LSE - Small Logo
LSE - Small Logo

Anna

October 26th, 2012

Procrastination

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Anna

October 26th, 2012

Procrastination

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

It is London and it is raining. I always feel like this is the perfect weather for studying. At least I don’t have the urge to go outside. However, I find enough distraction inside as well. Facebook, Sudoku or just getting a coffee downstairs are my most favorite and also most hated procrastination activities. It is not that I don’t want to study or that I don’t feel the necessity to study, it is just like there is always something that is more fun, more interesting, more social than doing the readings or writing essays.

If you feel like this describes you your study behavior as well, don’t worry. I personally haven’t met a single person who doesn’t suffer from procrastination. And frankly, I imagine a meeting with a “perfect” student like that quite intimidating.

There are a lot of different ways to approach study procrastination, for example to make a detailed study plan to keep track of your study-related activities such as presentations, essays and deadlines (school- and career-related that is). But relaxation is certainly as important as efficient studying. Meeting friends, working out or any other hobby that takes your mind of your readings for just a while should be included in a good study plan. And sometimes you have that Eureka-moment about a particular theoretical question from a seminar the day before, while you are watching ads on TV. That feels kind of cool!

Also, study groups can help prevent procrastination since you want to be prepared when meet your fellow students. The motivation to be prepared for a study group is different than the motivation for a seminar. Even though the teacher is present, there are always more people one can “hide” behind.

Another, more general, possibility to combat procrastination I recommend is LSE’s Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC). They offer a wide range of trainings and classes on all kinds of study difficulties. It includes for example essay writing, effective communicating or time management. One-to -one advice is also provided.

One final and somewhat more theoretical advice I came a across a couple of months back and found most helpful is this: Thoughts about the work load are discouraging; thoughts about the result are encouraging.

Having said that, I think I am going to find a study group now. Then I will start.

 

About the author

Anna

MSc Gender, Media and Culture

Posted In: LSE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Bad Behavior has blocked 2205 access attempts in the last 7 days.