Learn how to use future continuous and future perfect tenses with grammar explanations and exercises. Understand the difference between will be doing and will have. If you have discipline, getting up and going to sleep can make you more efficient in the classroom.
Find the right balance between homework and sleep. It’s unwise and unhealthy to push through sleepiness just to complete your homework. Getting enough sleep each day is essential for a healthy lifestyle.
If your parents don’t encourage good grades and make you unmotivated, don’t use them as motivation. Overcome common homework struggles with a diagnostic quiz, expert advice, and bonus tips for doing homework fast. The best time to do homework is when you feel most focused and ready to tackle it.
There’s no clear answer on whether children and teenagers should be assigned homework on a regular basis. Doing homework in time shows your professor that you are a serious student interested in the subject. Clear your schedule tonight and prioritize your homework tasks.
Help your child stop the bad habit of homework procrastination today by asking questions about today’s and tomorrow’s homework. By following these tips, you can improve your academic performance and boost your grades. Remember, it’s important to prioritize your time and avoid procrastination, as it can negatively impact your overall academic success.
📹 watch this if you’re avoiding homework
Avoiding your homework? I know the feeling. Try out these productivity tips. COME CHAT WITH ME Need help with homework?
Is it OK to turn in homework late?
Teachers can improve student engagement by removing the concept of lateness from the classroom. Instead of penalizing students for late assignments, teachers can grade students based on their ability to turn them in on time. This approach helps teachers understand if struggling students are struggling with concepts or are dealing with other obstacles. By separating work and deadlines, teachers can better understand and support their students.
Is studying at night better?
Studying in the evening can improve learning consolidation, recall, and retention of new skills, such as learning a new language. It is essential to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep before studying at night. To stay hydrated, drink enough water to provide brain oxygen and keep you alert and energetic. Sit cross-legged on the floor for optimal digestion after dinner, and incorporate warm fluids like water or coffee into your night study routine.
Find out when your learning abilities, such as memory, alertness, and critical thinking skills, are at their highest levels at different times of the day. For example, better visual memory occurs in the morning, while alertness peaks in the afternoon. By following these tips, you can enhance your nighttime study routine and improve your overall productivity.
Can you do homework at night?
Late-night studying offers numerous benefits, including better memory retention, uninterrupted focus, a peaceful environment, and an intimate space for studying. However, it also has drawbacks, such as sleep deprivation, which can lead to fatigue and decreased performance the next day. Additionally, irregular sleep patterns can contribute to long-term health issues such as increased stress and a weakened immune system.
Many students prefer late-night studying due to its convenience, quieter environment, and time flexibility. It is important to consider the potential drawbacks and benefits of studying at night when considering the benefits of morning studying or homework.
When’s the best time to do homework?
To encourage a child to complete their homework, it is essential to establish a consistent homework time, which may vary depending on the individual child’s needs. Some children need a break after school to exercise and have a snack, while others should start homework right after school. It is best to get homework done before dinner or as early in the evening as the child can tolerate.
Establishing a daily homework schedule is crucial, starting with reviewing assignments, ensuring understanding, and providing necessary materials. Asking the child to estimate the time it will take to complete each assignment and when it will start. If assistance is needed, this should be determined at the beginning to accommodate parent availability. A Daily Homework Planner should be included at the end of the handout, identifying breaks and rewards.
Some children are motivated by high grades as an incentive, motivating them to do homework with care and in a timely manner. For those who are not motivated by grades, parents should look for other rewards to help them complete nightly chores. Incentive systems can be simple or elaborate. Simple incentives include reminding the child of a fun activity to do after homework, such as watching a favorite TV show, playing video games, talking on the phone, or playing with a parent. This system, sometimes called Grandma’s Law, can be effective in motivating the child to stick with the work until it is completed.
Is it OK to stay up late to do homework?
The author suggests setting an alarm for early mornings, aiming for 3 a. m. to 4 a. m., as a study at Penn State found that cognitive function is impaired by nightfall. This early wake-up time is healthier and more productive than late nights, as the brain is already active during the day. Distractions decrease exponentially, and the subconscious is not awake enough to be distracted by notifications from the night before. The illusion of being the only person awake makes it harder to get distracted.
Wake-up early also comes with intrinsic motivation, pushing individuals to stay productive. They use the time more efficiently than if they stayed up until 2 a. m., as uninterrupted work is nearly impossible past midnight due to power naps and FaceTimes.
What to do when homework is due tomorrow?
To finish your homework faster, create a list of tasks that need to be completed that evening. Estimate the time needed for each task and be realistic about the time it will take. Gather all necessary equipment, such as a laptop and pencils, to avoid getting distracted and wasting time on supplies. Unplug your device, time yourself, stay on task, take breaks, and reward yourself for completing tasks.
Remember to be ruthless in your list, aiming for 5-10 minutes per task, but be realistic about the time spent. Remember to take breaks and reward yourself for completing tasks on time. Remember, speed reading isn’t a magical solution, and it’s essential to stay focused and organized to complete your homework effectively.
Should I do homework right away?
Homework right after school can help children understand problems and recall teacher suggestions, as it is fresh in their minds and helps them remember the work. It also instills a sense of accomplishment and timeliness, preventing procrastination. According to author Drew Edwards, the best time for homework is after school, in the afternoon after a short break. It may be challenging for parents or after-school sitters to get kids to focus after school, especially during the shortened P.
E. classes and cancelled art and music classes. Allowing 30 minutes for decompression after school is recommended. However, don’t let mindless television take over the evening; instead, play a card or board game or color pictures.
Should I study even if I’m sleepy?
To avoid studying difficult concepts when tired, focus on simpler tasks like revising formulas or reading literature. Develop flashcards for morning use, watch videos, and read quality texts. Check statements you’re comfortable with. Place night hours in the early hours, aiming for 10 o’clock and 5 o’clock to use the extra morning for preparation. This will make the hour more active since you’re well-rested in the morning. Avoid studying complex concepts when tired, and instead, focus on simpler tasks like revising formulas or reading literature.
Is it OK to stay up all night doing homework?
The author suggests setting an alarm for early mornings, aiming for 3 a. m. to 4 a. m., as a study at Penn State found that cognitive function is impaired by nightfall. This early wake-up time is healthier and more productive than late nights, as the brain is already active during the day. Distractions decrease exponentially, and the subconscious is not awake enough to be distracted by notifications from the night before. The illusion of being the only person awake makes it harder to get distracted.
Wake-up early also comes with intrinsic motivation, pushing individuals to stay productive. They use the time more efficiently than if they stayed up until 2 a. m., as uninterrupted work is nearly impossible past midnight due to power naps and FaceTimes.
How long is too long for homework?
It is recommended that families allocate 10 minutes per grade level per night to homework, with second-graders completing 20 minutes and sixth-graders an hour. If this seems unfeasible, it would be beneficial to consider the factors that contribute to an extended homework duration, such as the child’s ability to maintain focus on their homework and whether they are consistently attentive to their homework throughout the night.
📹 The procrastination cure you don’t want to hear
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I was minding my business this afternoon, doing important stuff, perusal Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for the tenth time (a film I don’t really care about), perusal cutscenes from the game Shadow of Mordor (that I’ve never actually played and I don’t intent to) and getting ready to rebinge watch Stranger Things seasons 1 to 3. Then this bald Joey guy article notification came AND THEN I HAVE SPENT THE REST OF MY FRIDAY DEPRIVING MYSELF OF THESE WELL DESERVED JOYS and I’ve cleaned the backyard, frontyard and “sideyard” (yeah that’s a thing), fixed myv earphones that my cats keep chewing, reassembled my vacuum cleaner, trimmed my hair with a diy bald fade (the result was not terrible) and studied and worked a little bit. The point is I did more in these last 8 hours of my Friday than all I didn’t do the entire week. Another important detail is that my shrink is traveling AND I run out of Ritalin yesterday. God forbid that this weird bald guy somehow hacked my brain using some sketchy subliminar message entwined within his article. I’m a good citizens. I pay my taxes and I just came across his website because I was searching for advice for guys who are startng to lose their hair. And now he had fiddled with my brain. But now jokes aside. I truly hope that tomorrow I manage to repeatb what I’ve done today. Quit finding ways to escape my chores and my projects with social network, YouTube, movies and games. THANK YOU JOEY FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART 🙏🙏😉😉🤗🤗✌️🤘🤟🤙♥️🇧🇷
A good way is to combine this with pomodoro. Let’s say you wanna work for an hour, set a timer for 10-15 minutes and sit still, do nothing, when the timer goes off you work/study for an hour and then repeat. You don’t need to do this all day, but for the first 2-4 hours maybe, and you’ll get a lot more done when you follow this routine.
As a person who spent all of my time offline before 2012, I have to say you are right. Boredom is honestly something completely missing from our world and it feels wrong. I used to draw, read books, play instruments out of boredom but when I got online gradually everything else fell away and I just spent time online. Now I’ve been pulling it back and forcing myself to learn some classical guitar / lute and it feels so good to do something real again. lol
I used to procrastinate all throughout my childhood and teenage years. It started with 2 hours then 4 and eventually I found myself procrastinating 8 hours. Towards the end, I even forgot the paging anxiety the task gave off. It was literally ruining my life (not to be too dramatic but it was). One day, I don’t know why or how, I just forced myself to do the task. Something that could get you to do what I did would be this article, to make yourself so bored that you would rather do the task. I also realized that the reason, the real reason why I procrastinate, was because I was scared and intimidated by the task. Conversely, when I finished the task, I realized it was never as bad as I imagined it was. That’s why imagining you already finished the task can also be a technique to get you started as well.
i always tell myself “why suffer twice when you can suffer once” having anxiety before starting tasks makes the anxiety during the task/assignment much worse due to the time wasted with irrational thought- thus creating more exhaustion. motivation comes from action. often times i feel much better mentally working towards progress than avoiding it. then in the end, i realize there was no inherent suffering during the task (most of the time). it is SO easy to scroll, sleep, eat, procrastinate, loath, etc. than to use your working memory. so by eliminating the initial suffering/anxiety gives me more energy to focus on what’s important. i also say this as i’m procrastinating an assignment due tmrw. if anything, this motto has helped my self-critical/ irrational thought process when it comes to school. although i still find myself procrastinating- my mindset and knowing my ability to get stuff done eases my stress and preserves my energy for bigger things.
I read The Alchemist by Paulo a few days ago and it made me realize a lot of things that I took so negatively in my life. It dramatically helped me with seeking what was right for me. So when I started this article, I realized that I needed to get my priorities straight and jump into what I’ve been avoiding. I’ll watch your article after I’m done. Thank u for this article
I was procrastinating a lot recently and would perform my “distractions” everyday like scrolling through social media, reading non curricular based books and perusal Netflix and now im actually so tired of them that im more interested in studying 😭 so I feel like I “deleted the distractions” by doing them too much
I’ve heard this advice before and the problem is that I absolutely would do nothing. I already often spend a couple hours a day just thinking (even replaying thoughts over and over). My brain is really good at producing stimulating content for me, and an empty room won’t turn that off, it’ll exaggerate it
“Inaction is a slow death” this is the perfect discription of the problem. But also thanks for this simple and effective article. It helps you realize that its either you’re out of focus and needed a reminder. Maybe you truly despise what you’re delaying. Or it’s finally the time to get the professional help you know you need.
“Boredom is not boring.” – Artem Boytsov If you sit with yourself, in solitude, you’re not really alone. Most of what we do to ‘procrastinate’ is actually just the way we run from ourselves and our thoughts. If the idea of being still for a few hours sounds worse than being electrocuted, clearly in some way, you are afraid of your own mind. We’re blameless here, the world is mentally sick, most of us are traumatised in some way or another. But the option is always here to just… stop, and be with yourself in silence. Face the agony and fear of boredom, and through that be loving and content with the ordinariness of just being yourself. Then you see that the world was open to you all along. ❤
The issue for me though is that I don’t get bored “doing nothing,” because my thoughts are almost always more than enough to keep me entertained. Oftentimes when I procrastinate, I’m not even doing something else, I’m often just doing nothing other than thinking to myself. I have enough to think about and ponder, and enjoy thinking to myself enough, that sitting around with nothing to do doesn’t bore me, at least not enough to motivate me to do something I don’t want to do. Heck, oftentimes in my free time I end up just doing nothing anyway, like I’ll bring a thing for me to do like read a book I like or play a favorite article game or something with me or even just have my phone on me, and then just end up not touching it and do nothing but think to myself about things instead. Doing certain things (like maybe the thing I have to do that I’m procrastinating on) do bore me, but being alone left with nothing but my own thoughts does not bore me because I can keep myself entertained with just that. I do that all the time. “Doing nothing” is one of the very things I use as a distraction; therefore I’m kinda stuck, since thinking to myself is the one distraction that is impossible to put away, it’s always available no matter what, it’s the backdoor I can’t eliminate.
For me, sometimes the boring thing you’re so afraid of is not boring at all and when you start working on it you get super excited and energetic. Nevertheless, you’d rather zombify yourself in front of a screen for the entire day and at at the end you’re not only bored (what you wanted to escape in the first place but failed) but feel miserable and guilty for not accomplishing anything. Life can suck, doesn’t it.
But as someone with ADHD, this advice reminds me of (actually good advice) for getting things done: craft your environment for success. Put the things you need done in front of you and remove any and all potential distractions. Even things as simple as putting your water bottle on the nightstand so you drink water when you first wake up make a difference. Make success simple. Or, for those who like metaphors, when a plant isn’t thriving, you change the environment, not blame the plant.
DO WHAT SCARES YOU. We procrastinate because we feel fear. And the more we avoid the task, the more fear we feel. When we start doing it, fear initially rises, but then goes down again. You do the thing and you feel better. The next day you are less scared and try again. Eventually the fear isn’t a problem anymore or even it goes away. You have done the thing for days, weeks, months. Some days you were lazy, other days overworked… But in general you just didn’t give up. Now your work has been evolving, and you have freed yourself from the procrastination trap. You feel proud, free, capable, and less scared. This is what doing what scares you brings to your life.
Just my personal tips that work for me 1. Start by clearly laying out your goals and doing a self reflection journal each and every month to look for patterns in your behaviors, behaviors you want to eliminate and behaviors you want to focus on. The monthly reflective journal is a great tool for me at least to know if I’m truly staying on track. 2. Stop lying to yourself, Start removing stuff from your life that you know is bad for you and is getting in the way of your dreams. I haven’t used social media in months, I don’t watch porn anymore, I quit alcohol, I’m keeping a food journal to stop overeating. 3. Failure is okay, you could fail 100s of times before you eventually start to improve. The whole point of success is that you keep at it until you are successful. And success looks different for everybody. Build resilience 4. Its about a mindset change, recognize that nobody is gonna make it happen but you, you need to get your ass in gear and get moving. 5. Get a calendar of sorts and pick some stuff you want to do everyday, every week and so on and start tracking what you’re doing everyday. Eventually you will become addicted to seeing yourself marking down the amount of days you practiced a language, didn’t get drunk, or even read a chapter in a book. 6. Heart should always beat mind, if you truly really wanna help yourself you know what’s good for you and what isn’t. Live your life trying to do things that are good for you. Burn images of times you failed into your mind and remember those the next time you go to do something you don’t want to do anymore.
I was listening to a podcast that said, “it’s important to live life by design rather than emotion. Basically, sticking to a routine is what allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves (especially when you’re fighting these demons ex. OCD for me). I’ve had to overhaul how I approach studying, working out and taking care of my brain (journaling) by practising mediocre consistency. Now I try to put in consistent 50-60% effort into my studying, exercise and journaling habit – to make sure I do it I began recording it and posting it on YT. Because historically I have a habit of going too hard, not being able to sustain the Herculean effort, giving up and hating myself. So now I’m trying to give a small, consistent mediocre effort everyday. And its crazy how it adds up.
I learned this through 8 years of school (for a “4 year” degree). The greatest trick I learned in all that extra schooling I had to take was that in order to learn, you have to force yourself into a position of forward engagement. I wasn’t interested in learning because that academic stuff was far less engaging than article games (of which I’ve had a particularly addictive predisposition to all my life). So forcing myself to stay on campus and go to the library by making sure I always had hour+ breaks in between at least two classes so I wouldn’t be tempted to go home and play games was critical. After awhile, I found that the real progress I was finally making towards graduation (plus the thrill of actually learning something) was becoming motivation in and of itself. I started going to the library AFTER school as well, and setting goals to finish at least one to two assignments before allowing myself to go home to my comfort zone. Case in point, this article is excellent advice.
You’re severely underestimating my ability to lie flat on the ground and stare at the ceiling for HOURS. lol. I promise you, my brain has mastered the art of avoiding whatever it is I need to do. Plus, I’m an introverted only child so I had no problem being a hermit even when I lived in a literal laundry room in NYC 😅. I would just listen to music for hours (which I know I would deprive myself of in the “empty room” of course, but I’d also meditate, stretch, sleep, do breathing exercises, write songs and sing, etc…My problem is my imagination is so active, I can entertain myself with visuals and stories in my mind’s eye for days. The only thing that would maybe work for me is if someone set up a “terror chamber” of sorts, where anytime I stopped working for 5 seconds, a flying cockroach would be released into the room. I could probably get all of my work done for the entire year in less than a week that way 😅 I’m beginning to realize that the only times I can remember ever being truly bored (aside from when I HAVE to do a work task or adult life task) is when I’ve been around other people who are boring, or when I’m stuck at an event that’s boring. If I’m just alone in a quiet room, forget about it. I’m in my own magical world and it’s lightyears better than editing another article…ugh.
Bro…I have been searching years and year for a deep psychological breakdown of why my brain feels like it holds me hostage into being lazy, while everyone seems to have it all figured out, saying things like “just do it.” Your articles really dive deep and give me the science behind it all, and I feel like I can win this long battle of laziness
00:00 Resistance to good habits is a common problem. 01:19 The solution to procrastination is boredom. 02:31 Eliminate distractions to increase productivity. 03:42 Being alone with thoughts is hard, people prefer to electrocute themselves than to be bored 05:01 Eliminating distractions makes productive tasks more entertaining. 06:19 Environmental conditioning can facilitate a mindset of creativity and productivity. 07:52 Maximize productivity by removing distractions 09:08 A vitamin D3 and K2 complex in bioavailable form is available for optimum health
It’s amazing how free you feel when you finally do the thing you’ve been putting off for a long time. For me, there are some things that I’ve literally put off for years. Things that would honestly take 30 minutes or less to do. I wonder how many to-do lists I have that contain these same things over and over and over until I either give up and let it go or finally do them. I heard a quote once… “The only shortcut to success is to avoid all of that time wasted procrastinating.”
The really hard part for me is that most of the things I am supposed to do are in the same exact environment as the things that entertain me (my computer, and sometimes my phone). I have never had issues keeping an exercise routine because exercise happens away from all that stuff. But making progress in something on my computer and not going to different websites and stuff is hard. And the blocking apps simply don’t work for me.
I hated myself for always for always procrastinating and not doing things that was good for me. I need money, I have opportunities to make money but I keep giving up and procrastinating. Today I broke down and this article popped up on my notification. I just found your website. You’ve changed the way I think about it. Thank you ❤️
I’m a university student, and the only thing standing between me and my degree is completing my thesis. Everything is ready – the experiments, the development – but I just can’t write it. I’ve been stuck in this process for months, finding myself constantly distracted by unrelated activities. Whether it’s perusal lengthy lore articles of obscure fictional universes, repeatedly solving Rubik’s cubes, or working on side projects at my underpaid job (they won’t pay me what I deserve until I have my degree). Today, I came across this article, and I’ll try the technique mentioned here. I’ll be back in a few days (I must finish my thesis soon or risk ruining my future) to update this comment. Wish me luck!
As a 31 year old with depression and ADHD I’ve spent my entire life hearing literally everything execpt what I needed to hear, which was that ultimately, I’m responsible for my own life. Forget about fairness, forget about how society or the education system or your parents failed you. None of that will feed you, and you can’t psychoanalyze a corpse. If you find tips and tricks to help, hey great! If sometimes you need to rest or unwind or even feel resentful because of your parents, or society, or your brain, fine, you can do that in healthy or unhealthy ways, but fine. Ultimately though, you’re responsible for yourself, suck it up, tough it out, and get your work done.
I’m active military and the thing that works for me is basically what the Army taught me to do: Just learn to enjoy the fact that it sucks. It’s a bit stupid and I find myself completing tasks as if they were missions, but the productivity percentage is really high if you have adopted the same sort of mindset that I’ve learned to adapt to over the years.
My strategy is simultaneously doing something i like while doing something i don’t like. For example, I’ll listen to music while cleaning or doing chores. It is something that won’t hinder the effectiveness of my work, but will help me feel motivated to get it done. If you are doing something such as schoolwork or an essay, I’d suggest listening to instrumental or piano versions of your favorite music so the lyrics won’t be distracting to your work.
This is not a “fact of life”. Being absolutly bored doesn’t always beats procrastination because not always it comes from boredom. To some of us it comes from anxiety, the tasks we need to do makes us so anxious we’d prefer do nothing and leave it for later. That’s why deadlines set us up to finally doing them, the stressor is much bigger there than the task. Fixing this anxiety is much harder than normal procrastination
I literally can turn off every distraction to try and write a story FOR FUN, as a HOBBY. But still need to endure like 45 minutes to an entire hour or more just to get past this feeling of near-paralysis, where I want to write but it feels agonizingly slow and tedious, and feels like I’m doing a bad job because I’m not properly focused and hardly able to come up with anything that sounds good. My mind seems as if it straight up “invents” alternative things to do or alternative things to think about once other stimuli is removed, just to not do something, and I get this sudden sensation of restlessness on top of it. Unless I just so happen to conveniently be in one of my completely random and unsustainable “inspired” moods. And if anything interrupts this “windup” period for any reason, it will most likely reset. This is also why I can’t really do “just write a small amount of words per day, every day”, because just to do that, I first have to invest so much time into doing nothing and forcing myself to focus that it works out to being really, really inefficient. If I finally do get the momentum going, I end up writing a lot more than that, it’s just that even getting the momentum going is such a monumentally tedious task most days.
my only issue w this is that most of the stuff that i actually need to do are on my computer where im surrounded by distractions. we kinda live in the era of every assignment and piece of work that you need to do is online/on a computer, which makes it infinitely harder to do things when you’re doing them in your own space because, regardless of which distraction you remove, there will always be the distraction that you need to do anything productive
I just wanna add that this DOES NOT apply to everyone! That is what my parents used to do when i was a child – they made me sit at my desk for hours until i finished doing my homework. BC this was happening for years now i have a severe case of procrastination. Getting ready to do stuff is making me feel sooooo tense and anxious that i’d rather not do it than live in emotional hell of being there alone and just making myself do the thing that i’m supposed to do.
my procrastination genuinely stems from my anxiety. i’m still trying to figure out how to get rid of it. so far so awful but hey, whenever i finish a task without hesitation and out of whim, i feel like the greatest person alive. i promise myself it’ll be like that for the rest of the days to come. just taking my time. articles like this somehow tweaks my brain so thank you, bald man. (you remind me of the hot ones guy, sean evans)
Yes this is just insane! I decided to delete Instagram and TikTok for at least a week. It might sound like something very normal to a… normal person, but I was on social media since I was 6 years old. My parents allowed it and actually facilitated it because they were pretty busy and it should have kept me entertained when they were at work or just wanted some quiet time. It surely did, but I became addicted to it so badly, that I never spent a week without being on my main social media apps since. It all got worse when TikTok became a thing and this is when I started having a serious problem with being able to focus on work or studying. I could spend the whole day being on my phone avoiding my work and crying at the end of the day because it made me feel worthless. Now I decided to delete Instagram and TikTok from my phone and I did it not expect to become more productive. I actually did it just to test my willpower. But OH MY GOD this whole week I was doing so well with studying and work! It showed me that I actually CAN focus on things, and that I CAN entertain myself when there is no phone around. What you are saying in this article is so true! I come home from work and immediately get bored (because before I would come home and then scroll TikTok before I fall asleep), but this boredom forces me to do something useful: study, clean the house, hem the ripped pair of shorts, which I kept in my closet for a year waiting for the perfect time to do it… I love it and I’ll totally keep it up.
This is actually so accurate. And it explains how I do more work at school than at home. more distractions at home which make me feel so unmotivated to turn in any major assignment. But when i’m at school, i instantly go to work because at my school the only thing you will see is a white room with chairs in it. That’s it. We weren’t even aloud to put our bags in the classroom. They stayed outside. And when we were doing work on our devices, there would be like a ton of teachers making sure everyone is on task.
My boredom cheat is YouTube tutorials. HOURS a day of tutorials on everything under the sun. I feel like I’m learning and friends always comment on how much I know. It’s nice, but at the end of the day I get nearly NOTHING done. This is a great idea. I’m going to start putting my phone in a different place when I’m working or sleeping.
I’m glad this works for some people, but this has never worked for me. I can sit in an empty room with nothing in front of me but the task that needs to be done and I’ll just zone out and daydream because my ADHD brain just can not handle the lack of stimulation. What does work for me is just focus on doing the first small step of the task. Convincing yourself to do 20 press ups might be hard, but one press up is easy, and once you’ve started it becomes a lot easier to keep going. As a side note, I’m not convinced that study really proves how much people hate boredom. If I was given a button to press that would give me a small electric shock, I’d almost certainly press it just out of curiosity to see how bad it would be, even if I wasn’t otherwise bored.
This website has honestly helped me grow on so many levels. There is one thing I would really appreciate your take on, however. The reason I procrastinate is not to avoid boredom. Whenever I try to do an important task, if I don’t know exactly what I have to do and how it’s going to play out, I get extremely anxious to the point of sometimes having panic attacks. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can bring myself to complete important tasks without getting so anxious in the process Edit: Oh my god. I never expected people from youtube comments would be a hundred times more supportive and helpful than people irl
This is like dopamine detox. I tried it the other day for a bit, I told myself I can’t spend my time online or play article games, I can only read online articles when I’m eating/drinking coffee (but no YouTube or social media). And I allow myself to read (or in my case, text to speech the books I’m ‘reading’). And you know what happened? Since all the things that I ‘enjoyed’ is off the list, besides reading. Then I can only read to entertain myself. And that’s all I did for the most part besides staring at the ceiling.
What worked the best for me after procrastinating for years was to force a routine out of cleaning my living space on my first day off work while my brain is still on “shift” mode. I’ll start the morning and fill a washing machine, then clean my room while that finishes, and while I wait for the last ten ninutes of the washing machine I’ll make sure the sink is clear of dishes. If you’ve been putting it off for weeks or even months, the first week will be hard work, but if you do it two weeks in a row, you will have much less to do and it will help you feel productive or like your environment is ready for whatever you need to do. Grab a large rubbish bag and get to it, play some music and treat it as a job you have to do. It will help remove the most immediate layer of guilt about “not being able to get things done”. Any able bodied person can tidy up a bedroom. There’s thousands of children who do it. You can too.
00:03:15 – 00:03:38 The key is to COMMIT yourself to what you want to do. If you’re interested, the least excuse will drive you away from achieving what you intended initially. But if you’re committed, there won’t be any room for plan B, excuses, distractions or any disturbances. Commit yourself to break procrastination. 🙏🏼
I think you hit the nail right in the head. I was recently thinking that in order for me to get up and actually start doing the things that I’ve been putting off, even things I’ve greatly obsessed about in the past, I need to get into a state of boredom. My mind needs to think there’s nothing else really that needs to be done. But it’s hard to get my mind to chill the hell out about worrying and scrolling and etc. Thanks for validating that, I don’t think others that I’ve told about it understood.
I’ve always had a big technology addiction and have had a hard time fighting it in my daily life as I work full time at an accounting firm and go to school for accounting. This addiction has kept me from doing so many tasks that aren’t even difficult(even tasks that I want to complete like reading interesting books). About a year ago, I decided to take a six hour trip to stay in a tiny home in the middle of nowhere by myself with the intent to read some fiction books(I don’t ordinarily read at all so I picked Harry Potter and Wuthering Heights) and bring a few groceries to make every one of my meals. I left my phone and laptop at home and was startled by how bored I felt at any point of the day when I didn’t have my phone. After a week there, I had read most of Wuthering Heights(400 pg book) as well as almost two Harry Potter books. I couldn’t figure out why but my brain felt more relaxed but sharper than ever and I was actually excited to get back to work. I can’t wait to move out on my own and be able to separate myself from all of my worst habits…
The problem for me is that it’s so hard to eliminate distractions. Everything is a click away. For example I need to learn/study on my laptop and sometimes I actually need to open youtube for some related material to the stuff I am studying and boom I find myself perusal unrelated articles or browsing twitter etc
This IS true. The most productive and rewarding time in my last 3 years was when I deleted all social media on October 2021. Every single thing I usually struggle doing was suddenly incredibly rewarding and I felt GREAT. I also became more social and talked more to my friends. Sadly, after two months something unrelated to this happened that made me really depressed, and I installed back all social media because I needed a constant distraction. It immediately turned me back into a slob again and it’s kinda been like that since. But I will try to get out of social media again some day for sure, it felt incredibly liberating. It’s a shame the entire world nowadays operates through social media, so cutting off something that’s actively hurting you will ironically isolate you from a big part of the world around you.
Just leaving this here – I was struggling so freaking hard with procrastination for all my life and felt like I was failing at adulting – recently I found out I have ADHD and it’s been absolutely mindblowing to understand why getting started with things is so hard for me and I’ve found epic ways to deal with it. ✨
In therapy I was told “just do it” was the cure to my procrastination. “The drive to do the thing has to be greater that the resistance.” I thought that was bullshit, the resistance seems to rise the more I want to do the task. But when I forced myself to do nothing other than the task, what became apparent was the more I try to do the task, the more potent and clear the source of the resistance becomes. When you force yourself to sit in the silence, just telling yourself you have to start, then you have to face the part of yourself that’s holding you back.
i clicked on this article with the assumption that the answer was gonna be some “you just gotta do it, you just gotta power through” message but this is so much better because of the logic behind it. i feel like this is one of the reasons im so nostalgic over being a kid in the 90’s. not to go full boomer, but life felt so much more fun and exciting when we had to create things from boredom. now i close twitter, and open it up again within 2 seconds because i can’t imagine my brain not being stimulated by mindless scrolling for any length of time.
The only problem with that is sleep. I can always sleep. Boredom makes me sleep. If I was put in an empty room with a button to shock me, I would sleep. And it already happened many times, I tried this strategy before seeing this article. I was like “let’s put away things that distract me” and then I got bored and fell asleep… IN LIKE A MINUTE! It’s ridiculous, I know. But I can really only do things thay I like and if I’m restrained from sleeping, this only makes me far worse at doing anything at all
thank you so much for this article! Ironically, I watch articles while I do boring tasks, so that’s how I came across this article. Talking about this empty room thing, I wished I had an empty room to work. But as an exchange student living in some dorm, it‘s not really possible. However, this article quite inspired me for when I‘ll have to work on my term paper next week on how I‘ll can tackle this. Thank you so much!
My problem with procrastination stems from a lot of depression and anxiety. And normally I don’t even realize that I’m in that state. I’ve been doing a lot better as I get older, but it still creeps up on me sometimes. Boredom doesn’t scare me because I’ve gotten really good at justifying my boredom.
I’ve had this in my watch later for probably a few too many months than I care to admit, and I did not expect this advice to be as helpful as it was (because I am very stubborn and refuse to watch articles that would probably help better my wellbeing) I never comment on articles and I do not expect anyone to care about this and that is okay! But I am such an overthinker and a perfectionist that I truly self-sabotage myself at every turn, I refuse to let myself know that I am capable or intelligent and postpone doing things that will challenge me and push me because I am just terrified to face something that could possibly make me feel less than I already do. I watch articles and message friends and listen to music to avoid facing my studying responsibilities, I am constantly on a dopamine rush because of all of this social media. Thank you so much for helping me realise that I should just bore myself into doing my work, I once really enjoyed studying as it gave me stuff to do and made me feel rewarded when I understood something! I’ll (maybe) remember to come back to this article and update you on how my degree is going, because it is currently kicking my ass, good luck to everyone else battling procrastination because it’s a right f**king b**ch!!!
the way i motivate myself doing the most important things in my life is by realizing that literally no one else but me is going to do them. i have to do them or my life will be appreciably worse without having done them. even if they’re scary and anxiety inducing (which is usually what stops me from doing them) i know deep down that i really don’t have any other choice. it may take a while to finish them, but eventually i will if i just keep chipping away.
I partly disagree that our brains hate being “bored” I think what’s happened is we have lost the value and joy of practicing solitude and taking our time because we have become addicted to stimulation with easy access to the internet and the nature/design of social media and entertainment to be addictive. If we take time to train ourselves to embrace being “bored” or practicing solitude you will find that you actually start to value and enjoy it. Also when your brain isn’t being stimulated you have to actually face yourself and maybe things about your life you don’t want to face or that you don’t like. So people keep busy either with working all the time or being distracted all the time as an escape from having to face themselves.
I once watched a great article on “liminal spaces,” and I had the thought while perusal the article that if I were ever in one of those spaces, doing work (or anything I wanted to do) would feel quite meaningful. Just like this article describes, there wouldn’t be anything else to do in those spaces, and so the activity would sort of “pop” and stand out as something worth doing.
I’m one of the 75% who wouldn’t give myself an electric shock to alleviate boredom, and even if I had a room in my house with absolutely no distractions, if I wanted to procrastinate I would sit and think rather than do the thing. How is it possible to have no distractions anyway? If there’s a window you can watch the birds and the clouds. If there’s a pen you could doodle or write irrelevant lists… I prefer using a timer.