Procrastination and work due (assignment/group projects)

What are ways we can motivate ourselves to reduce our procrastination relating to the increasing amount of work due in the next few weeks? How can we help manage stress when faced with uncooperative group mates?

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Hello! Sometimes, it may be overwhelming when we realise that our workload is increasing as the semester draws to a close, since there are a lot of assignments and projects that would be due. One of the things I do that helps me to reduce my procrastination is to simply start on one part of the assignment. It may seem like a small effort, but as one of my lecturers once suggested, it can help to address the initial “inertia” you may experience in not starting the assignment at all. Even if it’s just writing the first sentence for the assignment, we may feel more motivated to continue from that sentence :slight_smile:

To address the point of uncooperative group mates, I think being able to address the root problem of these group mates may be helpful. I recently came across another thread on this platform where the individual shares a similar concern, maybe you can check it out! How to have cooperative group mates?

Hope these help you to ease your concerns a little, I wish you all the best!

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On procrastination, I think it’s important to find your flow. Like what @butterfly_verbena says, taking that first step is important. If taking the first step to do actual work is hard, trying taking the first step to make preparations to do actual work (this can be like tidying your table, finding the right lo-fi music etc)

When all else fails, maybe can just try this exercise in youth mindline.

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HAHAHA okay this might sound a bit crazy but I personally need adrenaline to start working on assignments (so having a clear deadline is important, if you’re the same hopefully this helps :smiley: ) I usually try and note down all the projects I have to do, what to do and when they are due. From then I will set the deadlines much earlier (in hindsight, I think I was gaslighting myself to believing it’s due earlier BUT it works at least for me)

For uncooperative groupmates, if you want to tell your lecturer about it I suggest collating a report on areas they didn’t contribute that you have to compensate for so that your teacher can consider marking them down / you up. I also suggest possibly standing your ground and just doing what’s assigned to you, at the end of the day it may just be that you are really smart and they are trying to take advantage of that. If you don’t do their part for them, they may just do it on their own (albeit cutting it close but if you’re worried about that you can do their part on a separate document and see where you can fill up the gaps so your group marks don’t pull you down so much)

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i feel that it is normal to procrastinate as long as you bring yourself back up by catching up in the end. you can always start small such by making a to do list to organize what you want to do first and do the easy ones first.

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For procrastination, what i find helps for most people to start is to experiment. Start early so you have more time to experiment and see what works for you! For ways to find a study technique you like there are some creators that help a lot, I personally like gohar â– â– â–  as he uploads short videos that really benefits people with short attention spans such as myself. For group projects id say see if your group members would want to do it with you. It would encourage you to start your work and if you ever feel stuck you would have someone to help you out!

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i think most of the time for me, I would go try and start on the work with my friends instead of my uncooperative group members. I would feedback to the teacher later. I think if the stress is coming from uncooperative group mates, maybe you could bounce ideas off of your friends.

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I think you can create a to-do list which list out the deadlines of your assignments and projects. Prioritize your tasks which is due to the closer date. You should work now, play later so that all your work and burden can be freed up. From my experience, initially I thought it will be overwhelming to complete everything. However, after completing some tasks in a day, I realised that my workload had lightened up. Reward yourself after completing your assignments and workload. Take breaks in between. Have sufficient rest in order to be more motivated.

To manage stress, you can initiate the discussion and keep it going. Do not make awkward pauses or silence as this nay lead to changing the subject of the discussion.

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I myself struggled with procrastination too and it is normal because there are days we just don’t have energy to make ourselves productive. Nobody is productive everyday. As long as its not overly procrastinating, I think its fine! You can do so by creating to do lists, or find some form of motivation that you can look forward to when doing your work like upcoming episodes of a new drama, reward yourself with the episodes after doing work. Personally it worked for me and you can give it a shot too!

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I think a to-do list works great like many have shared here. Personally it works quite well since it gives me a plan to follow and a sense of direction not just aimlessly doing something since that becomes demoralising pretty quickly and it just feels tiring and then the temptation to procrastinate will be stronger. Overall procrastination is fine, sometimes reward yourself with a break but just don’t overdo it. Like everything else do it in moderation :smiley:

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It’s ok to procrastinate but at the same time make sure you are able to complete your work. Try finding a place comfortable to do your work so you will be able to focus. For example I like going to the library/starbucks when Im determine to finish my work as it is near due date. When everyone around you are doing work, I think it will give you the motivation to complete your work too.

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Agreeee! I like that change of environment and McDonald’s / Starbucks work well for me.

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i think sometimes we get overwhelmed when we think about the amount of projects we have, but i find something that helps me is doing them one by one instead of doing all of them at the same time

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I feel like taking breaks is really important especially when you feel overwhelmed. Doing things a little at a time helps as well when you keep procrastinating.

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I think reducing procastination is all about time management and keeping a balance between working and relaxing. Uncooperative group mates in the other hand either is handled through giving them a reality check or just letting them be, there’s only so much you can do too

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HEY!!
I am also jumping on the bandwagon cause I have been facing the same issue and procrastinate this is what I am planning on doing

  1. Having a good solid routine ( wake up early > workout>read>eat breakfast)
  2. Block of distractions and write down my most important tasks ( write down top 3 tasks which would make me feel accomplished)
  3. Using pomodoro methods and blocking distractions going to library / cafe/ free places/skl to do work . and then rewarding myself with something for having accomplished the task
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try to write out all the things you have to do so that you have an idea of roughly what has to be done. perhaps once you are able to visualize the workload, you will be more motivated to start and complete it early

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