Lesson: How to Stop Procrastinating/ExerciseL1

Alright, let´s be { honest _6 } . Is there something else you´re { supposed _8 } to be doing right now? Give a paper due in ten hours. Is there a { stinky _6 } pile of { laundry _7 } slowly inching its way across your bedroom { floor _5 }? You should be doing those things but { instead _7 } you´re here listening to me lecture you on the youtube. Wait, wait, wait, wait, don’t go away just yet. The next five { minutes _7 } will be the most productive bit of procrastination you have done all day. And you´re not the only one procrastinating. Thanks to a suggestion by one of our viewers today´s episode of Wellcast is going to bring you a three-step program to wrangle your { monster _7 } of procrastination in the submission. About twenty percent of the population identifies { themselves _10 } as chronic procrastinators. People who constantly put off the things that they really need to do. And that is because procrastination is about lying to { yourself _8 }. You know telling yourself, uh, I´ll have plenty of time to finish that paper tomorrow, when you know you are way { behind _6 }. In a recent study, two groups of university studies were { assigned _8 } to write three papers in three weeks. Group A was given the { opportunity _11 } to turn in all three papers in at any point during those three weeks. Group B on the other hand had strict weekly deadlines for each paper. { Ultimately _10 }, the ones who did best on the papers were the ones that given the { strict _6 } deadlines. Group A the students who have picked their own deadlines, they did { pretty _6 } poorly. Clearly, humans are not the best at regulating themselves. So, when it comes to procrastination, you have to trick yourself into getting the job done. And this brings us to our Wellcast three-step method for { stopping _8 } procrastination. Please pause and print out your worksheet at watchwellcast.com. Ok, are you ready?

Step 1: Eat an { elephant _8 }. Hey, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a { time _4 }. Look what I´m saying is: you need time to digest or you´re gonna make { yourself _8 }sick. Reward { yourself _8 } for getting through parts of the project rather than waiting to reward yourself after the whole thing is over. Ok procrastinator, think about that one { project _7 } that you really need to get done. But calm down, { instead _7 } of letting it overwhelm you, organized that project into small bite { size _4 }, manageable segments. Think about what needs to get done and write down what you´re going to be doing to tackle this project, hour by hour. And make it { specific _8 } by breaking down this giant project into smaller tasks. This elephant will become a lot less daunting.

Step 2: Pick off the itsy bitsy goblins, instead of going for the whole { dragon _ 6 }. The hardest part about starting any project is always { starting _8 } the project. A good way to get around this is to start a project off with the task you like the best. Listen, when you do something that you like, your brain releases dopamines which makes you { happy _5 }. Maybe it´s decorating the cover of a reporter, writing a snappy intro into an otherwise incredibly boring { paper _5 }.

Step 3: Ignore the Siren´s songs Seriously. This step is straight out of Homer epic poem The Odyssey. In The Odyssey our protagonist Ulysses is trying to get home. Unfortunately this requires maneuverings through stream of water were sailor are often lured under the rocks by creatures called Sirens. Instead of giving up, Ulysses instructs his crew to tie him to the mast of his ship and for all of them to plug their ears. No matter how much he yells and screams the head towards the beautiful Sirens. The sailors must keep on track. We´re not saying that you need actually to tie yourself up for anything. But you should plan to clear any distractions that will hamper your ability to procrastinate later. For example, if you´re a sucker for Facebook or online video games, have your parents or your roommates change the internet password to keep you on track for studying. The less temptations you give into or have the ability to give in to, the better will be at As* in that exam.

Ok kids, let´s recap! The best way to get around procrastination is to trick yourself into doing the work. It´s true though. We recommend that you do this in one of three ways. Number one, breaking your tasks into segments, in other words you got have to eat that elephant. Number two, start with the most enjoyable part of the project. Go through those itsy bitsy goblins. And number three, avoid that Siren song. Clear out those distractions so you can get the job done. And these tips helped? Leave us a message below or email us at watchwellcast.com