I've struggled with procrastination since high school, where I often found myself rushing to finish homework assignments minutes before walking into class. During college, I saw my grades at the end of freshman year and knew something needed to change, so I started trying to remove distractions, but no matter what, nothing seemed to work — until I figured out these two main culprits to my procrastination.
I had often said, "I'll leave the TV on for background noise," and let hours slip by before realizing I'd read the same paragraph 12 times, so I switched my study spot from my bedroom to the library, thinking a quieter area would help me get work done. That turned out to be the exact opposite of what I needed.
I now know that I'm less distracted and more productive in environments with a little hustle and bustle, like coffee shops, and that music boosts my energy, particularly if what I'm listening to matches the beat of the activity around me. I know alternative pushes me creatively, while country music helps me type faster, and that when I edit a story, I do need complete silence. It's about listening to yourself and not just following advice blindly.
While figuring out silence wasn't always the key for me helped me tremendously to avoid procrastination, I noticed there was still a huge factor in the way of my productivity: my phone.
I started by weaning off slowly, only allowing myself to check my phone every 30 minutes or taking a 10-minute phone break every hour, but that wasn't doing the trick. I needed to go cold turkey and remove my phone from any work that demanded my full attention so I've gotten creative with how I make sure that happens.
It took some time, but I'm finally at a place where I know what triggers my procrastination and how a couple of simple hacks can keep me productive. And on that note, now that I finished writing this, I'm going to go check my phone — be right back!