Procrastination - and how to beat procrastination

Hey, hi, oh, that's me again. (after another really long time, I know, but hey.)

I have always been a bit lazy, but not always a procrastinator. And why not ? Because I think my inner self is able to destroy that part of me that always wants to delay doing things in order to watch more videos on Youtube, play video games a little longer, watch a movie, take a nap with my cat - hey, sorry, but seeing him sleeping on my bed when I'm supposed to be studying doesn't actually help a lot - ... You get the idea. 

I'm now in holiday, like, the great "Summer break" - thanksss French universities ! -, and my last final exams were about three weeks ago, and let me tell you : I had a huge impetus of procrastination, along with dejection. So that's why I wanted to write this new post about : how procrastination feels and how to beat it if you want to ace your exams.

Procrastination, or the art of postponing

   Putting things off. Yes, don't need more synonyms, I know. But you get the point. As the proverb says, << procrastination is the thief of time >> because, if you delay doing an essay, let's say, it will take waaay longer to do later on. I mean, if you want to properly do it. It'll take longer because you'll be stressed, but it won't if you don't give a damn thing about it and you want to do things in a rush. And maybe that's the whole point of procrastination for some people, rushing on doing things while being almost too late for doing them. But it is mainly thinking you are really ahead of the deadline and, therefore, not starting to do this essay now at all. And - ooh - it feels so bad and sometimes quite good, a bit like dejection : you're glad you're relieving yourself of all that work to do, but you know you've given up and you'll have to actually do it eventually. Because if you stay in front of your laptop, trying to come up with an idea for that essay, it will mostly end up like this :

Yes, you did and - oh, I know what it feels like. Torture.

Procrastination, dejection, hard work impulsions ...?

   When I was in high school (i.e : one year ago at least, so it's not that long ago at all I'm well aware), I used to do all the homework teachers gave us as soon as I got back from school, and then I was free for the rest of the evening. But when it comes - yes, because it's still the case - to studying for exams...... you have me lost. I have good grades, and I'm really happy with my A-Levels results, but I just hate studying for exams. I hate it. Even though I'm not a genuine procrastinator because I used to make revision cards - if I was brave enough to do them, because that's a whole other point there -, when it came to read these revision cards and print what's on them in my brain... I just couldn't. And I still can't. It gets me so angry. So I just lose heart and... play video games or binge watch series on Netflix. Sh*t. It gets me angry because I hate learning off by heart, and I hate learning when I know I am. What ?! Yes. I just prefer learning without knowing it, for example by watching TV documentaries, reading articles on the internet... But obviously that's not really how exams work and when you have a lesson with loads of chapters, you just gotta do what you gotta do : learn. But also understand. And then remember. And these two last parts are the toughest.

 Me when I just succeeded in forcing myself to learn the first chapter of a lesson out of the 25 other ones.

Beat procrastination by being shrewd with your own mind

   I'm sorry if that sounds a bit weird and psychological at the same time. But yeah. There are so many things you can do so as to beat your lazy tendencies if you don't feel like making revision cards all year long - you know, being the perfect and wisest student in your class that annoys literally everyone with their colourful, cute, simple and handy cards (but it's still okay, good for you if you did them, everyone hates you but it's okay I swear. ooh I'm joking okay please) - and spending your revision time before exams rushing through all your lessons with a terrifying amount of stress running through your veins. 

• First of all, you can make... another type of revision cards. YES. I'm being serious. Firstly, you need to read your whole lesson and figure out what are the most important points in it - not more than three or five per chapter - and then cut a sheet in credit card shaped-like little cards. Take your felt pen and be readyyy. On the front, write the question, for instance what's the definition of a 'semi-public company', and then write the answer on the back. Then, when you're done reading your whole lesson, you can still have your small amount of cards with you to remember what's the basis of your course, therefore you'll always have the necessary things to write during your exams at least. 

• You can also watch videos that deal with your lessons, that's what I do when the D-day is coming and I still want to make sure I know some things. Some youtubers are really funny to watch, and you can actually learn pretty important stuff while watching their videos !

Yes, I swear, that's a good idea.

• If you have to write an essay at home - this situation beings slightly different than studying at home for finals -, there are some tricks you can do to get your ass brain moving and working. Everybody is talking about this strange app, called "Flowstate", that acts like a real timer. If you stop writing for five seconds, it will erase everything you've already written. It will only save when the time you put on the counter is over - it can be 10 minutes or 1 hour, as you wish. But the thing about this app is that it doesn't allow you to actually write good essays, with a great way of telling something, no. You're so in rush you just need to write. Plus, it's charged. So what I suggest you to do for the beginning is to open your usual writing app - OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Word, whatever it is - and set yourself a timer on your own phone or chronometer. Put your phone and every other device of the sort on airplane mode, and then start writing words and ideas about the topic of your essay and what needs to be discussed. Just throw as much concepts, arguments and examples as you possibly can on the white page before the timer ends. And when it ends, that's when you need to select and clarify the information, turning them into a well-structured plan. It's a really good way to start !

• ...and when your essay is done (if you think so), you can use the "Expresso" app, "a little tool to edit texts and improve your writing style". It will basically tell you where your "weak verbs" are, and which words are used repeatedly so that you can use synonyms and give a twist to your writing style, still in order to master a good one (writing style) (okay) (stay focused) (pls). You just need to copy and paste your text on the app, and it will highlight every category of words to make you realize what is okay and what is apparently not. It still a pretty rough app, as it cannot replace a teacher, professor or even writer's opinion on your work, but it can help you see where you used too many times the same words or phrases. Thanks nowadays technologies !

• Make lists, but not discouraging ones. Didn't have time and patience to make appealing revision cards ? No matter, you can make a list of what needs to be done as cute as those damn cards ! Just make sure it's not too loaded or too muddled or it will have a huge discouraging effect. Classify and separate things that need to be done in different types : Languages, Science and Physics, Cleaning your room and Sorting your closet... These are, for example, three big categories where you can list what you need to do in. 

Just make sure it doesn't end up like this.

So that is all for this post ! I hope it was fun to read, getting to understand what is clearly procrastination and how to beat it without becoming the total opposite of a lazy student... I also hope and wish those tips will help you for your future exams ! I know it's going to be the finals session very soon for a lot of students in different parts of the world so... best of luck to you !! ♡ And remember, you just need to :