Procrastination can be tough to overcome because you can easily delude and sabotage yourself :
you do everything but the priority; make excuses; find other diversions.
Avoidance can become a self-reinforcing habit.
It may be that nothing but the approaching exam deadline will raise anxiety sufficiently to kick start revision.
Revision Tips
Timetable your fixed hours (lectures/coursework, travel, eating & sleeping) and your recreation time.
- Make the recreation compulsory, not the revision work.
- Focus on “starting to work”, not on putting in a certain number of hours each day.
- When you start a piece of revision work, only concentrate on it for 30 minutes. Then record this achievement on your timetable schedule and give yourself a reward.
- Start as many 30 minute periods as you can. The aim is to get into the habit of “frequently starting” to revise.
- After some success with this approach, you can gradually extend the study periods.
Defining Work
At first, “work” can legitimately involve all the necessary preparatory activity for revision:
- Sort out your notes, obtain necessary photocopies, past exam papers, details of exam requirements, etc.
- Determine in overall terms what topics you want to cover and by when and chart it visually. Make the chart a rough guide – resist getting too detailed.
- Choose one topic you find moderately challenging but not threatening — break it down into manageable chunks and make a start.
- Find out what environment results in more productive study: your room? the library? studying with a friend?
