why you won't do it, there's a reason. Maybe an assignment is too dull or too rigid.

  • Rewarding yourself for being productive makes it easier for you to achieve more than if there were no reward at all. You could frame it this way, "Once I finish this study activity, I will reward myself with a trip to the movies."

5. Keep yourself accountable. Accountability is one of the essential factors in beating procrastination. However, it's not easy to find someone else willing to keep you accountable. Others are busy and don't have enough time to supervise what you do all day.


  • One way around this issue is setting up a threat. For instance, you can tell yourself that if you don't finish an assignment on time, you'll post on Facebook that your grades are dropping. The mere thought of embarrassment may keep you motivated enough to complete your work.

  • You can also become accountable to yourself. Think about the implications of procrastination. You could fail your exams, lose your grades, and not be able to graduate. The thought of all the negative things that could happen will likely be enough motivation to get you started.


We all face procrastination every day. It's a source of stress and frustration, especially if you have a big assignment due soon.


Always remember that you are entirely responsible for your actions. The consequences of procrastination are often too serious to ignore. Follow these top tips and say goodbye to procrastination.


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Thank you for reading our blog!


- Mike Acker



Check out my new book on Public Speaking: Speak with Confidence, published by WILEY.


A breakthrough to develop confidence in speaking, leadership, and life. A follow-up book to my best-selling book, Speak with No Fear



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