by Cal Newport
What about the big-picture reminders from Sunday—calling home, scheduling internships, creating a guitar-practicing schedule? Those would have been pushed out of his head completely by the demands of near-future deadlines. Without a system to capture them, we can’t expect Stephen to remember long-term ideas for any extended period of time.
Most important, without the system, Stephen would have completed much less schoolwork on Monday. The day would have focused, more or less, only on the Government reading, because that was the only big task actually due the next day. Without time labels, Stephen would have had a much hazier understanding of his free time, so he probably wouldn’t have started this reading until later in the afternoon (for the most part, students don’t like to start any work without a large block of free time ahead of them). Remember, however, that this assignment took a couple of hours to complete, so that means if Stephen had waited until the afternoon to start, he would have finished only this single task by 5:00, with the Econ problem set and Anthro paper topic likely falling by the wayside. Instead, Stephen ended up finishing six tasks by 5:00, leaving plenty of time for exercise and debauchery during the evening.
As you can see from the case study, this simple time-management system, which requires only a few minutes of planning each day, made Stephen significantly more productive and significantly less stressed. It will do the same for you. In other words, five minutes every morning and a sheet of scrap paper in your pocket are enough to transform you from a stressed-out student struggling to get things done, into an organized, relaxed, finely tuned academic machine.
If you remember one lesson from this book, it should be the lesson of this case study: A little organization goes a hell of a long way.
Step 2
Declare War on Procrastination
In the previous section we introduced a simple time-management system to help you plan your day intelligently. That was the easy part. Anyone can spend five minutes to figure out what they should be doing. The real challenge is marshaling the motivation to actually do the work once it’s scheduled. Without some control over your schedule, you cannot be a happy and successful student—no matter how good your intentions.
As you might expect, in conducting interviews for this book, I put a significant focus on the issue of procrastination. Anyone who makes straight As has clearly found a way to consistently get work done when it needs to be done, and I wanted to find out how. As it turns out, however, I was in for a surprise.
Every student I interviewed was asked the following question: “How do you defeat procrastination?” As soon as the first responses were returned, it became clear that something was not quite right. I received answers such as:
“I don’t.”
“Rarely.”
“I didn’t.”
“I don’t think that you can.”
These were not the responses that I expected—it didn’t make sense! Everything else they told me about how they studied and wrote papers clearly indicated that these scholastic studs were kicking some very serious procrastinatory ass, so why were they all claiming they didn’t defeat procrastination? What was going on here? Fortunately, many students went on to qualify this first reaction, and it was in these qualifications that I began to figure out what they really meant.
“I don’t think that you can,” was how Lee, a straight-A student from Columbia, began his answer, but he soon added: “You just have to try to limit it.”
Ryan, a straight-A Dartmouth student, started by claiming, “Really, I don’t defeat procrastination.” But then he continued: “Or, at least, I don’t think I do…although, I suppose, compared to the majority of students, I’m not as bad as I think.”
“I don’t know that I’ve yet defeated procrastination,” was how Christine, a straight-A Harvard student, began before concluding: “but I’ve found ways to make this inevitable tendency less destructive.”
Over time, these extended responses began to paint a clear picture. When the straight-A students answered “I don’t defeat procrastination,” they really meant to say “I don’t defeat the urge to procrastinate.” And this makes perfect sense. To put it simply, some work just plain sucks, and you, like the straight-A students interviewed for this book, will want to procrastinate on this sucky work. It’s unavoidable. Therefore, the goal in this step is not to teach you how to love all work and never feel like procrastinating ever again. Instead, I’m going to describe some targeted strategies to help you sidestep this unavoidable urge when it arises—not destroy it altogether. This is how straight-A students prevent procrastination from destabilizing their schedule. They don’t rely only on willpower and good intentions, but instead deploy an arsenal of specific, tested rules that help them short-circuit their natural desire to procrastinate. These students, of course, aren’t perfect, and they still occasionally put off work for no good reason. But overall their strategies made them significantly more effective at following a study plan than their peers—and this made all the difference.
What follows are five anti-procrastination battle plans drawn directly from my straight-A interviews. These techniques are not theoretical; they are exhaustively used by real students to beat down procrastination again and again. Trust them. Put them into practice immediately. Make them into a habit. The effect will be immediate. You may never fully rid yourself of the urge to procrastinate, and that’s okay. But with the right strategies in place, you can rid yourself of the fear that you’ll always give in to that urge.
Procrastination Battle Plan #1: Keep a work progress journal
Think about the last time that you procrastinated on something important. You can probably recall some of the wishy-washy excuses your mind concocted for delaying the work. Something along the lines of “I don’t have all the materials here with me now, but if I waited until tomorrow, I could get started right away with everything I need,” or “It’s getting late, and my concentration is waning, it would be a waste to start now, so I will wait to tackle this when I’m fresh in the morning.” Why are these excuses necessary? Why don’t we simply think: “This is boring, and I’m lazy, so I’m not going to do it,” which is much closer to the truth? The answer is that your ego is a powerful force. We procrastinate, but we don’t want to admit to ourselves that we procrastinate. So we make excuses to ourselves to avoid the truth.
A work progress journal is a simple tool that takes advantage of this reality to help you defeat procrastination. It works as follows: Buy a cheap spiral notebook, and keep it near your calendar. Each morning, when you work out your schedule for the day, quickly jot down in the notebook the date and the most important tasks that you are scheduled to get done. At the end of the day, if you’ve completed all of these tasks, simply jot down all completed. If you failed to complete some tasks, record this, along with a quick explanation.
The system adds only an extra minute to your morning routine and requires only an extra minute each night before you go to sleep. It’s simple enough to turn into a habit. What’s amazing, however, is the journal’s immediate effect. Having to record, in ink, on paper, that you procrastinated over a task for no good reason is a powerful blow to your ego. It might be easy to tell yourself a few weak excuses for putting off a tedious assignment, but when you have to record these same excuses on paper their foolishness is exposed. You can no longer get away with lame rationalizations. This is especially true if you continue to delay the same task day after day. After seeing all of those excuses pile up in your journal, there will be no escape from reality: You are being lazy! Your ego won’t like this truth, so it will kick-start your motivation in an effort to avoid it.
The journal, in this way, acts like a personal drill sergeant, sitting on your shoulder and yelling into your ear: “Soldier, I want you to go get me a pillow, because I know I must be dreaming. I thought I just saw you consider not starting your paper this afternoon, and I knnnoooowwww you wouldn’t try to pul
l that crap with me standing right next to you! Now go grab your notes and get workin’ before I make you record your laziness in ink where everyone can see it!”
Many students, myself included, don’t keep a journal all the time, but use it to help them get through unusually busy periods. For example, my work progress journal was a key force in getting me through my senior fall semester, which involved classes, grad school applications, and the writing of my first book. Others have had great success with the journal to keep focused on their LSAT preparation while juggling the demands of regular class work. Some students go so far as to use the system with a friend, agreeing to review each other’s journal once a week. As Christine from Harvard suggests: “If you have a friend in the same class, check up on each other’s progress.” And even if you can’t find a willing journal partner, there are other ways to use friends to jump-start your drive: “It helps to simply tell your roommates of your goals, and have them guilt-trip you into working.”
Procrastination Battle Plan #2: Feed the Machine
Low energy breeds procrastination. Most students know the feeling—your mind starts to feel sluggish, you begin to read whole pages of text without remembering a single word, and writing coherent notes becomes a Herculean task.
It’s almost impossible to motivate yourself to stick to a schedule under these mental conditions. Accordingly, during long work periods, you need to feed your body the fuel it needs to perform at its peak. Think of your brain like a machine. If you want to defeat procrastination, you need to provide it with the energy necessary to concentrate and win the fight. Without proper care, it will turn against you.
The nutritional rules for maximizing your mental energy while studying are simple:
1. Drink water constantly. Have a water bottle with you, or make frequent trips to the water fountain. One of my favorite study spots had a dispenser of mini–paper cups next to the fountain. My habit was to drink five mini-cups of water every forty-five minutes. It worked wonders toward keeping my mind humming and my energy high. Your body needs water to function. Hydration increases your energy, masks boredom-induced food cravings, and staves off sleepiness. And don’t worry about the inevitable side effect of so much drinking. As Greta, a straight-A Dartmouth student, exults: “Frequent bathroom trips keep me awake.”
2. Monitor your caffeine intake carefully. Don’t drink more than one large caffeinated beverage in any one-hour period. While a Coke or cup of coffee can heighten your concentration, too much caffeine in a short period will make you jumpy and unfocused. If you’re a coffee drinker, start off with a strong brew to jump-start your mind, but switch to decaf, tea, or just water for the next hour or two before returning to another strong drink.
3. Treat food as a source of energy, not satisfaction. When studying, carefully choose snacks that promise a long-term energy boost. Try vegetables, fruit, anything whole grain, lean proteins, peanuts, or natural granola bars. Refined carbohydrates, such as sugar and white flour, will provide only a quick energy rush followed immediately by a damaging energy drain and increased appetite. Avoid these unhealthy snacks at all costs while working. If you follow rule one, your frequent water consumption will dull the cravings for specific foods, making it much easier to stick with healthier fare.
4. Don’t skip meals. Snacks alone are not enough to fuel your mind for long periods. Even on the busiest of days, eat regular meals. If you skip breakfast to get a jump start on studying, or put off lunch until the late afternoon so you can finish your reading, you will experience more hunger than your snacks can effectively satisfy. Hunger, and the corresponding low blood sugar, will rob you of your ability to concentrate and set you up to succumb to procrastination. So keep your meals regular. If you’re pressed for time, eat fast. Grab a sandwich from a less-populated dining hall and sit alone, or bring part of the meal back to your study location. But never miss meals altogether.
Procrastination Battle Plan #3: Make an event out of the worst tasks
Some tasks are so horrible that even just the thought of beginning them can send chills down your spine. For me, these included writing personal statements for graduate school applications. Other students cringe at having to type the first few paragraphs of a long paper, composing cover letters for job applications, or beginning the slog through a hopelessly large reading assignment on a hopelessly boring topic (I can’t help but remember one particularly descriptive article I had to read about the various clays used in ancient Cypriot vase-making).
It seems to take an extraordinary effort to start these projects before the last possible minute. But it doesn’t have to be this difficult. As Laura, a straight-A Dartmouth student, explains: “When studying for something I don’t especially enjoy, I try to make an event out of it.” Find an out-of-the-way restaurant, coffee shop, or bookstore café. It helps if your location is farther than walking distance from campus. Set a time to bring your work there, and if you don’t have a car, arrange to be dropped off and picked up later, or choose a location that takes a while to reach by foot so you won’t be tempted to leave right away. Tell everyone you know that you will be gone during this time, and talk up how horrible the work is that you have to complete. The more people who know about your quest, the harder it will be for you to cancel it.
The novelty of the location, plus its distance from campus, will help jump-start your motivation to tackle your horrible task once there.
“I find the change of scenery puts your body in work mode, just as going to the office is supposed to,” explains Sean, a straight-A student from Yale. You went through a lot of effort to get to your unusual study nook, and there is no easy way to be distracted. Campus is far away, and therefore so are your friends, your TV, the student center, and your Internet connection. You are sitting alone at a table in a public place, surrounded by strangers, and if you don’t start doing something soon, people will begin to wonder: Who is that odd student sitting alone and staring into space? Is she a drifter? Is she going to snap and kill us all? What’s her deal?
“It’s just too awkward to sit there while staring at other people,” says Laura, “so inevitably I will end up reading whatever material I’ve brought with me.” As always, the hardest part is beginning. But once you start slogging through your assignment, the pain will slip away, you will hit your stride, and before you know it, your ride will have arrived and that once terrifying task will be safely completed.
Procrastination Battle Plan #4: Build a routine
Your schedule varies each day. But you should be able to identify at least one hour, on each weekday, that is consistently free. If you have an early class, make this the hour right after it lets out. If you have a late morning class, make this the hour right before it starts. In general, the morning and early afternoon are the best times to find these consistently free hours. Time in the late afternoon and evening is much more susceptible to being hijacked by unexpected events as your friends finish up their classes and start knocking on your door.
Once you’ve identified these protected hours, use them to do the same work each week. For example, maybe Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are for chipping away at your History reading assignments, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are for making progress on your weekly Statistics problem set. The idea is to build a routine in which you use the same reserved time slot each week to do the same thing, with the goal of transforming these slices of work into a habit, something you no longer have to convince yourself to do.
“I figured out pretty early on the most annoying thing about bad habits—namely, their tenacity—could be very useful if it was applied to other things,” explains Simon, a straight-A student from Brown. “I found that good habits, like making sure I do [certain work at the same time each week], are really hard to get rid of.”
Unfortunately, these five hours a week are probably not enough to complete all of your work (if only that were true!). But they do represent five hours of productivit
y that didn’t exist before. And, more important, the first work of the day breaks the seal on your motivation. Once you have accomplished one big task, it becomes much easier to tackle more. So follow Simon’s advice, and let this simple good habit greatly reduce the effort required to launch a productive day.
Procrastination Battle Plan #5: Choose your hard days
Hard days are inescapable at college. Sometimes you simply have more work due than you can handle with a well-balanced schedule. In these cases, relaxation and socializing have to take a backseat to your study obligations. As Jeremy, a straight-A student from Dartmouth, admits: “Occasionally I end up setting aside one full day where I just lock myself in my room with some food and grind through it.” You can’t avoid these hard days, but you can control their impact.
If you see a large number of deadlines looming just over the horizon, you can be sure that there will be some hard days in your near future. Here’s the secret: Plan them in advance. Don’t wait until the deadlines are so close that you have no choice but to buckle down. Instead, scout out one or two days to preemptively designate as “hard.” By choosing them ahead of time, you can space them out so that you never have two hard days in a row, and you won’t be caught off guard by this sudden burst of intensity. Try to plan relaxing, nonacademic activities immediately before and after these days. This will ease their impact. As Jeremy explains: “If I work all day Saturday, I will let myself go out hard on Saturday night and take Sunday off.”
In addition, you should prepare yourself mentally. Tell friends which days are going to be hard, warn them not to expect much communication from you, and ask for their encouragement. If all of your friends know that Tuesday is going to be a rough day for you, then you will be much more likely to keep busy and do the work. It would be embarrassing, after all, to talk up your upcoming hard day, garnering sympathy and support from friends, and then be discovered that afternoon, still in your boxers, experimenting with the use of your toes as an alternative to your missing remote control.