Overcoming procrastination (with tips)

Procrastination is the enemy of success. 

“Procrastination is the habit of delaying an important task, usually by focusing on less urgent, more enjoyable, and easier activities instead.” 

I know that, you know that too but how to overcome procrastination? I'm used to learning by using the Pomodoro tactics. For those that don't know, this basically means that I study for 25 minutes, then I take a 5 minutes break. And repeat - this can be done all day. The five-minute break is to replenish some energy and help you to continue your concentration. Because as we all know, it's almost impossible to concentrate for long periods of time.  

But so often I find myself taking a two-hour break after 25 minutes of learning. So I end up killing an entire afternoon watching TikTok instead of doing useful things. 

I'm specifically writing this article after telling myself 2 times that I should write an article today after I told myself I am done for today after skipping learning for school because "it's too late".

I am not a master in fulfilling plans in time. But here are some tips that sometimes, when I have enough dedication, help me to stay concentrated. 

Turn off your phone and throw it away!

Seriously! Otherwise, you'll still be tempted to look at what the new trend is on TikTok, or if your friend added a new, uninteresting story on Instagram.

I usually turn on DO NOT DISTURB mode, where all the notifications are suppressed. The only notifications allowed are from contacts in your favorites list. In my case, only from my mom. Then I put my phone in the other room and do not touch it even when I am on my break. 

Tell your brain that what you're learning (doing) is actually really interesting

A lot of subjects are totally uninteresting - I don't care what happened two thousand years BC on the third planet of the solar system. But I have to convince myself that I'm really interested. 

How?

Seek out information beyond what you are learning.

Colour, mark, transcribe. Once you get into the learning process, it'll be a lot easier.

Take your own notes and learn from them.

I can't learn anything from other notes than my own - it is a bummer sometimes, but even when you are rewriting from a textbook you will memorize a lot. 

Reward yourself

Every break, take a cookie, after each calculated exercise, take a candy, etc… I will go much better and faster if you have something to look forward to. 

Create your time schedule, once you reach your desired learning time, or your goal at any given time, just drop it. You are done and you will still have more dedication for tomorrow, than learning through the night. 

Pro tip: According to the internet, alcohol will help with memorization - once you are done have a beer, a glass of wine, or your favorite alcoholic beverage. But everything in moderation.

And I am going to take a cookie + a glass of wine, because good job me, another article is here! 

Thank you for reading! Would appreciate any tips!

You can read my other articles about the Czech Republic, crypto, and many others topics on my publish0x profile here. 

You can also find me on noise.cash.