We have all done it at some point in our lives. Waiting until the last minute to finish up an essay, or a project and always regretting procrastination. Now that summer homework has officially been assigned, students everywhere will experience doing last minute assignments due to procrastination. There are many tricks to find a solution; however, it varies from person to person.

   First of all, one must admit there’s problem, once a student acknowledges they tend to procrastinate they will not do it again unknowingly. Recognize why you tend to put things off till the last minute. Once people answer that question, they are ready to move to next step: gain momentum. Start doing other things first, it sounds extremely counterproductive, but this is actually proven to work. By working on chores or cleaning your desk beforehand you boost your mentality to actually get things done. A messy environment could be the cause of the lack of motivation to do work so by cleaning up beforehand you’ll be doing yourself a favor. Be patient, and do not stop working.

   Once you have momentum on your side you’ll be able to take on mountains of homework and by stopping you may in fact lose all the momentum you had in the first place. Also, Yvonne Perez (11) explains, “Music is a wonderful stress outlet, by listening to the radio or on your iPod you get more pumped to do stuff.” By rewarding yourself afterward with something tangible, perhaps short snack breaks after each section (remember momentum). Giving rewards will motivate one to succeed therefore we unconsciously bear with the problem at hand better.

   Lastly, the best advice according to Sanni Mayanja (11) is, “Do not procrastinate in the first place. I used to be lazy all the time, but then I got tired of doing things last minute.” People all across the nation procrastinate and over 20% of the United States has reported issues at work/school/etc. due to procrastination. Think ahead and do assignments beforehand. Procrastination is not the solution.