Procrastination

I procrastinate way too much. I really want to get out of this bad habit before school starts, but I just can't seem to do it. I made myself a schedule, and a checklist, but I never stick to it. I've tried everything, but I still don't manage to get anything done.
Is there a way I can become more focused and actually do some work before September?

As somebody with ADHD and anxiety I run into this issue a lot and there’s a few things that help me.

Just do 5mins, if you no longer want to do it after 5mins then stop you’ll be better then before.

Half-arsed is better then nothing. Half a job is better then not doing it at all.

Write down what’s making you struggle with the work and then how to contradict it.

Don’t pressure yourself to do it all at once. Even if you write one word you’re a word ahead then before

Thank you so much for this helpful reply! I was just going to bump up this thread and then you posted!
But whenever I do things half-arsed, I feel bad afterward for not doing it to the best of my abilities, but you're right, it's better than nothing
Do you have any tips on how to structure my day, and not get distracted?

Structuring is centred around something called “parlov’s theory” it’s about how you can train yourself/animals to work a particular way

Don’t feel guilty because if you only do half of something you can always come back to it and have less to do later.

I recommend constructing your day around meals and using a phone timer to count down to when you can be done with work.

Also make work as comfortable as possible w/o doing it on your bed. Your brain knows bed=sleep and will make you get tired if you sit there.

LONG LIST OF TIPS INBOUND

-inhale-

Download my study life it’s free and will help you keep track of everything
Colour coding saved my life but use fine liner pens to circle things as highlighting can cause ink to smudge

How I did my colour code: first off you’ll need two notebooks or documents on your computer/phone, one for taking notes and the other for putting your code into effect

yellow=important/need to know this

When you write this into book2 write out the part you selected in yellow so you can quickly come back to it

green=I don’t know this

When you write into book2 write the phrase out as a question ( all in green) and then write out which part you don’t get + ask the teacher about it. Write the answer you need next to it so you can quickly get to it if you’re stuck again

Blue= (write all in blue) expand on this (it’s pretty self explanatory) write out the sentence and then under it expand on it

Pink= I need to know this for a test/homework/assignment


If you can’t explain it to a 10 year old you don’t know it, there’s absolutely 0 shame in simplifying the **** out of things especially as the human mind is a mess. See if you can find or create metaphors this helped me easily remember different mental disorders just from memory.

Type whenever you can, as cute as handwriting is if you’re trying to get something down fast typing will 100% be faster.

Milanote is a good app for organising things, you have to set it up on a computer but after you create an account and make a board you can download the app and use it on your phone/iPad/whatever.

Get a calendar that you can stick on your wall, preferably a big one or a whiteboard one as it’s easy to overlook small calendars.

Procrastination is a ***** break up your big tasks like assignment etc into smaller pieces and do one small piece a day until it’s due, this will stop you from stressing out/making mistakes as you’ll have a lot of time and you’ll feel like you’re doing less work.

Get away from your bed when you’re studying/going over notes, you’ll probably know parolv by now and out brains associate bed=sleep and you’ll just be tired. Or you’ll just struggle to get to sleep.

If you listen to music to help you concentrate don’t listen to music with words if you can help it it distracts you, video game music works best as it’s designed to keep the player concentrated by lo-fi hip hop is a nice genre to listen to as it’s chill and cute.

Get your brain to associate something with studying (parlov time baby) I used to light vanilla incense 5 mins before I had to study or revise and even now I don’t do work smelling vanilla will wake me up and make me concentrate. Things like drinking a bottle of water or eating a specific type of snack or listening to a specific type of music will also work.


Try to get as much of your work as you can on your phone/laptop, it’ll be a backup incase you loose anything plus you can do your work via your device literally anywhere
Know when enough is enough. Sacrificing your mental+physical health isn’t going to push you to do more it’s just gonna make you tired and give you migraines and you’ll cry a lot. Know when you need to take a break.

Don’t punish yourself for not doing well enough. As crushing as it can be to fail or get a bad grade on something don’t let your brain tell you you’re *****y and you’re bad and all that bad junk. If you can talk to your teacher and ask where you can improve your work (write it down so you’ll remember)


TALK TO YOUR TEACHER/S ask them things and ask for help they’ll help you as much as you can and if you feel like you’re being annoying so what? You’re here to learn and do well and if the teacher doesn’t like it they should’ve taught kindergarteners.


Give yourself a weekly schedule and write it down somewhere, out down the times of your classes and give yourself a time slot in which you study (you don’t have to stick to this religiously it’ll just be a guideline) I had an hour a day with 3 hours a day spaced out over weekends/days I wasn’t in (however I didn’t go out on weekends so this may not work for you just fit it to yourself)
I included time’s where I would workout, cook something that sort of thing. It really helped me feel more organised when I had a set timeframe to work with

Get folders for your worksheets and use stickers. Even if they look dumb stickers have saved my ass when I’ve been frantically looking for a worksheet only to see the bright green smiley face on one and know that was it. It’ll help you know what’s what without labelling everything.

I used a website called sleep calculator I recommend it it helped me feel more awake in the mornings.

Don’t over do coffee or energy drinks. As good as they taste having too much of any can and will make you feel *****y later.

Thank you thank you thank you!! It is so nice of you to give me such detailed advice
You literally gave me advice for most, if not all of my problems.