A Procrastinators Guide to Getting Things Done

After taking a brief stroll down memory lane today, it occurred to me that I am fundamentally very similar to the person I was nearly four years ago. Of course I've gotten a lot better at juggling, changing nappies, referencing, doing chin ups, cooking healthy alternatives to awful food, inflating balloons, reverse parallel parking, making small talk and drawing the classic 'Batman' logo. Yet at the end of the day, I am still a procrastinator at heart.

That being said, over my multiple University degrees, I can proudly say I've never submitted an assignment past its due date. It may not be amazing, it may not even be good, but it's always in. Keeping that in mind, I feel at least slightly qualified to share some advice- or better yet, some strategies- that have helped me get to where I am today.

However, before I begin, I feel inclined to state a brief disclaimer that (regardless of this posts awesome title) this is not a comprehensive guide to fixing your poor study habits. It is simply- as previously stated- what worked for me. If you think it could work for you. That's fantastic. Try it out. Let me know how it goes! Best of luck to you! If not, at least you know what NOT to do. With that said, lets begin.

Nate's Assessment Completion Process can be broken down into four steps. The steps definitely go in order, don't try doing them out of order because it won't work and you may look foolish. The steps are as follows:

1. List
2. Make headings
3. Wait for Momentum
4. Finish with Friends

You can remember this with the handy acronym LMWF (pronounced: El-Um-Wiff) but you probably won't because that's an awful acronym. Anyway, lets break these steps down a little further.

1. List [exactly what you have to do]
You have an assessment, lets say for example an essay on Saving the Bees. It's due in a week so you have six and a half days before you have to start. Sound good? Well it's not! You should start today, but that's a lot of effort and you're very busy because new episodes of your favourite TV show have gone live. Also, all those funny memes on 9gag aren't going to browse themselves! So instead, glance over your task sheet, break down your task into doable tasks (such as do some research, set up a template, make a start- really basic stuff) then take a photo of your list and put it as your phone background. This first steps works well when you do it in advanced because it makes you feel guilty every 3.5 minutes (or every time you check your phone) and stops you from blissfully forgetting what you're supposed to be doing. That's done? Great! You've worked hard and can take a break for the rest of  the day.

2. Make headings [also known as: templating- or starting without starting]
There is five days to go and you feel awful about ignoring your list [see step 1] for 48hrs. However, you still don't feel like starting because if you did, you wouldn't be a true procrastinator and therefore would not be reading these words (or these words, or these words... etc). Instead, try a classic procrastinators tool and start without actually starting anything. This is simple. Open a word document and come up with the headings for your assignment. The key is to be simple, understandable and direct. In our Bee essay example, this could be as simple as six lines- 1. Introduce topic. 2. Provide some background. 3. Provide current facts. 4. Provide why bees need saving. 5. Give some practical advice on how this can be done. 6. Conclude. That is 30 words, literally less than a minute of typing that will make your task infinitely easier later on. Once that's done, you're done. You typed thirty words of original content today. Take a load off, you've done well.

3. Wait for [the moment] of Momentum.
This is the tricky step that is different for everyone. Some people may not get it until the final day, or hour, before the due date. Others may get it immediately after completing their headings. Either way, momentum is a mighty tool to have at your disposal- we all know that feeling of getting on a roll. Where you're in sync with your keyboard and the words just pour out. This is that momentum, how the more you type, the better it gets. Steps 1 & 2 are designed to make it as easy as possible for you to fall into the task undaunted and start picking up some momentum. However, to get started, you have to recognise that feeling of "I'm ready to sit down and do this". Once you get that, stop what you're doing and get going, because once you start down that snowy mountain, you're going to turn that snowball sized desire to get started into a [roughly] finished assessment.

Step 4: Finish with Friends [or classmates, if you don't particularly like them]
Once you've caught a momentum wave (and it may take two or three to finish your work) it's time to meet up with some people. If it's this late in the assessment period, then likely they have procrastinated their work too, which is fine, because now you can work in a group to not only see what you've all missed but also motivate each other to get those last sword jabs in to slay the beast. This step should always wait until last for a couple of reasons: A) If you try it early on with a group of procrastinators you will end up talking about everything BUT your assessment task, B) If you start out together your content will all follow the same vein and you won't be able to contribute as much at the end when you're looking for some outside the box additions and C) The task is much easier to finish this way. Trust me. It is. I promise.

And then, you're done. Proof read. Spell check. Formatting (remember, Times New Roman, 12pt font, double spaced) and KABLOOIE, you're done.

Until the next assessment, the one that's due next week... Or tomorrow...

/Cue suspense music.