How to stop procrastinating.

***WARNING***   This advice is useless at best, and harmful at it's worst. Proceed at your own risk... and take with a cup of salt.

   Do you stay up till 2 am and wake up for work or school with only coffee to keep you going until lunchbreak? (I used to sleep in the jacket room during lunch at my highschool job...I know the feeling). I'm addicted to the internet. I'm lazy, I procrastinate way too much, and if I could, I'd sleep til' noon every day...but I need money to maintain my thrift store addiction, so poverty isn't really an option for me to land in.

     First it's important to identify what exactly keeps us from managing our time well. Procrastination is seen as the "Millennial desease", and with good reason. In  there is an entire world of entertainment at our fingertips.
Procrastination is not just simple laziness; it is a combination of many factors that can range from just having something you don't want to do (but you have to), to crippling depression or fear of failure. In order to conquer this addictive habit, there are a few steps you can take to reduce the urge to put it off.

● Make a To-Do list.
To-Do lists should be ambitious, but realistic. Adjust your schedule based on your personal abilities and after a few months, you'll find a style that works for you. Here are a few things that help me stick to my plan and get the most out of my day.

-Be ambitious, but rational. You can't do everything in one day. Look at your mental and physical health for the day and adjust your goals based on how much you can realistically do. Set your goals high, but if they are too hard to keep, or too rigorous, you'll give up!

-Create a vision for the week. Outline the main tasks you need to finish for the week to make it easier to see how much you can do every day without saving it up to the last day. This strategy prevents me from pushing myself too hard one day, and crashing the next.

-Customize your list to fit who you are. If you love schedules, go at it. If you are unstructured like me, don't set exact times. (I set goals that I have to complete before lunch, supper, and bedtime).

-MAKE TIME FOR FUN. It sounds weird, but it's necessary.  If you need to procrastinate to survive mentally, then schedule or plan some time to allow yourself to do that. If relationships, friendship, family, hobbies and chill time are important, but it feels like you never have time for them, make those things a priority

● Organizing your mind

-Be present. Once you write it down, get it out of your mind. Mind clutter can be paralyzing. If you are constantly thinking about what you should have done yesterday, it will be impossible to focus on the task at hand. If you mess up, deal with it, accept it, and move on. Don't dwell on the failures of yesterday, just focus on what you can do TODAY.

- Prioritize. Set your priorities based on what you know you need to do. Don't forget to value mental health time and fun time. Recesses are vital to knowledge retention and quality of life, so treat yo'self!

-Quiet time. Mind clutter is caused when too much stuff is going on all at once in your brain. In the modern world, sensory overload is expected. In my senior year in highschool, I never spent one moment without some sort of noise to block out my overcrowded thoughts. When I wasn't studying, I was listening to podcasts, lyrical music, watching netflix, and doing anything I possibly could to fill the silence. I used this overcrowding method as a coping mechanism for stress, and to avoid having to deal with my problems. This lead to insomnia, extremely high stress levels, and caused me to be reclusive. Sensory overload is addicting. It never fulfills our need for mental stimulation and interaction, but it keeps us searching for more of the same mind numbing content. During highschool, I would stay up so late filling my head with knowledge about anything from how lipstick is made, to what Zoella had for lunch before I would ever consider sitting in peace. I was afraid that silence would bring about thoughts and feelings that I was not prepared to deal with, but one of the most dangerous things you can procrastinate on are those feelings you are afraid to face. It is important to set aside time to just breathe, think and organize your mind.

-Ground yourself. If just setting aside some time every day isn't enough to cure your internet/phone addiction, try grounding yourself. If you need to use your phone as a part of your business or work, block the websites that create your biggest weaknesses using an app or google extention.

● Examine underlying causes and take the necessary steps to correct them.

Procrastination is a very common sign of depression, and other mental health issues. Don't self diagnose, but if you notice that your down spells last up to two weeks, keep you from enjoying family, relationships or prevent you from doing your best work, or you feel like you just can't snap out of it, it may be a good time to visit a doctor or counselor. Here are some quick signs that might mean your procrastination is more than just a nasty habit:

1. You lose intrest in doing things you used to enjoy.
2. Your sleep patterns are skewed. (You sleep too much, or not enough).
3. You neglect family, work and relationships.
4. It lasts for longer than 2 weeks, or becomes a pattern in your life.
5. You feel like you can't/don't want to control it.
6. You find yourself scared of silence/become dependant on distraction to get you through your days.

There are times when procrastination is simply a result of irresponsibility, laziness, or just because you want to, but if it negatively affects your life, don't be afraid to check in or reboot your system. Procrastination can either trigger, or result from a cycle that leads to poverty, depression, laziness and bad life results.