When you first get assigned a major project, it’s easy to think that you don’t need to start on it right away. Even if the teacher says something like, “You really shouldn’t put this project off,” you wave it off and put the project to the side, telling yourself that you’ll start on it tomorrow.
Then tomorrow comes, and you tell yourself you’ll start the next day, and on and on until the paper is due in two days and you’ve yet to write a single word.
Obviously, this isn’t ideal, and that’s why today we’re going to talk about how to focus on homework and plan out your tasks so that you can get it done on time without the stress of rushing to do it all at the last minute.
Make a Plan
As soon as you get your assignment, you should sit down with your calendar and map out how many days you have to complete the project and how many steps it will take to complete it. For a big term paper, these steps could look something like this:
- Choose topic
- Research/find sources
- Rough draft
- Edit draft
- Final draft
- Edit and submit
From there, you could break the steps down into even smaller chunks, so that the project goes from being a huge, daunting task to something manageable and easy to achieve. Some examples of smaller chunks include determining how many sources you’d like to find each day or giving yourself goals for the number of pages you’d like to write or edit.
Then, you should go into your calendar and block out times for you to work on each of these mini-goals. Preferably, particularly for bigger projects, you’ll want to work on it for a couple of hours most days, rather than trying to spend an entire day working on one project. That way you won’t burn out.
Stay Motivated
So you’ve made a plan. Great, but then how do you make yourself stick to it? The answer to that depends on the kind of person you are, but one great way to motivate yourself to stick to something is to come up with ways to reward yourself for completing significant milestones.
For example, once you have finished writing the first draft of a paper, you could reward yourself for completing that goal by going out and doing something fun with your friends, or treating yourself to your favorite kind of food.
This only works if you are strict with yourself and only allow yourself to enjoy the reward after you’ve completed the associated task, but if you are, it can be a great motivator.
Alternatively, you could use the buddy system. Say you and your friend are in the same class, and you’re both working on completing your term papers. To help keep you motivated to stick to the goals you’ve laid out, you could share your goals for each week with each other and then give each other regular updates on your progress.
Give Yourself Grace
One thing that many students (and people in general) struggle with is what to do when you miss a day, or when things don’t go the way you originally planned. A lot of people, when faced with this situation, will decide to forgo the plan altogether, but that will only lead to stress and anxiety.
If you miss a day for whatever reason, or things take longer than you thought they would, don’t beat yourself up for it. Remember that sometimes life happens, and it’s okay if you fall off the wagon every once in a while.
You can always get back on. Just rework your plan, take a deep breath, and get back on track the next day.
Soon you’ll be meeting deadlines like a champ.