How to Stop Procrastinating in College

Struggling with procrastination in college? Feel like, no matter how hard you try, you are constantly pushing off your work until the last possible second? You are not alone. But you have come to the right place. This guide for how to stop procrastinating in college is sure to help you stop procrastinating and start studying!

This post is all about how to stop procrastinating in college.

How to Stop Procrastinating in College

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First things first, let’s clear something up…

You are not a procrastinator.

Believe it or not, understanding that you are not a procrastinator is the first step in how to stop procrastinating in college.

You are probably thinking “if I wasn’t a procrastinator, my entire search history wouldn’t be filled with ‘how to stop procrastinating and start studying‘ and ‘how to stop procrastinating homework‘”.

Hear me out here.

YOU are not a procrastinator. When you say the words “I am a procrastinator“, you are accepting procrastination as your identity. This is a problem on its own.

When you reaffirm the belief that you are a procrastinator, you further the behaviors. By accepting it as an identity, you are continuing the cycle.

Rather, try saying “I am in the habit of procrastinating”. By separating procrastination from yourself, identifying it as a habit rather than an identity, you become one step closer to overcoming procrastination in college.

3 College Procrastination Truths

Get ready for some tough love here.

After separating yourself from your procrastination habits, there are some procrastination truths that you need to accept.

1. Procrastination only delays the inevitable.

If you have set goals (and, if you are reading this, I am guessing you do), procrastination only postpones the things that are inevitable to achieve them.

For example, if you are procrastinating on homework but you have a goal to get good grades, you are going to HAVE to do that homework at some point to achieve your goal. Procrastinating is just a waste of time, pushing off something that is unavoidable.

{RELATED POST: How to Get Good Grades in College}

2. Procrastination leads to negative emotions.

Yup, procrastination sucks for that. Procrastination only leaves you with feelings of stress, overwhelm, and panic later down the road. I am guessing you know this and have experienced this at some point in your school career.

The only way to avoid this long-term downfall is to learn how to stop procrastinating in college. (Good thing you’re here, huh?)

3. Procrastination is a choice.

Some more tough love here. You are choosing to procrastinate. Whether it feels like it or not, every time you procrastinate studying, homework, or a big project, you are making that choice.

But this has a major upside too. Since this is entirely your choice, YOU have the ability to change it. All you have to do is change your mindset and understanding of procrastination.

To do that, you need to understand why you procrastinate your work in college. 

5 Reasons Why You Procrastinate So Much in College

1. Procrastination feels good… temporarily.

It’s true. We procrastinate because it feels good at the moment. Our brains are wired to avoid uncomfortable situations at all costs because our brain sees them as dangerous and risky.

Now, our logical brain understands that is not true. There is very little danger in doing your calculus homework or writing the psych paper. Logically, we can understand that. But our brain still sends us all the messages that it feels much better to put off the homework or studying.

And, to some extent, your brain is right. It may feel better at the moment to NOT do your dreaded assignment. But in the long term, procrastination only leads to more discomfort.

Procrastination occurs when our sense of immediate pleasure wins over long-term fulfillment. It is important to understand that when learning how to stop procrastinating.

2. Avoiding procrastination is uncomfortable.

Especially if you have gotten into the habit of procrastinating. Procrastination can be a really tough habit to break.

Like we learned above, learning how to stop procrastinating in college involves facing the things that your brain determines are uncomfortable or difficult. Whether this is a paper, a test, or anything in between, it feels uncomfortable to face the tasks head-on. This leads us to continue this vicious procrastination cycle that so many college students fall into!

3. You are too busy.

Yup, I’m looking at you overachievers reading this. I see you. Heck, I AM you… if you have bitten off more than you can chew and find yourself with a million things on your to-do list, you are bound to get overwhelmed.

Feeling overwhelmed can actually be a direct path to procrastination. Professionals hypothesize that when we feel that there is no end in sight for our to-do list, this may result in postponing everything and avoiding it entirely (aka major procrastination).

4. You are not busy ENOUGH.

Yup. There’s a flip side to that above point.

When you get used to being lazy, procrastination thrives. If there’s nothing forcing you to get up and go, it’s so much easier to procrastinate the few things that are on your to-do list: homework, studying, tests, classes, etc.

I always think of it like a workout. It may seem so daunting and awful before you start but once you get going, it feels so much easier to continue.

The first step is the hardest. Getting yourself up and productive in other areas of your life may just be the secret for how to stop procrastinating in college.

5. You don’t plan productively. 

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Learning how to plan productively and properly is one of the best procrastination tips for college students.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that learning how to effectively plan is one of the most valuable student skills in general. In terms of college, planning is the best way to keep track of your responsibilities, due dates, and upcoming events. Planning is essential for time management.

Not having a good planning strategy is a fast track to developing procrastination habits in college.

{RELATED POST: 8 Tips to Becoming a Planning Pro}

10 Actionable Steps How to Stop Procrastinating in College

Now that we know why we procrastinate, let’s figure out how to stop procrastinating and start studying!

1. Set Clear Goals

Setting clear, actionable goals is the first step in quitting your bad procrastination habits in college. There are so many incredible benefits to goal setting for students.

One major benefit of setting clear goals is the motivation that often accompanies them. After setting goals, you will feel more excited by them and, therefore, more likely to take the proper steps to achieve them.

Goal setting can be helpful for breaking down tasks too. Setting small goals can be just as beneficial as big goals. Breaking down a daunting task into smaller, more achievable goals is one of the best ways to beat procrastination as a college student. The smaller tasks feel much more manageable and more appealing to tackle.

{RELATED POST: 11 Unexpected Productivity Goals to Set for Yourself}

2. Reward Yourself

After you’ve set some actionable goals for yourself, you can determine how you will reward yourself when you CRUSH them!

This can be something super small and simple. For example, sometimes I will treat myself to a Starbucks after turning in a paper. Or I will promise myself a self-care night when I check off a big project.

Just these small, simple rewards for tackling responsibilities can give you just enough motivation to stop procrastinating.

3. Plan, Plan, Plan

Plan EVERYTHING: your assignments, plan your projects, plan your class times, plan your due dates, plan your extracurricular activities, plan your work, plan it all!

Planning is ESSENTIAL when mastering how to stop procrastinating in college.

I swear by finding the perfect academic planner for planning in college. Academic planners are specifically geared towards students, making them ideal for college schedules. They also are dated to start at the beginning of a school year, rather than in January like other planners.

There can be a lot to remember as a college student and, when you are looking to stop procrastinating, you need to keep it all organized.

These academic planners help keep you on track with it all: 

Best for Planner Pros:

This is my current planner for balancing work, my online course/schooling, and life!

This planner includes:

• customizable designed weekly spreads
• monthly spreads
• daily plan (with sections)
• priority section
• stickers
• interior pockets
• bookmark
• more!

Best Planner for Planner Novices:

I used this exact Sugar Paper planner throughout my entire time in college. See my full Sugar Paper planner review for more info.

It includes:

• important dates year overview
• monthly spreads
• weekly spreads with space for each day
• weekly goal setting
• monthly goal setting
• more!

4. Have an Assignment Tracker

Now that you have a planner to keep yourself organized, you can go one step further and isolate your schoolwork with an assignment tracker. If you are really wondering how to stop procrastinating homework and studying for good, getting an assignment tracker is the best way to do it.

I have made a FREE assignment tracker printable for you.

This assignment tracker allows you to focus specifically on planning your college-related responsibilities. With this assignment tracker, you can go week-by-week and mark the due dates for every assignment in every class. This printable actually makes it HARD to get off track!

Claim your free printable assignment tracker here (unlimited access!): 

5. Tackle the Big Things First

This is such an overlooked tip for how to stop procrastinating in college. So many people fail to do this and it leads them into continuing their procrastination habits.

Even though it can feel difficult to get the motivation to get started on the biggest to-do on your list, you will feel so much better once it is tackled. Not only does it get the momentum going as we talked about earlier, but once the biggest task is done, the motivation and relief that comes knowing it only gets easier from there is incredible.

Get started and KEEP GOING by tackling the biggest to-do first!

6. Take Breaks

I probably don’t have to twist your arm on this one. Who doesn’t love a good study break? 😉

I want to keep this tip short and sweet. The Pomodoro Technique is life-changing and followed by millions. Some of the most successful people follow this technique.

In the most basic explanation, the Pomodoro Technique consists of 25 increments of work divided by 5-minute breaks. After 4 rounds, you take a longer 15-minute break.

Learn more about the Pomodoro technique, how to do it, why it works, and how it can help you stop procrastinating your college work here.

7. Limit Distractions

Limiting distractions gives you no reason to give in to your desire to procrastinate homework or studying. Set yourself up for success by placing yourself in a setting that is conducive to your productivity goals.

Whether this is picking a quiet space in your house, putting on some study music, turning off the TV, or silencing your phone, limiting distractions is a key piece of how to stop procrastinating homework.

Specifically, you need to limit your phone use. This study found that phones do, in fact, negatively impact student concentration levels and test scores.

I am guilty of allowing my phone to distract me while I am working and I am betting my fellow college students reading this are guilty of it too.

Setting my phone on “Do Not Disturb” and out of sight helps me refrain from getting distracted by it. If I have notifications popping up or even if my phone is in sight, I will get to scrolling and end up procrastinating my work for HOURS. Yikes!

Limiting distractions makes it so you have nothing around you hindering your focus or keeping you from your homework and studying.

8. Be Held Accountable

Finding a study buddy can help you beat procrastination in college. This doesn’t even mean study dates or group work. A study buddy can just be someone that you tell your plans and goals to so they can check up and keep you accountable.

Peer accountability is so helpful when mastering how to stop procrastinating in college.

9. Create a Productive Work Space

If you want to be productive, you have to set yourself up in a productive environment. Whether this is at home, at a coffee shop, at school, or at a library, you need to make the space work for YOU and what YOU are hoping to accomplish.

Some tips for a productive workspace:

• make sure all your needed supplies is close and readily available
• have natural light
• breath fresh air (work near a window or outdoors if possible)
• keep your space organized
• find a space with the right volume level
• minimize interruptions (outside people, phone, etc.)

{RELATED POST: Essentials for an Incredible At Home Work Space}

10. Reevaluate Your “Why”

Another tough love moment coming up…

If you give all of these procrastination tips a shot and STILL find yourself holding on to those procrastination habits, it may be time to reevaluate the work you are doing.

College is not going to be fun all the time. There are assignments that are boring and work that is tedious. That’s just how it goes.

But, overall, it may be time to ask yourself if you are still enjoying what you are studying. Is the goal you are working towards still your goal? Are you specializing in a subject that you still feel passionate about?

Sometimes our interests change (and our majors do too!) and that’s okay! If you can’t get yourself to do your college work, it may be time to ask yourself some questions!

Those are the top 10 procrastination tips for students to stop procrastinating in college!

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XOXO,

Del