1) Dear Alice,
How do you find time to be with your friends, family, and boyfriend, and study for school?
2) Alice,
I'm a horrible procrastinator and time manager — in school, at work, cleaning my apartment, you name it, I'm somehow always putting it off until tomorrow, or taking forever to finish. Predictably, I keep missing the procrastination workshops offered at my school. Do you have any practical suggestions on time organization and overcoming procrastination habits?
— Always Late
Dear Always Late and Reader,
Procrastination is a common issue that many people navigate at one point or another. Recognizing that you struggle with procrastination and time management is an indicator of self-awareness, which is a great first step towards making the improvements you desire! Before diving in, it might be helpful to start by reviewing the definition of procrastination and the different types of procrastination.
Procrastination is the act of delaying a task or activity until a later time and possibly doing unrelated activities instead (e.g., playing games, watching TV, or spending time on social media). There are various forms of procrastination and identifying your form (or forms) of procrastination can be beneficial in turning the tide and overcoming the issue. Some potentially more relatable forms of procrastination include the following:
List adapted from Indiana State University
While reflecting on the potential reasons for your procrastination, it may be helpful to consider these questions: What are your priorities and goals, both in the bigger picture of your life, as well as in the shorter term of about a year or two? Which activities that you do (or don’t do) regularly align with those priorities? Which activities don’t align with these priorities? Relatedly, reflecting on your core values and defining them is also a helpful exercise. What matters to you? Service to others? More freedom? As you narrow down your core values, you can assess whether your priorities align with your values. Doing so may help you recognize what you feel is important to prioritize.
You may realize that you have too many competing high priority values, and it's impossible to fit them all in. In this case, you may consider ranking your priorities to determine what to focus on first. It’s perfectly fine to intentionally decide that a particular task is valuable to you and that you can’t prioritize it at this moment in time. It doesn’t mean that you don't value it. It just means that you may want to push it into a lower priority category for the moment. Keeping in mind that when you do have space and capacity (or your relationship with that value changes), you’ll be able to reprioritize that task and dedicate more time to it. No one can do everything and that’s why it’s key to periodically check in with yourself and reassess what’s most important to you in your life at that moment in time?
After identifying your priorities, there are a few time management strategies you can try that may help you to find a better balance between your competing priorities. Consider implementing them into your daily routine:
Combining tasks might work as well, depending on the situation. However, evidence suggests that multi-tasking makes people less efficient and can compromise work quality. Therefore, you might benefit from logging off of social media sites, turning off music or television, and not answering the phone while studying or doing other tasks. It’s also important to note that while procrastination can lead to stress, the opposite can also be true: stress can also cause procrastination.
If tackling this issue on your own feels overwhelming, you might consider speaking with a health promotion specialist or mental health professional to discuss your procrastination habits in detail. They may be able to offer you some additional strategies to implement as you take on this issue. Remember, self-awareness is a critical part of the process. Identifying the issue, like you have done, Always Late, is commendable. Hopefully, the tools and techniques outlined here will help you successfully navigate procrastination and time management with self-compassion.
Source 1: How to manage the three S’s: School, sleep, and a social life
SUMMARY
School
Sleep
Social
Source 2: Social support and academic achievement: Exploring the link in a developing country
This study shows evidence that social-emotional competence and school related perceived social support are crucial in student’s success. Social support is one of the psychosocial needs of students that will contribute not only to their academic achievement but also their wellbeing, since it serves as a motivator to drive students towards academic success. It also boosted the student’s self-belief and self-confidence. Findings also show that family and lecturer support have higher chances of improving student’s academic achievement in relation to other sources of social support. It provides students who do not possess these skills from home the chance to develop them in school.
Source 3: Time management and procrastination
SUMMARY
Procrastination: doing activities that are not significant so that we don’t have to do things that are important
Different forms of procrastination
Types of procrastination
Causes of procrastination
Time management and procrastination: Time management is an important predictor of active and traditional procrastination.
Time management methods
Source 4: How to Stop Procrastinating: 14 Practical Ways for Procrastinators
SUMMARY
1. Break your work into little steps
2. Change your environment
3. Create a detailed timeline with specific deadlines
4. Eliminate your procrastination pit-stops
5. Reduce the number of decisions you need to make
6. Finish your day before it starts
7. Re-clarify your goals
8. Stop overcomplicating things
9. Reward yourself
10. Give yourself a break
11. Hang out with people who inspire you to take action/ Get a motivation buddy
OVERALL CONCLUSIONS:
Dear Reader,
The hard fact is that time isn’t a good you can find, make, buy, or save. There are but 1440 minutes in a day and there are choices to be made about how each one is spent. You might think of it like money in a bank account. To figure out how you’ll spend that time, thinking about what you value and where you’d like to use it can help you to figure out how to balance time with friends, family, a boyfriend, and studying for school.
First, it may help to start by asking yourself a couple of questions: what are your priorities and what are your goals, both in the bigger picture of your life in general, as well as in the shorter term of about a year or two? Doing this can help you clarify your values. There are a number of values identification and clarification tools, such as the Life Values Inventory, that can aid you in this process. Taking your highest priority values, you may then reconsider the roles and responsibilities that are currently on your plate. How do those align with your personal values? If they don't align, you may find it easier to spend less time on a task that doesn't fulfill or help you express your values. If they do align, then the conversation becomes about prioritization of values.
Note: Good information and leading questions.
If the activities that you identified all align with values that are of high priority to you, then it's time to take out your planner and figure out how, when, and for how long to hang with friends, see your family, squeeze in your boyfriend, and study in ways that match your goals. You may realize that you have too many competing high priority values, and it's impossible to fit them all in. This is a common issue and one that you can work through. It's perfectly fine to intentionally decide that a given person or activity is valuable to you and that you can’t prioritize it at this moment in time. It doesn’t mean that you don't value it. It just means that you may want to push it into a lower priority category for the moment, understanding that when you have space and capacity (or your relationship with that value changes), you’ll be able to reprioritize that value and dedicate more time to it. No one can do everything and that is why it’s key to periodically check in with yourself: what is really most critical to you in your life at this moment in time?
Note: I will remove gender-specific terminology, like boyfriend, to make it more general to both questions. We can also condense this paragraph down more. Before this upcoming paragraph, we should introduce the concept of procrastination, the different types, and where it may come from from Source 3.
While sleep and physical health may not make it to the top of the list, research indicates that students with good sleep and nourishing eating habits learn better and feel more able to participate in other activities (work, play, etc.), so leaving some room in your schedule and pushing yourself to value that may be key to your success. Here are a couple of additional tips for making the most of your work time:
If procrastination is a problem, do your most difficult or distasteful task first. Getting it over with can help reduce anxiety.
Divide up large projects into subprojects. It makes them less intimidating, reduces procrastination, and allows a sense of accomplishment even before the project is complete.
Complete at least one task each day, even if it’s a small part of a larger project.
Schedule time to worry. Try not to worry about task B when you're working on task A. Schedule task B and tell yourself that you'll worry about B at that time and not before.
When in school it’s also common for the need to have schedules that flex a bit from week to week. For example, you may decide to talk with your friends less this week so that you can adequately prepare for your upcoming exam. Then, next week, when the workload lessens, you can catch up with folx. Combining tasks might work, too; for example, you can study with your boyfriend, get groups of friends together, etc. A quick word of caution: recent evidence suggests that multi-tasking makes people less efficient and compromises work quality. Therefore, you might benefit from logging off of social media sites, turning off music or television, and not answering the phone while studying, sleeping, etc.
Note: Overall, good information. I will include more strategies from source 4 and source 3 here.
The best part of a "life-management" plan is that it puts you in charge! Living intentionally while leading with your values may allow you to accomplish more, stress less, and ultimately find more fulfillment in your days from living in congruence with your values. Resources such as a mental health professional or a health promotion specialist can also help you to identify your values or help you plan a schedule so you can prioritize them. Sometimes the small mental switch from feeling like you need to fit everything in your schedule to spending time on what you value most at the given moment can trigger your values-centered approach and kick start you down your path of getting the most out of your time!
Note: Besides the information about resources, I feel like this paragraph was kind of a repeat of what was said earlier. I will condense this information down more to make room for other information.
Dear Always Late,
An inordinate amount of stress in students' lives revolves around time, and procrastination is probably the number one time management problem of all! Procrastination can be a mask for unrealistic perfectionist tendencies, self-doubt, or fear of change. It can also simply be a result of poor time management and ineffective study skills. With patience and determination, you can change some of your procrastinating tendencies. Here are a few time management strategies:
Be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day. Prioritize two or three major goals or to-do's each day, leaving other activities "lower down" on your list.
Schedule your activities for peak efficiency. Do the tasks that require more brain power during the times of the day when your energy level is highest.
Divide your projects into small pieces. The job at hand can then become more manageable, and your steady progress might encourage you to move ahead.
Create an environment in which your productivity can be maximized. This may mean finding a place with minimal distractions, such as a quiet study room in the library.
Create a schedule that allows flexibility for unanticipated events (e.g., distractions, computer crashes). Remember to leave at least 15 percent tip — add extra time into your schedule for each activity because often they take longer than you think.
Forgive yourself if you don't complete all of the things on your to-do list — you're only human.
Note: Will combine this information with the other response in the time management strategies section, in addition to information from source 4.
Identifying the reason why you procrastinate may help you the kick the habit. Think about your feelings towards the task at hand. What will happen if you fail/succeed? Are you putting it off because of lack or interest and boredom? What will happen once the project is complete?
Note: This can be added to the leading questions paragraph.
And, though procrastination can lead to stress, the opposite can also be true: stress can cause procrastination, as well. You might also see if you can speak with a health promotion professional or mental health professional at your campus' student health center to discuss your procrastination habits in detail. They may also offer you some additional strategies to implement as you take on this issue.
By the way, taking the time to write your question means that you did not procrastinate on one thing! This is a great first step towards managing your procrastination habit. Keep up the good work!