The Battle Against Procrastination: Some Tips and Tricks II

Structuring your work and actually going through with it can be very difficult, especially if no one will hold you accountable for it. The purpose of this three-parter is to give you some ideas to experiment with if you struggle with this. In part 1, I addressed some preliminaries that might help you structure your work throughout your studies in general. This second part is a collection of tips regarding your workplace and keeping or building up your focus.

Working from home:

While this is not feasible for everyone or under all circumstances, it often helps to separate work and free time as much as possible, even if you can’t do it consistently. Here are a few ideas to experiment with:

1. Your bed: Try not to work in your bed, and – if you have other options – avoid working in your bedroom. If you work and spend your free time in the same room, consider going out or outside at the end of a workday, have a half-hour walk, phone a friend, do sports, eat cake, take a nap; anything helps, as long as it takes your mind off things.
2. Your PC: Consider setting up a second user on your PC that has only the programs and access you need for your work, especially if you spend a lot of time gaming or watching series.
3. Your phone: Consider using flight or focus mode on your phone while you are working. Fewer distractions and a clearer distinction between work and not-work might help you focus.

Working elsewhere:

A good way to avoid mixing work and free time is, of course, to not work from home – if and when pandemics and other circumstances let you, that is. Here are some ideas to experiment with:

1. Try public spaces: a life hack for introverts. Everyone around you (people you mostly don’t know, but still) can see that you’re supposed to be working and will notice (and, in your head at least, judge you) if you’re not. Fake it till you make it! While trying to look productive to others, I, for one, get a lot done. My personal recommendation: when it’s open, the ULB (and especially the law and psychology departments) is great for this.

Speaking about public spaces: working in cafés specifically can help. Paying for coffee somehow makes me think I’m enjoying free time, and it can be a nice change to working from home. Also, just by trying out different cafés, you will cover several days to spend on your projects. Comparing cafés with regards to their noisiness, WiFi, table-wobbliness, electric sockets, atmosphere, and so on gives your AP projects another purpose and might end up making your workdays more exciting. This, of course, comes at the actual price that you have to pay for drinks. So keep an eye on your funds if you try this.

1. Try company: meet up with friends, in person or virtually. For one, making a commitment helps. You have to justify dawdling around to others and not just to yourself. When you work together with others, or when each of you works on their own projects, make sure you take your breaks together, which is another helper to structure the day. Moreover, this kind of work environment invites you to verbalise your thoughts and explain your problems to others; it is also easier to take your mind off work during the breaks and at the end of a day when you’re in company. If you think this works for you, keep an eye out for our department’s (irregular) virtual writing retreats on our Discord server, and for Twitter’s hashtag #remoteretreat.

In this second of my three blog parts, I’ve toyed with some thoughts on how you could adjust your workspace in order to boost your focus and motivation. There are, of course, many more things you could do, but perhaps you found something here you would like to try. In part 3, you will find some ideas on how to deal with a lack of motivation.