how to not procrastinate with homework

How to Stop Procrastinating Homework

Procrastination creates stress for students and can impact the production of quality work.  Putting things off, for all of us, creates an overall feeling of things hanging over our heads and never being free from responsibility.  

When students procrastinate, they can create a situation that makes it difficult to self-regulate .  When a student is not well-regulated – in other words, they’re experiencing a moderate to high level of anxiety related to homework –  it’s more difficult for their frontal lobe to be engaged in thinking and problem-solving.  

Want to help your student stop procrastinating homework and reach their full academic potential?  This article takes an objective view of homework procrastination to examine the root cause and provides some expert advice on how parents and educators can best help students.

Common Reasons for Procrastinating Homework

So, why is procrastination so common?  Contrary to what many might believe, the root cause has nothing to do with students being ‘lazy’ or dismissive about their schoolwork.  Rather, some of the most common reasons for homework procrastination include,  

• Students may underestimate the length or complexity of a project because they have not fully developed the concept.
• When students feel overwhelmed or become aware of the significance of the project/paper/essay etc, they can ‘freeze up’, rendering them incapable of completing any work at all.  
• Trying to accomplish homework with ADHD presents unique challenges for students; students with ADHD often need help further developing essential executive functioning skills .
• Some students may not be getting enough sleep and feel exhausted – both physically and mentally; an exhaustive state robs them of their natural ability to motivate. 
• The home environment where students typically complete homework may have too many distractions. 

The rule of thumb for parents: perspective is key for parents .  Motivating students from a place of shame is a non-starter.  Alternatively, parents will have more success when they objectively consider the root causes for procrastinating homework – anxiety, exhaustion, constant distractions, or living with ADHD – and look for ways to help alleviate these common factors. 

Homework Tips for Parents : A Word On Motivation

First, motivating students is a misnomer.  Students may want to do well, but really do not know how to do well.  Others may procrastinate because they’re afraid to fail or not be perfect.  

Try following these steps to help your student,  

• Begin by asking your student if they are open to help.  While students may say no, parents have the ability to respond by saying they respect their position but would kindly ask them to reconsider.  In other words, forcing students to comply simply compounds the stress and frustration the student is experiencing. 
• Recognize that your student may be more emotional with you than with a tutor.  It’s not personal – by keeping your emotions in check, you provide a great example of self-regulation for your student to model.  If you need to step away to get a break, do so.  
• Model, model, model!  Get involved by reading the assignment out loud with your student, and create a schedule of how to do a little each day so the student learns how to complete a little at a time 
• Perhaps the most important thing to do: empathize!  Kids, just like us, want to be understood and supported.  Even as adults, having to do what you don’t like to do stinks – we call it ‘adulting’. Want to shorten the proverbial gap between you and your student? Provide some real-life examples of how you have to do things you don’t like as an adult and acknowledge their feelings.  You will become instantly relatable. 

Additional Homework Tips for Students

• Start with something easy to help you get going – we call this behavioral momentum.  Format your paper, write your name at the top of the assignment, and answer the question you feel most comfortable with – just get the ball rolling. 
• After you establish behavioral momentum, tackle something more challenging – but set a timer (around 30 minutes) so you don’t feel like it will take all night. 
• Some research shows that individuals are more likely to perform better on an assessment when part of a group.  If you have the time and opportunity, join a study group of people who are all working like you.  
• Create a work/break schedule and definitely put distractions in another room (phone! Or games/Youtube or other streaming videos).  

Creating an Efficient Homework Schedule 

Okay, parents – you likely already know how important structure and routine can be for your kids. In helping your student learn how to stop procrastinating homework, creating a schedule can give them a greater sense of autonomy while helping them manage expectations.   

In a de-escalated environment, (when things are chill) ask your student to create a homework schedule that he/she would like to implement.  After they present it to you, you’ll have an opportunity to give feedback and set up a trial period.  

The proposal itself is a plan;  the student is evaluating their resources (time) and responsibilities (tasks) and formulating a plan.  Ask your student how they want to be held accountable and let them know you want to discuss it with them at the end of the week to evaluate their progress.  

With this approach, parents demonstrate trust in their students and give them an opportunity to practice being self-direct.  The key word here is practice – so, don’t expect it to be perfect!  Over time and with further practice, they will develop these skills.  

Academic Coaching with Effective Students

Fortunately, for parents and students who feel overwhelmed by homework or are frustrated trying to help their kids, there is help in the form of academic coaching from Effective Students. Our academic coaching services empower students who may be struggling to manage materials or assignments, apply what they’re learning, transition into a new academic environment (high school to college, for example), and procrastinate homework due to heightened feelings of anxiety, fear, and exhaustion. 

Learn how to help your child meet and exceed their academic goals – contact us today!

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Two Counterintuitive Ways to Stop Procrastinating

Procrastination is unfortunately something that most of us are familiar with. We’ve either experienced it firsthand or observed it in others: our students, children, employees, spouses, and more. It’s something they and we almost always want to stop. We would rather feel energized and productive when we make progress on a project or proud when a coworker or family member accomplishes what they set out to do.

If procrastination is more than just an occasional lapse for you or someone you know, then I wrote a new book for you: Procrastination: What It Is, Why Itʼs a Problem, and What You Can Do About It . What qualifies me to write such a book? Well, I do have 20+ years of experience researching procrastination, with more than 30 scientific research articles and book chapters on the causes and consequences of procrastination. But procrastination also holds personal significance for me. I’ve witnessed the toll procrastination has taken on family members and even myself. In writing my book, I’ve realized that I am more of a procrastinator than I care to admit.

It is these personal observations and struggles, along with my professional expertise, that are the source of the unique insights, guidance, and tools I provide in the book. Here, I want to cut to the chase and explore two alternative ways of responding to difficulties that science suggests can reduce distress and increase motivation to persist in the face of obstacles: self-compassion and self-forgiveness .

The trouble with self-criticism

At first glance, self-compassion and self-forgiveness may appear to be unlikely candidates to help reduce procrastination. Being kind and forgiving toward yourself when you are struggling with a challenging task or with your own procrastination could seem like you are letting yourself off the hook, right? It can appear like you are giving yourself a free pass to step away from your responsibility for getting your intended task done and any fallout from doing so. You might feel better, but how will this help you reach your goals?

If mistakes are made along the journey to a goal, we often believe that the only way to correct them is a swift and often harsh cracking of the whip of self-criticism.

But self-criticism is problematic when you’re trying to avoid procrastination. If you have a mindset that includes negative scripts about yourself, then you are more likely to react negatively to any challenges you face when working on a task. The way we view difficulties on the path toward a goal is a reflection of how we see ourselves. You might think, “Everyone can do this task so much more easily than me”; you may have a hard time accepting your imperfections and the fact that, like everyone, you can and do make mistakes.

If that is your attitude, then you will be looking for evidence to support these distorted views of yourself—and you will find it when you are procrastinating. In effect, your negative self-views become self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing. The other problem with using self-criticism to motivate yourself is that it often backfires. For example, say you tend to procrastinate exercising. But instead of examining why you have difficulty maintaining a regular running routine, you berate yourself. This response will generate even more negative feelings toward exercising, and make you want to get relief from these feelings by procrastinating. And when your focus is on managing your emotions so you don’t feel so bad, you will be less focused on finding a solution (like getting a running partner). You might start to judge yourself harshly for not being able to run alone. Lots of other people can run alone, so why can’t I?

That kind of self-criticism can lead to further negative thoughts that generate negative feelings that are demotivating rather than motivating and thus lead to further avoidance.

The gentle power of self-compassion

Most of us have a fairly good idea of what it means to be compassionate. If you found out that someone close to you was struggling with their goal, or feeling down because something didn’t work out the way they had hoped, you would recognize that they are suffering and be kind and understanding toward them.

Being self-compassionate means extending the same compassion to ourselves that we would extend to others. As counterintuitive as it may sound, scientific evidence has shown that self-compassion can both help reduce procrastination and help us achieve our goals.

Consider, for example, a study I conducted a few years back. I asked four groups of people—some students and some from the local community—to complete a survey about how prone they were to procrastination, whether they had a self-compassionate mindset, and their current levels of stress. The less self-compassionate people were, the more prone they were to procrastinating. Difficulties managing negative emotions and then also amplifying these emotions with negative self-talk and rumination over mistakes and lapses are the drivers of procrastination. Being less self-compassionate also explained why those who were prone to procrastination reported experiencing higher levels of stress.

But we can view this research from a different angle. It also tells us that people who are more self-compassionate are less prone to procrastinate. In other words, being self-compassionate can be a protective factor against developing a tendency to procrastinate.

So, if you procrastinate and respond with self-compassion, you will be less likely to continue to procrastinate or engage in ways of thinking that make you feel worse about yourself and thus maintain a procrastination habit. Self-compassion can help defuse the negative feelings and judgments that can make us want to avoid or abandon a challenging task.

Fortunately, self-compassion is a skill you can develop. According to researcher Kristin Neff at the University of Texas at Austin, being self-compassionate involves three core elements.

Turning self-criticism into self-kindness

When we procrastinate, we don’t blame ourselves for our difficulties or make negative judgments about ourselves or our character. We don’t increase our suffering by holding ourselves to unrealistic expectations or insisting that we should be perfect. Instead, we approach our struggles, inadequacies, and failures with warmth, openness, and acceptance. Instead of harshly criticizing yourself for some failure, real or perceived, you might think something along these lines:

I know that I put this off when I didn’t need to, and this may have caused more problems. But I am not going to be hard on myself. I accept that my good intentions to think about others didn’t translate into the best outcome this time, and I will do what I can now to make things right.

Feeling connected rather than isolated in our suffering. This involves recognizing that everyone makes mistakes, falls short of what they had hoped for, comes face to face with their own inadequacies and flaws, and suffers as a result. This is all part of being human. Being self-compassionate means acknowledging and accepting these universal truths and feeling connected to others through our suffering.

Feeling connected means not letting your feelings of shame about procrastinating take over and make you feel like everyone else is so much better at reaching their goals. Instead, you remember that you are not the first person to procrastinate, nor will you be last. Knowing this makes it easier for you to openly admit when you are procrastinating, and to reach out for help from others to get you back on track with your goals.

Being mindful of our emotions. This involves stepping back from our negative emotions and taking a balanced, nonjudgmental view of them and not suppressing or avoiding these emotions or the negative thoughts that stoke them. Taking a mindful approach to our emotions helps us not overreact to our lapses, mistakes, or personal inadequacies or get stuck in self-pity.

What does it look like to be mindful rather than overly identified with our negative emotions? You can acknowledge that you are unhappy with procrastination and its fallout, and accept the negative feelings that you are having, rather than avoiding them or becoming too caught up in them. By taking this mindful stance, you are in a better position to be curious as to why you’re feeling upset with yourself and why you avoided the task in the first place.

One of the best times to practice self-compassion is as a preventative measure—when you are struggling with a task, have made a mistake, and are feeling frustrated or stressed and on the brink of procrastinating. By being compassionate to your own suffering, you can lessen these feelings, accept your struggle, and increase your motivation to complete your task.

The paradoxical power of forgiveness

Forgiveness is the voluntary process of letting go of negative feelings such as resentment or anger directed toward another individual or group because of harm they have caused you. This does not mean that you forget what was done, but it does mean that you release the negative emotions you’ve been holding on to that can be harmful for your own well-being. You accept what happened and move beyond it emotionally.

Self-forgiveness involves showing this same forgiveness to yourself. Like self-compassion, it is often more difficult to forgive yourself than it is to forgive others.

When we have done something that we know caused harm to ourselves or others, such as procrastination, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that we deserve to be punished for what we did. Being harshly self-critical about what happened can be a form of punishing ourselves that can stand in the way and prevent us from moving beyond our mistakes. Holding on to negative emotions can keep us stuck in the past.

So, what does the roadmap to self-forgiveness for procrastination look like? Researchers have proposed that the journey to self-forgiveness involves three key steps.

First, you have to accept that you procrastinated and that you are unhappy with yourself for doing so. For this to happen, you need to take responsibility for your procrastination. As long as you are blaming your procrastination on outside forces, or not admitting that the delay was voluntary, then you are not truly accepting that you procrastinated. Coming to this realization can be difficult, especially if you are prone to procrastination. Your first instinct will be to avoid anything that brings difficult emotions to the surface. Denial is a wonderfully safe place to be, as they say. Next, acknowledge and allow yourself to experience the negative feelings you have about procrastinating. Again, this is no easy feat if procrastination has become a habit. Are you angry, disappointed, or frustrated with yourself? It’s OK to be; these feelings are completely natural. Feeling bad about procrastinating—whether it’s because of your own expectations for yourself or because you’re aware that you have transgressed social norms—is a healthy response. But it’s what you do with those feelings that makes the difference between improving yourself and reaching your goals versus getting stuck in a vicious circle of wallowing in shame, guilt, and other distressing emotions that perpetuates the very behavior that you feel bad about in the first place.

Once you have fully acknowledged your negative feelings about procrastinating, then you are ready for the last and final step—overcoming those feelings. This part of the journey involves working through and coming to terms with your negative feelings about procrastinating, without ruminating about them. It means that you have to accept what you did and forgive yourself, and that you must stop punishing yourself and focus instead on making amends. In other words, you have to shift from a retribution mindset to a restitution mindset. Ask yourself what you can do so that you will be less likely to make the mistake of procrastinating again. Then take action to change your behavior.

In one very clever study , researchers at Carleton University in Canada tested whether self-forgiveness could reduce procrastination among university students who were studying for exams. Before each of two midterms, the students completed questions about the extent to which they had procrastinated studying for their exam and whether they forgave themselves for their procrastination. The students also reported their mood after receiving their first midterm grade.

The results were both paradoxical and encouraging. Students who forgave themselves for procrastinating while preparing for the first exam were less likely to procrastinate on preparing for the second exam, and the reason they procrastinated less came down to mood: They experienced less negative mood, which in turn reduced their procrastination. In contrast, the students who did not forgive themselves for procrastinating on the first exam felt worse about their performance and continued to procrastinate their studying for the second exam. This research tells us that self-forgiveness provides an effective means of regulating negative mood that leads to approaching and dealing with problems rather than avoiding them by procrastinating.

Self-forgiveness may be especially appropriate when the task you have delayed has significant implications for yourself or other people, like when your partner had to wait on you to file your tax return so that they could complete theirs.

If you’re skeptical that being forgiving and compassionate to yourself can help reduce procrastination, it’s not surprising. We live in a world where many of us have learned that the only way to improve yourself and succeed in life is to push yourself harder and further, to strive to be better, and to accept nothing less than your best. But, clearly, that attitude isn’t working for us. Instead of continuing to beat our heads against the procrastination wall, how about trying something new?

About the Author

Fuschia Sirois

Fuschia Sirois, Ph.D. , is a professor in social and health psychology at Durham University, and a former Canada research chair in health and well-being. Professor Sirois’s research aims to understand the psychological factors and qualities that confer risk for physical health and well-being through self-regulation and emotions, and the ways to enhance resilience and support physical and mental health.

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We know the cycle all too well — resolving to finally get that big project done, only to squander the day watching YouTube rabbit holes about artisanal cheese making or reading Reddit threads about bathroom makeovers. Anything to avoid starting that daunting task we committed to powering through.

Whether your goal is getting ahead at work, taking charge of your health, or finally checking off those long-held bucket list items, procrastination has a way of chipping away at your ability to make progress. Maybe you're procrastinating on a task right now by reading this article in hopes of overcoming it once and for all.

The good news is that we can tackle our procrastination without resorting to extreme measures. You don't have to throw your distracting phone in the nearest lake or drastically overcommit with public deadlines to create artificial pressure

Reclaiming your time and being productive is absolutely achievable if you understand what's really driving your habit of putting things off. Let's start by understanding what procrastination is.

What is procrastination

Procrastination is continually postponing and avoiding tasks that need to get done, often replacing them with distracting activities that provide temporary relief or entertainment instead. It's putting something off until later for no good reason, despite being aware of the negative consequences associated with not acting on your task.

It's important to understand exactly what procrastination isn't as conflating it with those other behaviors makes it harder to overcome. Understanding procrastination as a distinct behavior pattern will help you implement the right behavior changes.

Procrastination is not laziness, poor time management, avoidance, or distractions.

People often confuse procrastination with laziness, but they are not the same thing. Laziness is an unwillingness to exert effort or energy, regardless of the task or deadline. Procrastination, on the other hand, is the delaying of a specific task, even if the person is willing to work on other tasks. Procrastination is often accompanied by feelings of guilt, stress, and anxiety, as the person is aware that they should be working on the task at hand. Laziness may not evoke such feelings.

Another concept often confused with procrastination is poor time management. While procrastination can lead to poor time management, they are not the same. Some people may have good intentions and plan their time effectively but still struggle with procrastination when it comes to actually starting or completing tasks.

Procrastination is not avoidance. Procrastination involves delaying a task but still intending to complete it at some point, often at the last minute. Avoidance, however, is the complete evasion of the task, with no intention of engaging with it at all.

Don't confuse procrastination with distraction, too. While distractions can enable procrastination, procrastination is a conscious choice to delay a task, rather than simply being distracted from it.

Why do we procrastinate

Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl, the author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, shares an interesting insight in his book: Procrastination is often linked to emotional management surrounding a task. When facing a task that stirs up feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, or boredom, procrastination serves as an emotional coping mechanism.

For example, someone who is assigned to draft a complex report might procrastinate due to fear of inadequate performance, opting for simpler tasks like responding to emails to avoid feeling overwhelmed and incompetent. This choice is driven by an impulse to avoid discomfort and seek immediate pleasure, rather than enduring something less pleasant for a future benefit.

Our brains are wired to prioritize immediate satisfaction and relief, a trait that can be traced back to more primitive survival instincts where immediate rewards were crucial for survival. Because of that, we tend to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards. The further away the reward or consequence, the less it influences our decisions in the present.

The core issue here is that our emotional response to the immediate options (ease and comfort) outweighs rational, longer-term planning, leading us to procrastinate and deal with the consequences later. This bias towards the present can often make it difficult to make decisions that are best for our long-term well-being.

Another common cause is a lack of interest or motivation. When a task isn't personally meaningful or engaging, it can be hard to summon the energy to start or maintain focus. Without a clear connection to one's goals or interests, even crucial tasks can seem unappealing, leading to procrastination.

By recognizing that procrastination is a strategy to manage negative feelings, we can start to develop more effective coping mechanisms.

How to overcome procrastination (even if you've tried and failed till now)

Simply telling ourselves to stop procrastinating is ineffective, and relying on "productivity hacks" that focus solely on increasing work output fails to address the underlying reasons why we procrastinate in the first place. Let's look at some of the strategies that help you overcome procrastination:

Break tasks into smaller, manageable steps

One of the main reasons people procrastinate is that they feel overwhelmed by the complexity or scale of a task. By breaking it down into smaller, concrete steps, you can reduce the perceived difficulty and make it easier to get started. Focus on taking that first small action, and the momentum will often carry you forward.

An insightful Redditter once shared a useful mental trick to reframe procrastination and boost productivity.

Instead of applying "just one more" to procrastination activities, we can apply it to the tasks we need to do. Break your tasks down into small, manageable steps and tell yourself you'll do "just one" small action.

And here's the key: Breaking tasks into subtasks provides a sense of immediate progress and achievement. This is important because our brains are wired to seek out rewards. When we accomplish something, even something small, our brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and motivation. This dopamine hit reinforces the behavior, making us more likely to continue.

You can use tools like Sunsama to help you create a task list and jot down the subtasks you need to do to check off the main task. Crossing things off of the to-do list one by one will give you the motivation to move on to the next thing.

Here are some ideas to break your big task into subtasks:

• The "Time Travel Method": Imagine yourself in the future, having already completed the big task. Now, work backward and think about what steps you took to get there. This can help you identify the necessary subtasks and create a roadmap to your end goal.
• The "Pomodoro Method" : Break your task into subtasks that can be completed in 25-minute intervals (the typical "Pomodoro" duration). If a subtask is too large to complete in 25 minutes, break it down further. Dedicate each Pomodoro to a single subtask.

Before finalizing your subtasks, review them to ensure they're in a logical order. Some subtasks may depend on others being completed first. Rearrange your subtasks so that you're not blocked by dependencies and can maintain a smooth workflow. This will help you avoid the mistake of getting stuck or having to redo work.

Align tasks with your long-term goals

How can you engage with that task, even if it's not inherently enjoyable? One idea is to align it with your goals and give yourself a sense of purpose and meaning beyond the task itself.

When you think about your long-term goals and values, you engage the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for complex planning, decision-making, and impulse control. By activating these higher-level functions, you can override the more primitive impulse to avoid discomfort or seek immediate gratification.

Then you're no longer just doing the task for its own sake, but because it contributes to something you care about deeply. This sense of meaning can be a powerful motivator, making it easier to push through the discomfort or boredom of the task.

Here are 3 steps to align your tasks with your goals and values:

• Clarify your values and long-term goals: Before you can align your tasks, you need a clear understanding of your values and long-term goals. What's most important to you in life? What do you want to achieve in the next 5, 10, or 20 years? Take some time to reflect on these questions and write down your answers.
• Break down long-term goals into smaller milestones : Once you have your long-term goals, break them down into smaller, more manageable milestones. For example, if your goal is to write a book, your milestones might include completing the outline, writing the first chapter, finishing the first draft, etc.
• Connect tasks to milestones : Look at your to-do list and ask yourself, "How does this task contribute to my milestones and long-term goals?" If a task doesn't seem to contribute, ask yourself if it's truly necessary. If it is, look for ways to reframe it in terms of your goals.

Practice "good procrastination"

We're often told that procrastination is something to avoid at all costs. But, as Paul Graham points out in his excellent essay "Good and Bad Procrastination," not all procrastination is created equal. Graham makes a key distinction between procrastinating on trivial tasks such as running errands that are not urgent (bad procrastination) versus procrastinating on less important work to focus on something more meaningful (good procrastination) such as talking to your customers.

The truth is that we all have a limited amount of time and energy. Spending it on errands and minor to-dos that have little lasting impact is ultimately a form of procrastination from real work.

The hard part is determining what that "real work" is for you. Graham suggests asking yourself two questions:

• “What's the best thing I could be working on right now?"
• "Why am I not working on it?"

This forces you to confront whether you're putting off important work for less consequential tasks. If you are, try to redirect your procrastination towards the work that matters most.

Our advice?

Don't worry about clearing every minor task from your plate before getting started. Instead, allocate dedicated time blocks for that passion project or grand goal, even if it means putting off some smaller fires temporarily. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish when you go all-in on what matters most.

The key is being honest about what activities are truly vital, and having the wisdom to let go of the rest.

Sunsama can help you leave procrastination behind

While understanding the root causes of procrastination and having effective strategies to overcome it is crucial, having the right tools can make the process much easier. This is where Sunsama can help.

Sunsama is a daily planner that can help you implement the strategies we've discussed seamlessly into your daily routine. With Sunsama, you can:

• Break down your tasks into manageable subtasks: Sunsama allows you to create a task list and jot down the subtasks you need to complete each main task. Crossing things off the to-do list one by one will give you the motivation to move on to the next thing.
• Align your tasks with your long-term goals : At the start of the week, spend a few minutes deciding what your priorities are for the week ahead with Sunsama's Weekly Planning ritual. Review your objectives at the end of the week, or when you plan for the week, with the Weekly Review ritual.
• Timebox your tasks : Allocate dedicated time blocks for your most important work, ensuring that you're focusing on the tasks that will have the greatest impact.

By combining the anti-procrastination strategies we've discussed with a powerful tool like Sunsama, you'll be well on your way to overcoming procrastination and achieving your goals. Claim your 14-day free trial here and see the difference it can make in your productivity and well-being.

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11 Excuses for Not Doing Homework (And How to Stop Making Them)

July 5, 2022 By Daniel Wong 6 Comments

If you’re like many students, you’d rather take a nap, talk to your friends online, or play video games.

As you already know, finding reasons not to do your homework will prevent you from succeeding in school .

I’m sure you want to do well in school, and homework is definitely a part of that process.

In this article, I’ll go over 11 of the most common excuses for not doing homework and offer solutions to ensure that you stay engaged in school.

But first, make sure to download your free quick action guide…

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Excuse #1: You lack the required knowledge

Let your parents and teacher know if you’re taking a class and feel as if you lack the necessary skills or knowledge to complete the homework.

Ask your teacher for extra guidance so you don’t fall too far behind. See if your parents can find the time to help you, or you can look for a tutor.

Your teachers are there to help you develop the skills you need to do well in their classes.

You’re not alone in feeling that you lack the necessary skills, so don’t be too embarrassed to ask for assistance. You might even find some great study buddies who feel the same way.

Excuse #2: You lack confidence

Many students compare themselves to their peers, which can lead to a lack of confidence. When that happens, it’s easy to make excuses for not doing the homework.

But here’s what you need to know…

Everyone lacks confidence about something.

You might be good at math but need extra help with English. Perhaps you excel at geography but find biology confusing.

Give yourself a break.

If you lack confidence in your ability to learn a particular subject, get the support you need. Your teachers, parents, and even friends will help you out and give you a needed morale boost.

Excuse #3: Your home life is too hectic

The excuses for submitting assignments late are numerous, but one that I hear often is that it’s too busy or noisy at home to focus.

Finding a quiet space and using earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones can help reduce distractions. This will make it easier for you to finish your homework.

If that doesn’t work, try finding an alternative location to do your work, like the library or a friend’s house.

You can also talk to your parents about it. They might not even be aware of all the interruptions that are preventing you from completing your schoolwork.

Excuse #4: You don’t know where to start

Feeling anxious and overwhelmed are often the main reasons that cause students to not know where to start on their homework.

If you ever feel this way, here’s what I suggest you do:

• Take a deep breath.
• Create a space where you can get organised.
• Make a list of all your assignments and deadlines.
• Work on one assignment at a time.
• Start with an easy assignment to get a quick win, or tackle the most challenging assignment to get it out of the way.

Excuse #5: You have poor study habits

Many students develop bad study habits over their years in school.

Not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace. As such, every student will have different study habits. If what you’re doing isn’t working, try a different approach.

If you’re trying to do your homework as soon as you get home from school but can’t focus, try having a snack and taking a power nap before getting to work instead.

If you’re staying up too late studying, set a rule for yourself that you’ll start doing your homework within one hour of getting home.

Establish a routine where you do your work at roughly the same time each day. Developing routines like this will improve your study habits , which will make you a more effective student.

Excuse #6: School isn’t important to you

A common misconception is that school isn’t important, that what you learn won’t be relevant once you leave school.

This isn’t completely true.

Of course, the education system can be improved. But the knowledge you acquire in school will help you to understand and appreciate the world better.

And the process of becoming a more effective student will lead you to develop traits like self-discipline and responsibility. These are the types of traits you’ll need in order to find success at any stage of life!

Excuse #7: You’re overloaded with after-school activities

I know it can be tough to balance schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

Maybe you’re on a sports team or you spend several hours each week volunteering.

Finding the right balance to ensure you have enough time for homework can be challenging.

When too many afterschool activities get in the way of completing your assignments on time, it’s time to review your schedule. Decide how you can prioritise the activities that are the most important.

You may need to put some activities on hold until you’re consistently staying on top of your schoolwork.

Speak with your coach, teachers, or parents about the ideas they have to help you manage your schedule more effectively.

Excuse #8: Studying is boring for you

If you find that doing your homework is uninteresting, it may be time for you to change your point of view.

I always encourage students to cultivate a growth mindset . This is a mindset where you focus more on the learning process instead of on getting good grades.

Rather than seeing a particular subject as boring, develop a sense of wonder. Decide that you’re going to be intellectually curious, and you’ll discover that we live in a fascinating world.

And while you’re on that journey, remember that the students who succeed in school find ways to get the work done even when they find the subject boring.

For example, if you don’t like math, consider that it isn’t just about numbers – it’s a way of thinking.

Reframing how you think about a subject will enable you to see it as more interesting. In turn, you’ll become a better student over time.

Excuse #9: Your teachers assign too much homework

Sometimes, it may seem like your teachers assign more homework than you can keep up with. You might even believe that what you’re required to do is unreasonable.

If you find yourself in this situation, take a moment to think about everything else you’re doing.

Are you managing your time well?

Are you struggling with a particular class?

Do you use memory techniques to enable you to learn faster ?

Instead of allowing homework to overwhelm you, try talking to your teacher, tutor, or parents to figure out the best way forward for you.

Excuse #10: You already have so much overdue homework

Procrastinating on your homework can lead to a significant pile-up of assignments. This will affect your confidence in being able to complete them.

What’s more, once you get a set of new assignments, you probably won’t know how to do them because you didn’t do the previous assignments.

This creates a vicious cycle where you tell yourself that there’s no point in completing your newly assigned homework because you still have the old ones to do.

When this happens, the likelihood of completing any of the work decreases.

If you’re in this situation, set a reasonable goal of keeping up with all the newly assigned homework while completing, say, one overdue assignment a day, or one overdue assignment every two days.

Excuse #11: You don’t believe you can get good grades

If you hate school, there’s a chance that it’s because you feel the pressure to be a straight-A student .

Here’s the good news: You don’t need to be perfect. After all, there’s no such thing as a perfect student.

But you do have to put in the effort and get the work done. The rest will then fall into place.

If you’re doing your best, you’re doing great! Celebrate your progress and keep moving forward.

Take it one step at a time, and don’t worry too much about what grades you’re getting at the moment.

In closing…

There are many possible reasons for you not to finish your homework.

No matter what those reasons are, it’s important to know that the people around you want to help you succeed.

From teachers to parents to coaches, you have a support network to provide solutions to almost any obstacle you face.

Identify the excuses listed in this article that are relevant to your situation, and apply the suggested solutions.

If you do that, you’ll become a better and happier student who makes far fewer excuses related to homework!

July 7, 2022 at 12:13 pm

Thank you so much for this article. These were the problems I was struggling with. Now that i know the solutions to it ,I’m sure I’ll do better than before.

July 7, 2022 at 1:05 pm

You’re very welcome.

July 7, 2022 at 6:20 pm

I pray that may Almighty God grant you long life, more knowledge, sound health, rest of mind, wealth and happiness, so that you can witness your good impact in this World 🌍. GOD has made you a useful tool for every students and parents that is actually seeking success.

July 7, 2022 at 7:42 pm

Thank you, God bless you too!

July 27, 2022 at 9:29 pm

Thank you so much for this. I have found a couple of solutions for excuses I’ve made in the past. I needed this.

July 27, 2022 at 9:42 pm

You’re welcome.

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How to Break Your Procrastination Habit and Get Real Work Done

Do you ever wake up in the morning and say, “Today, I am going to spend the day in reactive mode — running around putting out fires, constantly checking email and wasting time on Facebook when I get really stressed.”

Of course not . We all know it’s important to do the important things — strategic planning, understanding our numbers, calling that potential Fortune 500 partner — that are critical to the growth of the company. And yet we often find ourselves putting them off, rationalizing that we need “a big chunk of time to focus” or “to be in the right mood.” Why do we do that?

Welcome to human nature.

For one, we put off tasks if they’re cognitively-demanding. Creating a new investor presentation, for example, requires deep, strategic thinking that our brain is fundamentally wired to avoid.

As humans, we also resist anything that hints of emotional discomfort. If the task requires looking at our financials, we feel a sense of panic when we see our run rate (and wonder if we can make next month’s payroll); if it’s deciding the next key hire, we’re afraid of screwing up (like we did last time); or, if it’s something we don’t inherently enjoy, like sales calls, we feel incompetent or inadequate (and hope nobody finds out).

If it’s any consolation, the most successful, accomplished people face this struggle too. T hey just know how to master their psychology and win. Here’s a five-step process so you can join them.

Step 1: Break through the psychological inertia. The first step is to simply accept the mental resistance. Research has shown that people tend to delay tasks because they feel they aren’t in the right mood and believe they’ll be in the right mood later . There’s no guarantee that will happen. Break through and just start. Fortunately, inertia is more like a wall than a steep grade — once you break through, momentum takes over.

Step 2: Pinpoint the resistance. If you’re procrastinating, keep in mind it’s often just one particular aspect, not the entire task, that’s creating resistance. Ask yourself: “What exactly am I dreading?” (Even better, write it down). For example, it may not be putting together the investor presentation itself that you’re avoiding but the hassle involved in gathering accurate data, or the memories of past rejection. You might generally enjoy connecting with potential strategic partners, just not the actual moment of requesting a commitment.

Identifying the precise point of resistance prevents emotion from coloring your whole attitude so you can come up with a specific action to work through the block (e.g. asking a mentor to role-play a big sales ask).

Step 3: Use time as a tool. If that mythical “big chunk of time to focus” does ever materialize, it often creates such pressure that you still end up procrastinating. It’s important to remember that it’s harder to start something when you don’t know how long you’re going to be doing it. So, put a limit on how long you ’ re going to be doing something — 15 minutes, say. Your mind will relax its resistance because it can see a limit to the perceived discomfort.

Related: 3 Ways to Develop Mental Toughness Right Now

Step 4: Set micro-goals. When you’re pushing a stalled car, you aim to move it a few inches at first, not six feet, right? Likewise, no project is a monolithic action that you do in one giant, fell swoop. Start with a micro-goal, one so incremental that it creates no resistance. Open up a Google doc and write one sentence, for example, or bullet point a rough outline on a napkin. Years ago, when I joined a health insurance startup to gain sales experience, I found I could jump – start my dreaded bi-weekly lead and cold – calling sessions and get into the groove by dialing two or three numbers that I knew from past experience no one would answer. Micro-goal: leave three voicemails. Check!

F ormer SEAL Commander and entrepreneur Mark Divine says, “When we set our sights on micro-goals, we achieve micro-wins, which quickly stack up and develop a sense of momentum and ‘can-do’ instead of ‘can’t – won’t.’ That’s because micro-goals leverage our biology. When our brain perceives that we’ve ‘done’ something, it produces serotonin—the body’s ‘feel-good chemical’ – creating a sense of calmness and satisfaction that builds our confidence and motivates us to take on the next task.

Step 5: Stop in the middle. For large, ongoing tasks, the trick is to create a sense of momentum even when you stop. Once you’v e established traction, steal a tip from Ernest Hemingway, who used to stop writing in the middle of a sentence: “Stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next.” Knowing exactly what your next action is minimizes inertia and makes it easier to pick up where you left off.

There’s no getting around it: Doing the hard, important work comes down to managing your psychology. The secret that high-performing entrepreneurs know is that resistance and avoidance are more painful than actually taking action. They know that knocking that big task off their to-do list produces a disproportionate sense of satisfaction — which then creates a virtuous cycle that makes it easier to tackle other seemingly hard projects .

– Renita Kalhorn is a leadership development coach and a mental training mentor with Navy SEALs RDAC.

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9 Smart Tricks to Beat Procrastination and Get Things Done

Posted: May 2, 2024 | Last updated: May 2, 2024

Do you often find yourself postponing tasks until the last minute? Do you struggle to start or finish projects on time? If so, you might be dealing with a common problem called procrastination. But don’t worry! In this blog, we’ll explore nine awesome strategies that can help you beat procrastination and become more productive.

Break Tasks into Smaller Steps

Breaking tasks into smaller steps is an effective way of making them more manageable. It also allows you to decide on how they should be done. Large tasks often seem overwhelming, leading to procrastination. That is why, when you’ve broken down your tasks, you’ll be in control and have a clear picture of what needs to be done first. So, by managing one step at a time, you’ll have completed your entire task quickly.

Set Clear Goals

When preparing to perform a task, ensure that you have a clear roadmap outlining its requirements. Wasting time and energy without a clear goal is useless. Breaking the task into smaller, specific parts makes goal setting more manageable. Also, set deadlines for these smaller parts of your task. This will create a sense of urgency, and you’ll work with focus and determination that will surprise you.

Use a Timer

Using a timer is another intelligent trick to beat procrastination, as it helps you stay focused and avoid distractions. A timer will help you keep track, and you’ll be more responsible, as your conscience will hold you accountable for the lost time. Employ the famous Pomodoro technique, wherein you work for 25 minutes and then take a break for another five. Also, knowing that there are only 25 minutes to work, after which you’ll have some time to rest, will further motivate you not to get trapped by procrastination.

Eliminate Distractions

Distractions are a major cause of procrastination, halting progress and productivity. They lead to loss of focus, increasing errors, stress, and frustration, ultimately reducing efficiency. Identify distractions like phone notifications, social media, or physical distractions around you, and work to minimize or eliminate them.

Reward Yourself

A fun way to beat procrastination is to pair tasks with rewards upon completion. If you’re responsible for errors, you should also be appreciated for a good job. These rewards could be as simple as a walk in the park, watching your favorite TV series, or indulging in a tasty snack. Consider rewards like a supportive friend who pats your back when you accomplish tasks. Knowing that you’ll be rewarded boosts your focus and motivation, encouraging greater productivity.

Visualize Success

Imagine yourself completing tasks, enjoying the fruits of your success, and living your dream life. Visualizing success and feeling the emotions of fulfillment can empower you to overcome procrastination with determination and clarity of mind. Additionally, visualization is a powerful tool to program your mind to recognize and seize opportunities that lead to success while dispelling worries and fears of failure.

Find an Accountability Partner

Befriend with someone who shares your aspirations and is committed to realizing his dreams. This person will not only motivate you to push past your limits but also provide support when needed. Sharing your progress or how you’ve allocated resources for a task with them fosters honesty and encouragement in your journey. Additionally, having someone to share your struggles, failures, or successes with makes the journey towards your goals more enjoyable. That is why your accountability partner must be reliable, trustworthy, and genuinely invested in your success.

Practice Self-Compassion

Procrastination is often a product of self-criticism, guilt, and negative self-talk, which can be eliminated if self-compassion is practiced. So, treat yourself with the same kindness, understanding, and acceptance as you would to your loved ones when they’ve slipped up. Furthermore, self-compassion enables you to see failures and setbacks as a natural part of the learning process and an opportunity for growth and progress.

Start Small

When given a big task, it’s easy to feel stressed and unsure of where to begin, leading to procrastination. However, starting small can boost confidence and motivation, making it easier to tackle the task head-on. This approach also helps prevent common triggers for procrastination such as getting caught up in perfectionism or succumbing to the fear of failure. Moreover, starting small allows you to acknowledge and celebrate the little achievements and victories along the way, providing further motivation to give your best effort.

Making these nine strategies part of everyday life can be a life-changer, equipping you with the resilience to overcome procrastination. From visualizing success to starting small, these smart tricks will guide you out of the procrastination trap and into a realm of greater efficiency and accomplishment. Be patient with yourself and continue moving forward. You’ve got this!

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