Want to overcome HSC procrastination? Can’t stop watching Youtube when you’re meant to be studying?
Ultimately everyone procrastinates, and that’s just the reality. However, from interviewing thousands of top-performing students, we discovered that those who receive the highest ATAR’s procrastinate less.
That’s why in this video, we’re going to share with you the three big reasons as to why we procrastinate and three practical strategies you can implement to stop HSC procrastination in its tracks!
Let’s get into it!
Why do we procrastinate?
Strategy #1: The Pomodoro Technique
Strategy #2: Chunking
Strategy #3: Earning Fun
Why do we procrastinate?
Simply put, procrastination is the act of unnecessarily postponing actions or decisions.
Now, in all the research we’ve done with thousands of students across Australia, we’ve identified three big reasons for why the overwhelming majority of students procrastinate.
#1: Fear of Failure
Some students hold a fear deep down that if they actually have a crack at completing a task they might fail. This can be a little scary and lead to students avoiding the task altogether!
#2: Feeling Overwhelmed
In this case, students feel like the task at hand is so freaking big that they just don’t know where to start. I feel like we’ve all been in this position before!
#3: You Can’t Defer Your Gratification
The third reason for procrastination is that a student’s reward for completing a task is too far away to encourage urgency.
Because you can’t see the finish line, you don’t have that powerful tool to motivate you and push you to get the task done.
So how do we fix it?
These are the three biggest reasons for procrastination, but yours might be totally different! Once you figure it out, you can make a move to solve your HSC procrastination for good!
Here are three awesome strategies you can implement right now!
Strategy #1: The Pomodoro Technique
The first strategy that you can use to overcome procrastination is something called the Pomodoro Technique.
You might be thinking: “Pomo what?”
In fact, Pomodoro is Italian for tomato.
The story goes that there was a guy from the US on exchange in Italy and he was suffering from massive procrastination. He just couldn’t get anything done!
He looked around his room and all he could find was a tomato-shaped cooking timer. One of those old-school ones that you have to wind up to make it tick.
He used this to create a procrastination technique, and it’s incredibly simple. Basically, you set yourself a 25-minute increment of study. That’s it.
You don’t give yourself a big study period because often, the largeness of the task at hand is what makes it overwhelming and hard to get started on.
During this 25 minutes you have two options:
- You do your work
- You sit there and do nothing. You can still procrastinate, but you aren’t allowed to do anything.
What you’ll discover is that you’ll start to get bored and say: “Screw it, I might as well do a bit of work.”
As well as this, because these study sessions are only 25 minutes, they’re extremely easy to commit to. Rather than setting a massive study sesh, you can have a goal to complete 3 or 4 Pomodoros in a day.
This will help you get way more focused work done without feeling like your chipping away at a huge block of study.
Strategy #2: Chunking
So strategy number two for overcoming HSC procrastination is something called chunking.
Now, remember, one of the reasons we procrastinate is because the size of a task can feel so overwhelming.
To overcome this, we need to look at a task and figure out what individual part of it is the most achievable.
Out of everything in this task, what’s the smallest possible thing you could get started on? That’s all there is to it!
Once you’ve completed this, you need to identify the next smallest possible part of the task and keep on repeating the process.
Now the goal here is just about getting you started. I’m sure that once you find your momentum, things are going to kick into gear. It also means that you won’t get overwhelmed by an immense and daunting task!
Strategy #3: Earning Fun
One of the main reasons for HSC procrastination is that the task at hand might be boring, and you’re just not motivated to work towards a goal that seems so far away.
Let’s say your goal is a good ATAR. The thing is, you might not see your results for another 12 months into the future, so it isn’t going to motivate you to push through the boredom.
This means you’ve got to think about a reward that you can bring more immediately into your life. You have to earn your fun!
So how does it work? Well, it’s really simple. Each day, you basically set something that you really love to do. It could be:
- Watching your favourite Netflix show
- Chatting with your boyfriend or girlfriend
- Going to the gym
- Eating your favourite food
Whatever it is, you basically set a goal that if you get your work done, you get to do what you love.
Hopefully, your love for this reward is going to give you the motivation to actually get stuck into the task at hand!
What’s really critical with this is that you can’t give yourself the reward before you’ve completed your work. You need to change your relationship with leisure time and leave it off until the end of the day or until you’ve completed the task at hand.
Now, you might be thinking:
“In theory, that sounds good, but honestly, it’s likely that I’m still going to procrastinate and do the thing I love whenever I want.”
This is where having an accountability buddy can be hugely powerful when fighting HSC procrastination.
Study with a friend, family member or sibling that can help you stay accountable. This is a lot like a gym partner who pushes you to go that extra bit harder!
Find what works for you!
Now that you’ve heard our three strategies, test them out to find what works best for you!
And remember, always keep in mind that you’re trying to decrease the daunting size of your task. Always look for ways to make your study more achievable and tap into what keeps you motivated!
Looking for some extra help with your HSC studies?
We pride ourselves on our inspirational HSC coaches and mentors!
We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at our state of the art campus in Hornsby!
To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!
Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on Facebook!
