Dear Student
You know the feeling: “This is too big and overwhelming, I’ll start tomorrow. Or the day after. Or next week. Not now. Now I’ll rather be on social media/hang with friends…”
That is absolutely natural. Your brain is trying to protect you against the stress caused by the big task you have to complete, PLUS when you do something nice, it releases dopamine which makes you feel good! But the work still needs to be done, and tomorrow you have one less day to do it in. Soooo…. You have to start.
Two things can help to counter the temptation of procrastination:
- Have a plan; and
- Break up the task into smaller units.
Have a plan
Make a schedule of all the days of the week, and block out at least three hours every day for study. Aim for a total of 20 – 25 hours a week. Evenings are easiest: 7 – 9, and 9:30 – 11. Don’t think about it again. Those are study hours. Sit down at your table at five to seven, and start.
Break up the task
To make it feel more doable, break up your blocks of time by using the “pomodoro technique“. (Pomodoro means tomato in Italian. The guy who came up with the technique had a kitchen timer that looked like a tomato! Click here to watch a video.) It works like this: decide on the task, set a timer for 25 minutes, work with total focus till it goes off, relax for 5 minutes, and repeat the process. After four pomodoros, take a longer break. Then start over.
From now till the end of the year your studies should be your main focus.
Win one of two smartphones by completing a quiz on the content of GRAD – the deadline was extended to 30 September due to problems with the link. This link works.