Posts Tagged ‘procrastinating’

Early Bird Gets The Worm: How to Utilize Your Mornings For A Brighter Day

Wednesday, March 13th, 2024

To most college students, waking up early seems like a catastrophe. I’ve had my fair share of doing everything in my power to dodge 8 am classes during registration and being late to early morning shifts because I slept in. But if you’re having trouble managing your time during the day, taking advantage of the time before your day starts may be beneficial to you. 

A beautiful Boston sunrise.

During my freshman year, I had trouble finding time in the day to do everything I needed to. Balancing school, work, and dance, I only had so many free hours in the day to get my work done. At the time my classes started around 11 or 12, and afterward, I always had work or dance practice. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but still had loads of schoolwork to do before I could go to bed. This cycle quickly wore me out, and soon I had to start thinking of other ways to make my days productive. At first, I tried staying up late at night and sleeping later in the day. I found this only made me less productive since forcing myself to stay up late usually resulted in me falling asleep at my desk. I tried to find time in the middle of the day between classes and shifts, but it was never enough. I’d always have enough time to start assignments but never finish them. The only time left was the morning, and since my classes started around noon, in theory, I could wake up an hour or two earlier. The last thing I wanted to do was to force myself up to work, but I thought I would at least give it a try and see if I could fit in some work before my busy days even started. 

At first, it was difficult. Some days I would shut the early alarms off and roll over for more sleep, others I would drag myself out of bed as much as I could, but give up once I made it to my desk. Through a combination of setting 2 to 3 alarms each day and getting to bed earlier at night, I was slowly able to start waking up on time. After getting over the initial hump of waking up early, I started getting into the groove of working in the morning. I found that I was more productive at the start of the day, and had an easier time staying focused on the task at hand. It also made me feel more accomplished when I woke up and worked in the morning. Before noon, I had already checked a few things off my to-do list which gave me confidence. Another perk of getting an early start is that I’d come home with little or no work to do in the evening, and I’d be able to relax and go to sleep instead of pushing myself to keep working in exhaustion. 

When you’re struggling with productivity, the most important thing to do is to put yourself first. Think about the times of day when you feel most energized and productive, but also think about times you had never considered before. Getting up early seemed impossible to me at first, but once I started doing it it completely changed how I structured my day and got my work done. Think about times of the day you’ve ignored in the past and ask yourself how you can utilize them for a brighter day!

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By Sidnie Paisley Thomas

Sidnie is a Sophomore at Emerson College in Boston studying creative writing and post-colonial literature. In her free time, you can find her hitting up her local thrift store, playing her favorite records, or reading a new book.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Procrastinating! We All Do It.

Wednesday, November 25th, 2020

Show me anyone who claims they never procrastinate, and I’ll show you a liar. And, if you’re one of the unicorns who doesn’t, then you are a lucky person indeed. Certainly, throughout my high school career, I’ve had teachers lecture me about how to manage my time better in order to avoid procrastinating. 

Then, in college, if I ask a professor for an extension on a deadline, there’s a real chance that I’ll get a snide remark about time management and procrastination. I’m certain that I’m not the only one with this experience, either; the common train of thought in the academic community seems to be that procrastination results from the student’s time mismanagement. While not entirely false, it is not the full story: there’s something irrational about procrastinating. 

Logically, we should all be motivated to complete our work, because that is more conducive to happiness. Instead, it seems that nearly every college student participates in procrastination; possibly because it is influenced by psychology. Our innate “fight or flight” reflexes have adapted to the societies we live in; long gone are the days of having to run or fight for your life, rather, our battles have become more “mundane.” The issue, though, is that our survival instincts have remained as sharp as ever, not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. 

What it does mean is that parts of the brain will see a problem– for instance, let’s say you have a lot of deadlines on the same day — these instincts will interfere with your cognition. There’s two options here: you can “fight,” or work through until your assignments are complete, or you can “flee,” avoiding your work until it’s absolutely necessary (see: procrastinating).

Another way of thinking about it is, we are driven to do the things we do thanks to motivation. A number of factors weigh into your sense of motivation, and they work against demotivating factors. If there are more demotivating factors than motivating factors in a decision, the result is procrastination. As your deadline approaches, the motivating factors gain strength until you overcome your procrastination. Unfortunately, this process does not always leave enough time to actually do whatever it is you needed to do. The best way to avoid procrastination, then, is to consider what is “demotivating” you and figure out how to resolve these demotivations! Listed below are some examples of factors that can discourage your sense of motivation.

https://www.mindful.org/11-ways-to-finally-stop-procrastinating/
  • Anxiety and Depression. It’s pretty obvious, but they are two major factors that will weigh heavily on your motivation. Mental health is one of those things that, unfortunately, you’re  going to have to work around. After all, there is no way to just “cure” either anxiety or depression. One thing to be weary of is setting off a feedback loop of anxiety. Oftentimes, I will find that large tasks impose a ton of anxiety on me. In response, I procrastinate,  which only builds up my anxiety, because I know I have to do it. It is important to be aware of this phenomenon so that you can identify it in yourself, and act accordingly. Step back, take a deep breath and organize your thoughts so that you can at least consider your next steps. 
  • You’re a perfectionist. This  is common in creative work: oftentimes there might be  a disconnect between what you are visualizing and what you are creating. Certainly, it is something that I struggle with– especially when writing. It is a frustrating thing, when you can’t properly verbalize what your ideas are. Try not to let your desire to produce high-quality work impede your process; instead, use it as a driving factor to do a good job. Recognize that, especially in schoolwork, perfect is simply unnecessary, and the anticipated standards may actually be much lower than your own standards. 
  • “This is future me’s problem.” Again, I am very guilty of this one. It can be very easy to see a task as unnecessary because it can be done in the future. It can also be easy to slip into, because it applies to the very mundane; sometimes I won’t make my bed simply because I know it won’t be a problem until I try to go to bed, or I push off putting my clothes away properly because I know I’m just gonna put them on later at some point, so instead I’ll just throw them on a chair. 

While things might be inconvenient to do now, it is important to recognize that part of taking care of yourself is taking care of your future self, too. Try making things a little easier on your future self, sometimes. 

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By Sebastian Ortega

Sebastian is a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he majors in Fashion Business Management. He’s worked behind the scenes of New York Fashion Week with the company Nolcha Shows, and in the office of Elrene Home Fashions. Some day, he hopes to be able to make his own claim in the fashion industry by starting his own business.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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