How Students Beat Procrastination: Ignore the Grumbler (For 5 Minutes)
This is part of my How to Stop Procrastinating series.
Hey, friends!
Deep down, some part of us doesn’t want to study. Ever. Deep down, some part of us thinks it’s horribly unfair that we have to do pointless homework, write boring essays, and study for stupid tests. (I call this part of me the Grumbler.)
The Grumbler never wants to study, never wants to work. Instead, he demands rest and relaxation at all times. (My Grumbler’s ideal day includes sleeping late, gobbling Albanese gummy bears (in bed, of course), and binging Netflix crime thrillers (also in bed). If it were up to him, I’d never leave my bed!)
No matter how much rest we give ourselves, the Grumbler resists anything resembling work. He whines, “You’re so mean! Why do you make me do crap? Netflix won’t watch itself! No one else has to work hard; why should I???”
Here’s his favorite phrase: It’s not fair!
Now, when we procrastinate our studies for days (weeks?), we’ve surrendered to the Grumbler. When we put off studying, we’ve given in to the Grumbler’s demands. He gets what he wants, but we pay the price.
But there’s a solution. Ignore the Grumbler and study for just 5 minutes. We have enough willpower to do a 5-minute sprint.
If we study for 5 minutes, we overcome the Resistance and build momentum. If we do a 5-minute sprint, we can do a second one. And a third.
If we can build momentum today, we can do it tomorrow. We can do it every day.
We overcome procrastination by building momentum. And it all starts by ignoring the Grumbler for 5 minutes.
You can study for 5 minutes, right?
Read more on How to Stop Procrastinating.
Thanks to Brynn Stewart for reading a draft of this!