{"id":111759,"date":"2017-12-08T10:07:42","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T15:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=111759"},"modified":"2018-12-13T11:24:06","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T16:24:06","slug":"10-ways-to-avoid-procrastination-and-get-work-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2017\/12\/08\/10-ways-to-avoid-procrastination-and-get-work-done\/","title":{"rendered":"From Bates students and professors, 12 ways to avoid procrastination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Procrastination can be an art form. As finals approach and term papers come due, there are ever more opportunities to perfect stalling \u2014 and overcome it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We asked students and professors how they put off work. Their answers included: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Netflix<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Online shopping<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Posting on Instagram<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Staying in Commons until it closes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organizing papers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drinking tea<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going on really long runs and\/or walks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Making six-hour music playlists<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visiting neighbors<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Answering the questions of a Bates Communications employee in lieu of grading papers <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We also asked students, faculty, and staff about strategies they use to manage their time and get work done. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Jessica Mayo, a therapist at the Bates Counseling and Psychological Services Center, recommends that students try to keep in mind a general sense of what is due when so they &#8220;can plan what they\u2019re going to be doing weeks ahead.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to &#8220;break things down into reasonable tasks,\u201d she adds, using a schedule or planner to fit those tasks into the time available.<\/p>\n<p>Mayo sees an uptick in procrastination issues at the end of the semester, which makes sense, and she points to a range of college resources that students can access, such as the Counseling and Pyschological Services Center, the staff at the Academic Resource Commons in Ladd Library, or a Student Affairs dean or faculty adviser.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here&#8217;s what campus folks told us.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>1. Turn procrastination into productivity<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For many, like Korbin Houston \u201918 of Chicago, putting off one task means taking up another. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI try to procrastinate with other productive things,\u201d Houston \u201918 says. For example, \u201cI usually have a lot of emails to send, so I do a lot of emailing instead of doing other substantial things that are important.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>2. Put away the distractions<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll turn my phone off and put \u2018Do not disturb\u2019 on my computer,\u201d says Oriana Lo Cicero \u201920 of Bellingham, Wash. \u201cI\u2019ll turn off all the sources of social media and tell my friends, \u2018I can\u2019t hang out until this time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>3. Put on blinders<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWhen I really need to buckle down, I take the page I&#8217;m supposed to be working on, usually a Word doc, and maximize it so it fills the whole screen,\u201d says Halley Posner \u201918 of Southport, Conn. \u201cWhen I can&#8217;t see the clock on my laptop, it&#8217;s easier to focus in on the work I need to get done.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>4. Set a goal and a reward<b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>First-years Carolyn Snow and Abby Hamilton, friends from Yarmouth, Maine, say they procrastinate by calling each other and talking about the work they\u2019re not doing. When it comes to actually accomplishing something, \u201cI set time limits,\u201d says Hamilton. \u201cI will be like, \u2018In 15 minutes, I will be done with this chemistry problem,\u2019 or \u2018I will read five pages, and then I can be done and go to bed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lo Cicero says she sometimes tells herself that if she can get a certain amount of work done, \u201cyou can play ukulele for 20 minutes, and then you have to get back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_111762\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/12\/171206_Campus_Ukelele_0095.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-111762\" class=\"wp-image-111762 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/12\/171206_Campus_Ukelele_0095-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/12\/171206_Campus_Ukelele_0095-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/12\/171206_Campus_Ukelele_0095-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/12\/171206_Campus_Ukelele_0095-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/12\/171206_Campus_Ukelele_0095.jpg 1919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-111762\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oriana Lo Cicero &#8217;20, a chemistry major from Bellingham, Wash., sometimes plays the ukulele as a study break. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>5. Know how you work<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oaklea Elfstrom \u201921 of East Haddam, Conn., advises knowing the times at which you\u2019re most productive. \u201cIf I try to do homework at midnight I won\u2019t be able to, so instead I go to bed at 10:30 and get up at 6 and do homework then,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>6. Make a to-do list<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m a planner,\u201d says Houston. \u201cI have several to-do lists. I\u2019m always trying to plan ahead and make sure I have free space to do work and try to manage the work.\u201d (Jessica Mayo would approve.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That worked for Houston earlier this week, she says. Her environmental studies capstone course didn\u2019t meet at its usual time, so she worked on another project with a classmate. \u201cWe were able to get that done, go to class, eat, and then try to do work and run around and talk to professors. I was able to get a decent amount of work done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>7. Just get started<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_107903\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/161025_Smallpox_Political_Campaign_Rhetoric_0698_LR-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-107903\" class=\"wp-image-107903 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/161025_Smallpox_Political_Campaign_Rhetoric_0698_LR-1-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/161025_Smallpox_Political_Campaign_Rhetoric_0698_LR-1-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/161025_Smallpox_Political_Campaign_Rhetoric_0698_LR-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/161025_Smallpox_Political_Campaign_Rhetoric_0698_LR-1-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/161025_Smallpox_Political_Campaign_Rhetoric_0698_LR-1.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-107903\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Associate Professor of Rhetoric Stephanie Kelly-Romano, at left, confers with Molly Chisholm during the fall 2016 course &#8220;Presidential Campaign Rhetoric.&#8221; (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Faced with mountains of papers to grade, professors are hardly immune to procrastination. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I make piles,\u201d says Stephanie Kelley-Romano, associate professor of rhetoric. \u201cI take all the grading I have to do and separate it by class and sometimes by student and assemble it. I also make sure it\u2019s appropriately stapled or fastened. I get pens ready.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once she can\u2019t put it off any longer, she commits to just one small task. Once she gets going, the rest is easier. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI do a little bit, like grade one paper,\u201d says Kelley-Romano. \u201cIf I do one, I do four.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>8. Get out of the house<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For some, home isn\u2019t necessarily the best place for homework. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI have mentally separated my room from school, because I associate my room with relaxing and Netflix,\u201d says Bailey Richins \u201919 of Westerly, R.I. \u201cNormally, I have all of my work with me, I find a place to study, and I stay there until I get what I need to get done, done.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carolyn Snow heads to the library. \u201cIf I go to a public space like the library, and there are other people \u2014 not people that I know, like Abby [Hamilton] \u2014 I feel like I should not procrastinate as much because I see everybody else working,\u201d she says. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>9. Work alone<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019ll try to get as much work done in one block of time as I can, instead of doing homework slowly with friends that I could have done really quickly,\u201d says Lo Cicero. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>10. Set reasonable amounts of time to get things done<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI block out everything and try to anticipate how long each assignment will take,\u201d says Sam Rickerich \u201918 of York, Maine. \u201cIf it seems like it\u2019ll be a big one, it\u2019ll probably take longer than you think, so start early.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>11. Make fear of shame work for you<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Professor of Spanish Baltasar Fra-Molinero says he procrastinates on new articles by working on material \u201cthat, while fascinating, is not what I should be writing on.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His motivator, he says, \u201cis the impending shame of showing up with empty hands and no credible excuses.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>12. Know when to move on<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs my grandfather says, do it good enough for government work, so that\u2019s a good 75 percent effort,\u201d says Elfstrom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Sarah Rothmann contributed reporting.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take a look at this time-management advice from students, faculty, and staff. Or put it off till tomorrow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":111664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,11012],"tags":[8163],"class_list":["post-111759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-student-life","tag-stephanie-kelley-romano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111759"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120898,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111759\/revisions\/120898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}