A new phone and repeated Operating System crashes is similar to a To-Do LIST (TDL) in your life.To-Do lists compel you to make promises of tasks that have to be done by dawn, making the undone tasks seem larger in size and longer in time. This repeats, often a cycle leaving the feeling on NOT GETTING ENOUGH DONE even though To-Do Lists are supposed to make you feel more productive.

Checkboxes need Promises

TDL in life is like running it on Windown 95. We need to shed the stress and toxic guilt of not checking off boxes.You'll find using schedule builders to make a weekly timeboxed calendar instead of relying on a to-do list is the right way to go. But why?<ol><li>To-Do Lists Perpetuate Harmful Self-Stereotypes</li><li>To-Do Lists Lead to Distraction</li><li>To-Do Lists Destroy the Fun in Life</li><li>The Best To-Do List is One you Make with a Schedule Builder</li></ol>

I love my TDL!

Time management practices, like any tool comes down to how it's used. A hammer can be used to build a house or bash someone’s head. With using to-do lists, getting tasks onto a piece of paper, or into an app, is a good thing. You start the workday with your to-do list, checking off boxes, maybe the wrong way to use this tool.It's a broken Operating System and you've got to update it. Here's why.

Broken OS? My Life?

Isn't it easier to add things to your TDL than to actually do them?Not finishing them, we'd blame ourselves and our inability. But this negative self-talk reinforced a kind of stereotype that makes it less likely to accomplish goals.Long-term adherence to a new set of actions necessitates seeing ourselves differently. Behavior change requires identity change. If you don't want to procrastinate, don't make promises to yourself you'll break, be indistractable.

To-Do Lists Perpetuate Harmful Self-Stereotypes

Having constant reminders of what you didn't do, cements a self-stereotype. You'll start to see yourself differently, for weeks or months.Don't stick to the cycle of "I'll finish it tomorrow, what's one more day?". The narrative will slowly change from , from"I'm not good with deadlines" (what we do) to "I must have a short attention span" (who we are).We begin to see ourselves as the problem and buy into a self-fulfilling prophecy, like from being 'easily distracted' to 'bad at managing time'.

I'll do it tomorrow, it's fine.

The opposite of 'distraction' is not focus, it's 'traction', and both are actions we decide to take and not things that happen to us. We cannot call something a distraction unless we know what it is distracting us from. If you knew you had a big project and need to meet your deadlines, glancing at your TDL gives you permission to escape into doing something else. Then you'll probably not feel like doing important tasks or keep putting it off or reconstruct your TDL.

To-Do Lists Lead to Distraction?

TDL's allow us to get distracted by easy or urgent tasks at the expense of important work. Not giving enough time to our important tasks, we justify it by telling ourselves “there isn’t enough time left anyway,” or “I’m not in the mood,” or “I’ll definitely get to it tomorrow”.Then deadlines loom over us and we realize we could've done better work with lesser stress if we just prioritized. We allowed the to-do list to distract us with frivolous tasks that gave us the deceptive feeling of being productive when we didn’t feel like doing what we said we would.

Let's do This Instead!

TDL's honestly occupy our minds like a hostile army, stressing us out and unfinished tasks invade thoughts and leisure time.Some studies and their conclusions:<ol><li>Thinking about what we “should” be doing, can kill the enjoyment of life’s important pleasures.</li><li>Mothers and fathers in many Western nations spend <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/11/27/parents-now-spend-twice-as-much-time-with-their-children-as-50-years-ago">significantly more time</a> with their children than previous generations.</li><li>Even though Americans have time to watch on average nearly <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2018/time-flies-us-adults-now-spend-nearly-half-a-day-interacting-with-media/">five hours of television every day</a>, they report feeling busier.</li></ol>We've simply forgotten how wonderful it feels to have the peace of mind.

To-Do Lists Destroy the Fun in Life

Upgrade your life OS and <a href="https://www.nirandfar.com/schedule-maker/">build a weekly schedule</a> instead. An effective approach is “setting an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation_intention#:~:text=An%20implementation%20intention%20(II)%20is,portions%20of%20goal%2Ddirected%20behavior.">implementation intention</a>,” a fancy term for deciding what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it.Plan in advance how you intend to spend your time to know your tractions and distractions that way and even have time for yourself and others while affirming your self-image.

The Best To-Do List is One you Make with a Schedule Builder

Try to have as programmed a day as you possibly can. You have the same 24 hours in the day as me. Keeping a schedule makes it possible to devote your precious hours to the things that matter most to you.We can all upgrade our life operating systems and learn better ways of getting more out of our day. And fortunately, this upgrade is free.

Make the Switch

I swear by To-Do Lists on my Post-Its, only to realize I plan more than I can execute. Keep it time-bound and task-oriented, rather than a list of checkboxes. 

It’s time to shed the constant stress and toxic guilt of not checking off enough little boxes on your to-do list.

productivity

Productivity

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

timemanagement

Time Management

Be a Schedule Builder, Not a To-Do List Maker

Don't just start on anything do only the stuff you're passionate about.

01. Be selective in what you embark on

So you know what to expect.

02. Estimate the resources you need

So you can finish the project in a timely manner.

03. Budget your time and energy accordingly

Whatever you're obsessing about doesn't make a big deal in the long run.

04. Quit being a perfectionist

05. Commit to it

In times when you feel uninspired, remember your end vision.

06. Connect with your end vision

Follow the path of highest enjoyment

Whatever gets measured gets improved.

08. Track your progress

Celebrate what you've done so far

09. Celebrate what you've done so far

Quit the project ifit's not what you want.

10. Don't force it if it's really not working out

career

Career

problemsolving

Problem Solving

How to FINISH, What you START

The quality of our life and our productivity is directly correlated with our ability to focus. Prof Huberman discusses ways to engineer if:
<ul>
<li>It will take about 6 minutes to settle into work and focus: unless you are very stressed or excited about something, don’t expect to be immediately focused the moment you sit/stand to work</li>
<li>As you optimize the workspace, the latency period (the time it takes to get focused) will decrease</li>
<li>In the first part of your day (0-9 hours after waking), bright lights make for maximum alertness – use bright overhead lights and blue light or ring light in front of you</li>
</ul>

Engineering Focus

<ul>
<li>To be alert and maintain an optimal level of alertness, keep the screen or book at nose level or slightly higher up – ideally while standing or seated</li>
<li>For every 45 minutes you are focused on something, take a walk or relax your eyes and dilate your gaze for 5 minutes to avoid fatigue</li>
<li>Depending on the day, background noise can be a stimulant or hindrance to focus – but generally, the incessant humming of air conditioners or heaters can increase mental fatigue and decrease cognitive performance</li>
</ul>

The Light And The Noise

<ul>
<li>Tip to manage office interruptions: if someone enters your office or workspace, acknowledge their presence but don’t shift your body or reorient yourself</li>
<li>We weren’t designed to sit all day, but we shouldn’t stand all day either – a combination of about 50/50 is best</li>
<li>Active workstations (e.g., cycle or treadmill) can improve attention and cognition for some tasks.</li>
</ul>

Attention & Posture

To build new habits & behaviours, leverage your body’s natural brain and body rhythms.Phases of the day will invoke a shift in mood and mindset that are more conducive to building and keeping habitsPhase 1: 0-8 hours after waking up<ul><li>This phase comes with a more alert state which can be heightened by sunlight viewing, caffeine delaying, fasting, etc.</li><li>Norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine are elevated during this phase</li><li>Healthy cortisol is also elevated in the brain and bloodstream</li><li>This is when you want to take on new habits and behaviours that are challenging for you.</li></ul>

The Phases Of The Day: Phase 1

Phase 2: 9-15 hours after waking upLevels of dopamine, epinephrine, and cortisol start to come downSerotonin starts to rise and lends itself to a relaxed state of being – can be enhanced with a warm bath, yoga nidra, ashwagandhaTaper the amount of bright light (unless it’s sunlight) & start dimming house lights a bitThis is when you want to taper stress level and take on habits and things you are already doing that don’t require a lot of override of limbic friction – e.g., journaling, music

The Phases Of The Day: Phase 2

Phase 3: 16-24 hours after waking up<ul><li>Keep the environment very dark or dim & room temperature low</li><li>The body needs to drop in temperature to fall asleep & stay asleep</li><li>If you wake up in the middle of the night, use as little light as possible</li><li>Deep sleep is critical to wiring neural circuits required for building habits</li></ul>

The Phases Of The Day: Phase 3

Vision and light are important components to set the brain in a high state of alertness
Being in a brightly lit environment can lend itself to increased productivity throughout the day, not just in the morning
Work in a space with as much overhead light as is safely possible
Lighting tip: During the first 0-9 hours of your day, work in a space with as much overhead light as possible to facilitate the release of dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and optimal amounts of cortisol

Workspace Light: The Fundamental Variable Of Workspace Optimization

A ring light or light pad placed in front of you will also increase alertness and stimulate photons<ul><li>Placing your desk near a window – and opening a window if possible – will stimulate eyes and send “wake up” signal during the first 7-8 hours of the day</li><li>Around 9-16 hours after waking, start dimming the environment: reduce blue light exposure, turn off overhead lights and turn on lamps or other lighting options in the workspace</li></ul>Screen brightness: people have different retinal sensitivity, but you never want it to be painful to look at your screen.

Workspace Light During The Workday

Around 17-24 hours after waking (shift workers or students): <ul><li>limit bright light to just enough that allows you to complete work to keep sleep and metabolism in the best shape possible;</li><li>if you want/need to be very alert, make the environment as bright as possible</li><li>It’s most ideal to stay awake during the day and sleep at night</li></ul>All-nighter tip: drink a lot of water and don’t let yourself go to the bathroom

Lighting Tips For Night Owls

<ul><li>Where you physically place a screen or book in your workspace plays an important role in alertness</li><li> When looking down toward the ground, neurons related to calm and sleepiness are activated</li><li>Ideally, work while standing or seated, not laying in bed or on the couch</li><li>Standing and sitting up straight while looking at a screen or book that is elevated will generate maximal levels of alertness</li><li>You will create maximum alertness, focus, and cognition when you bring your eyes to a narrow point in space – keep the visual focus narrow, around the side of the head or right outside the eyes.</li></ul>

Visual Focus

Cathedral effect: thinking becomes smaller and more constricted in tighter visual fields, and vice versa
High ceilings versus low ceilings: high ceilings elicit abstract thoughts and creativity whereas low ceilings promote detailed and concrete work
For Phase II (9-16 hours after waking creative work), work in a high ceiling room or outdoors; for detailed analytic work (ideally in Phase I 0-9 hours after waking), work in a lower ceiling environment or put in hoodie or hat to restrict the visual field.

The High And The Low

<ul>
<li>Listening to particular sounds and in particular, conditions can improve cognition</li>
<li>Sometimes we want more background noise, sometimes we want less: our auditory tolerance can change from one day to the next and even fluctuate within the same day</li>
<li>Background noise to avoid: the incessant humming of air conditioners or heaters can increase mental fatigue and decrease cognitive performance</li>
<li>Even if we’re not registering background noise, our auditory system is processing</li>
</ul>

Your Auditory Environment

<ul>
<li>Binaural beats place the brain into a state that is better for learning</li>
<li>Binaural beats: playing one sound in one ear and a different sound in the other ear</li>
<li>Low-frequency waves put the brain into a relaxed state versus high-frequency soundwaves which put the brain into more alert states</li>
<li>Binaural beats (around 40 Hz) have been shown to increase cognition, relaxation, creativity, pain reduction, anxiety reduction</li>
</ul>

Binaural Beats

Distractions and things that take away from tasks aren’t just bad in the moment, it takes time to get brain waves back into attention and focusTip: if someone enters your office or workspace, acknowledge their presence but don’t shift your body or reorient yourselfManaging phone distractions: turn off the phone, put the phone on airplane mode, put the phone in a drawer or away from eyesight

Interruptions & Distractions In Workspace

<ul>
<li>We weren’t designed to sit all day – but we also weren’t designed to stand all-day</li>
<li>Just sitting for 5-8+ hours a day is terrible for us and can impact sleep, neck pain, cardiovascular system, muscular pressure </li>
<li>A combination of sitting and standing throughout the day is best</li>
<li>People who decrease sitting time show improvements to shoulder and neck pain, vitality, improvement in cognitive conditioning, and embracing new tasks</li>
</ul>

Sitting Vs Standing

<ul>
<li>There don’t seem to be any differences in cognitive tasks between cycling versus walking workstations</li>
<li>Active workstations are better for some tasks, worse for others: there appear to be improvements in attention and cognition when using active workstations versus seated – however – verbal memory scores were worse during active workstations</li>
</ul>

Active Workstations

01:41:55 - In this episode, I discuss ways to set up your workspace to optimize productivity, focus and creativity. I discuss how to adjust light, physically a…

podcasts

Podcasts

In this episode, I discuss ways to set up your workspace to optimize productivity, focus and creativity. I discuss how to adjust light, physically arrange your work environment, and leverage body posture to enhance productivity. Additionally, I explore how to shift your work environment for particular types of tasks. Moreover, I review the role of body movement in the workspace. I also discuss sound-based tools that can either enhance or diminish cognitive functioning (the ability to focus on deep work). I describe a particular frequency of binaural beats that studies show can be used to enhance memory and recall. This episode covers quality peer-reviewed findings practical tools anyone can use, regardless of budget, in order to optimize their workspace to achieve heightened levels of productivity, increased alertness and focus, and creativity. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Arranging Environment for Focus (00:02:44) Sponsors: AG1, LMNT (00:07:55) How to Increase Focus (00:10:02) Lighting Your Work in Phase 1 (00:16:00) Lighting Your Work in Phase 2 (00:19:45) Lighting Your Work in Phase 3 (00:24:17) Where to Look While You Work (00:28:02) Arranging Your Environment (00:31:24) Body Posture (00:34:22) How Long to Do Deep Work (00:36:50) Set the Right Visual Window Size (00:42:15) 45 min / 5 min Rule (00:44:23) The Cathedral Effect: Analytic vs Creative Work (00:55:50) Leveraging Background Noise (01:02:20) Binaural Beats for Work (01:06:38) The Best Binaural Frequency for Work (01:11:17) How Binaural Beats Increase Focus (01:13:56) Minimizing Interruptions (01:20:01) Sit or Stand, or Both? (01:25:18) Movement in the Workspace (01:31:00) Summary & Shifting Work Environments (01:39:36) Zero-Cost Support, Sponsors, Instagram, Twitter, Supplements Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience: how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. His laboratory studies neural regeneration, neuroplasticity, and brain states such as stress, focus, fear, and optimal performance. For more than 20 years, Dr. Huberman has consistently published original research findings and review articles in top-level peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Neuron, and Current Biology. He is a regular member of several National Institutes of Health review panels and a Fellow of the McKnight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Huberman regularly consults for technology development companies, professional athletic organizations, and various units of U.S. and Canadian Special Operations.

Huberman Lab

Optimizing Workspace for Productivity, Focus, & Creativity

Time is one of the only commodities we cannot make more of. We often say, “I don’t have time for that today.” But the reality is, “I choose not to give time to that item.” We have to reframe our thinking. How we spend our time is an investment, it is up to us to decide where we put our money. Instead of bemoaning that there are never enough hours in the day, look inward at how you are using the hours you do have. It is self-management, not time-management, that truly maximizes our time

Time management is a myth.

Doing more of everything is not the answer. It is about doing more of the right things. Look at your calendar and surgically dissect the difference between what you could do and the three to four things you must do—the three to four activities that put you on the path to where you want to go. Saying yes to a few great things means saying no to a lot of good things.We are all bound by the same 24 hours in the day. In order to make the most of them, the goal is not to fill every waking moment with work, but rather to be more purposeful and intentional with the time we do spend.

Do more of the right things.

Most of us underestimate what we can do in a year but overestimate what we can do in an hour. We want to be able to say “I can get it done tomorrow”—but we have to be realistic about what is possible.If we constantly give ourselves impossible deadlines, we will feel perpetually behind and frustrated.Give yourself a long enough runway to gain the speed required to take off. As a result, you will be more reliable and less stressed in your life because you are not stuck in a never-ending game of catch-up — you have allocated the proper amount of time for each item and can complete each task.

Set up a winnable game.

We cannot manage time; we can only manage ourselves. 

If you’re tired of doing more every day but never feeling like you did enough, I have some solutions. But we first have to take responsibility. We cannot manage time; we can only manage ourselves. 

habits

Habits

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

What Would You Do with an Extra Hour in Your Day?

Setting goals is important because it help you know what to do with your time. Like if you set a goal to start a Youtube channel in a within a month you can slowly prep for it.

Set goals

The Pomodoro timer set time limits for you to work efficiently in a certain amount of time then you get a break. This is good for people who struggle to focus because it sets a specific amount of time for you to get things done.https://pomofocus.io

Pomodoro Timer

Let's say you have 20 tasks to accomplish today but you don't know how to do them. The easiest way to do it is by making the task smaller. For example you have a few pages of homework you can do one page in the morning, one in the afternoon and one after dinner.

Break tasks up

Set your own due dates. An example would be you have an essay due on February the 10th you should set a due date on your calendar for the 8th of February.

Due dates

Make a chart of what is urgent, can be done later and what can be done in spare time. This will help you know what needs to be done today..

Set priorities 

You might say that you are going to do something but in order to stop saying you'll do it you should take action and make a change.

Saying is not doing

I hope these help you like how they have helped me!

Time management tips and tricks

According to a 2020 study published in Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences , one attribute <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/25/14066">specifically predicts how effective you will be at pursuing your goals </a>: possessing a strategic mindset.

Strategic Mindset

As the researchers write:[Success] requires less routine deployment of well-learned skills and more "thinking through" and "figuring out" of challenging new problems. Indeed, the pursuit of any challenging goal often involves actively analyzing tasks and then planning, self-monitoring, and revising strategies. Such strategic behaviors are typically referred to as "metacognitive strategies," because they require taking a perspective on oneself and one's tactics.Or in simple terms, constantly revising and adapting and refining your approach to achieving a goal.

Why Is A Strategic Mindset Important

The key is to regularly ask yourself 6 basic questions -- all focused on your emotions -- as you pursue a goal:1. Are you struggling more than you should? Ask yourself, "What are things I can do to help myself?"2. Feel like you've hit a plateau? "Is there a better way of doing this?"3. Feel frustrated with how difficult progress seems? "How can I do this better?"4. Feel challenged? "What are things I can do to make myself better at this?"5. Feel intimidated? "What can I do to help myself?"6. Feel like it's always going to be too hard? Ask yourself, "What can I do to get better at this?"

How To Develop A Strategic Mindset

This will help us stay focused on what we set put to do

When you're struggling, research shows responding to that emotion by asking yourself a few simple questions greatly increases the likelihood you will eventually succeed.

6 Questions Emotionally Intelligent People Ask Themselves to Improve Their Chances of Success

The problem with “work-life balance” is that the forces of work and life don’t exist in equilibrium. 
At times, our careers will have an outsized influence on our decision-making. Other times, we’ll set work aside to enjoy life’s many pleasures or deal with its potential hardships. 
The two will never be in a state of equality. By seeking balance, we’ve propped ourselves up to fall.

The Key Issue With Work-Life Balance

<ul><li>There’s no such thing as achieving a perfect work-life balance. </li><li>If “balance” implies equilibrium, then “integration” implies combining various components or aspects into a unified whole.</li><li>Focus on being the same authentic person at work, at home, and in your community.</li><li>Avoid burnout by carving out time for all of the elements of your life.</li></ul>

Aim For Integration In Your Work-Life

<ul><li>It’s important to create space for family, friends, and fun. Put boundaries around your time.</li><li>Think consciously about where you want to focus your energy. Ask: Outside of work, what’s most important to me now? My community? My kids? Something else?</li><li>Remember: You can’t get back the time you sacrifice today.</li></ul>

Make Thoughtful Trade-Offs

Make a little time for yourself (in a 24/7 world)

When communication technology makes a new thing (like responding on the go) possible, doing that thing can be a way for people to signal how dedicated they are as workers or family members—and, crucially, not doing that thing can suggest that they aren’t dedicated enough. Now when people feel they haven’t responded sufficiently quickly, they think they owe their correspondent an apology. Example: When Blackberry phones became popular, people thought it was a kind of superpower to respond to texts and email messages on the go.

The Spiral Of Expectations

With the mass adoption of email and smartphones, is that the “acceptable” window of response time has gotten much smaller. Someone could conceivably apologize for their delay when responding in the afternoon to an email sent that morning.All of these sorries raise the question of whether any harm is actually done when someone commits the sin of unavailability.

The Sin Of Not Being Available Right Away

Even if being responsive at all hours has no bearing on an employee’s actual productivity, many bosses lazily use it as a proxy for gauging workers’ value.

Wrong Expectations At Work

A delayed response can cause genuine problems too. If your partner texts you “I love you,” responding two days later is not a good idea. In personal communications, a lack of a speedy response risks signalling a lack of care. After all, your phone was right there.

A Genuine Problem

The most common way for people to resolve the tension between the pressure of speediness and the reality of busyness is to start messages with four words: Sorry for my delay. It is an innocuous, polite gesture. But, having multiple obligations and priorities means that we are, all of us, in a perpetual state of delay on something, and apologizing for that fact feels like having to apologize for your standard mode of being.

Apologizing For Everything

Even if “Sorry for my delay” is a social nicety, performing remorse can have real effects. Repeating it can make us feel like we’re perpetually behind, and worse, it models an unreasonable standard of responsiveness for the person we’re (allegedly) slow in writing back to.

Repeated Mistakes Out Of Nothing

Instead of 'Sorry for the Delay' or 'Thank you for your patience', there is another alternative.If a message will take you a while to respond to, you could first reply with a quick note saying when you plan to respond fully. This can reduce uncertainty and stress on the part of the sender, but the downside is that … well, you’d still have to respond relatively quickly to tell them you’ll respond more thoroughly later.

The Right Approach

More than a graceful email response, is a more humane culture of work and communication. Technology, for instance, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/economist-email-less-painful/518934/">could be designed</a> to that end. Apple’s latest mobile operating system is a start: When people turn on “Focus” mode, others can see in the Messages app that they aren’t receiving notifications. The law can help too. In France, a legal “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/world/europe/france-work-email.html">right to disconnect</a>” cuts down on after-hours work emails.

psychology

Psychology

communication

Communication

What If We Just Stopped Being So Available?

Any decision to change one’s life, in such a complex context, needs to be extremely simple and easy to follow.Luckily, Zen Buddhism is predicated on principles of simplicity. Leo Babauta, founder of Zen Habits and author of several courses and e-books on habit-changing, explains it with characteristic minimalism in <a href="https://zenhabits.net/4/">this blogpost </a>.In order to make any change in one’s life—start with a single change. It should be small; not a goal, but a tiny first step.

Change Your Life

Babauta advises that to turn changes into habits, it’s important to make the change tiny, and let it embed: he suggests making one change every four to six weeks. He’s boiled down all his teachings into what he calls one “algorithm…a series of steps that you can apply to make any change, no matter what your situation”:

One Algorithm

<ul><li>Start very small.</li><li>Do only one change at a time.</li><li>Be present and enjoy the activity (don’t focus on results).</li><li> Be grateful for every step you take.</li></ul>

The Algorithm: Series Of Steps

The beauty of the method is that its smallness removes the problems that result from many self-help recommendations and resolutions: too often they leave people quickly overwhelmed by the task in hand, or swamped by a sense of failure. The change should be so small it’s not hard to do. What takes rigor, for people drenched in stimuli and commitments, is identifying something that is truly small enough.

Beauty Of The Method

Slow down and take things one tiny step at a time.

The Zen Rule for Becoming Happier: Change One Thing

You are more likely to procrastinate if you don’t have a set plan or idea for completing your work. Investing in a planner is a good idea. Start keeping track of all your assignments and their due dates. When you're organized, it gives you a more orderly and measured framework within which to work.

1. GET ORGANIZED.

Getting rid of distractions is another tip to avoid procrastination. By limiting the number of distractions around you, you're more likely to get done what you need to do. Shut your phone off, retreat to a quiet place and listen to classical music or white noise to drown out any noise.

2. ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS .

Prioritizing your work and assignments is another way to help you avoid procrastination. Every week or so, make a list of what needs to be completed. Make sure you address the most critical or time-sensitive assignments first. Then work your way down the list. Get the hard stuff out of the way first, so that everything that comes after it will seem more manageable.

3. PRIORITIZE.

Part of the reason you might procrastinate is that what you have to do seems overwhelming. It’s a lot easier to get started on a project when you establish simple, reachable goals rather than face a big, vague plan. Instead of telling yourself, “I’ll study chemistry tonight,” you might instead say, "I’ll study chapter six tonight." This makes your goals less intimidating and more attainable.

4. SET GOALS.

Another tip to avoid procrastination is to set deadlines. Many students get stuck in the “I'll do it tomorrow or eventually” cycle when in truth that day or eventually never comes. It's important to set a specific date for when you want a project or assignment to be completed. Aim to have your projects and assignments completed one or two days in advance. That way, if something unexpected happens, you still have extra time to complete them.

5. SET DEADLINES.

Another tip to avoid procrastination is to take a break from your schoolwork every now and then. Take a 10-15 minute break. Listen to music, take a walk or scream into a pillow — anything that takes your mind off of your school work and allows you to relax. An Oregon State University study shows that taking a break can increase focus, reduce stress, and help you better retain information.

6. TAKE A BREAK.

Rewarding yourself may create an incentive to complete a task and help avoid procrastination. After studying for a test or completing an assignment, consider giving yourself a reward. It could be as simple as, "Once I finish this assignment, I can watch an episode of my favorite show."

7. REWARD YOURSELF.

Holding yourself accountable for completing your assignments on time, studying for tests, and getting good grades is another tip to avoid procrastination. While it is easy to find reasons not to study and take unnecessary or extra-long breaks, catch yourself before this happens. Remember that you are responsible for the assignments you complete or don’t complete, the tests you ace or don’t do so well on, and your grades. If you need help in holding yourself accountable, tell a friend or family member and ask them to check up on your goals, deadlines, and accomplishments.

8. HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE.

In this idea, we get to know how we can manage our time & stop procrastination. this article is very important for those who procrastinate their work.

8 TIPS TO AVOID PROCRASTINATION

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