However enthusiastic you are about your degree course at some point during the academic year you’re likely to find a time when your motivation starts to flag a bit and you find it difficult to knuckle down to your studies. This is normal, but it’s important that even if you find you don’t put in quite so much work one week, that you don’t let it get out of hand . It’s really important that you know how to stop procrastinating and kick start your studies again.

Here are 7 tips – How to stop procrastinating.

How to stop procrastinating – Tip 1: Identify dips in motivation

Be honest with yourself and identify when your motivation starts to dip. If you suddenly find yourself doing anything rather than studying you should read that as a warning signal, especially if you keep moving from one thing to another. As soon as you realise what's happening stop making excuses and doing other things - sit down and start working.

How to stop procrastinating – Tip 2: Work in a different environment

Sometimes changing your environment can make it easier to start working. If you’re always studying in your room – why not try one of the libraries or study rooms on campus? It might help you to refocus your thoughts.

How to stop procrastinating – Tip 3: Break work into small chunks

It’s a tried and tested strategy for how to stop procrastinating and it works well. If an assignment feels daunting because there’s so much to do, break it down into manageable chunks and focus on one at a time. Acknowledge your progress and give yourself a pat on the back every time you finish one part.

How to stop procrastinating – Tip 4: Break your resistance

If you’re really struggling with an assignment tell yourself that you'll work on it for just 5 minutes. At the end of the 5 minutes tell yourself you’ve done well and you’ll just do another 5 minutes. Keep adding five minutes more and you will suddenly find that you stop clock watching and will carry on working. You’ve broken your resistance.

How to stop procrastinating – Tip 5: Work with a study buddy

Sometimes it can be really hard to stay motivated if you’re working by yourself. If possible work with a study buddy for a while where you can support and motivate each other to reach your goals. However, make sure that you set down the rules of how you will work together and make sure that you choose somebody who is reliable. If you don’t have a shared goal the relationship won’t work.

How to stop procrastinating – Tip 6: Reward yourself

If you want to kick start your motivation and stop procrastinating set up a series of rewards for yourself every time you reach a study goal. Just make sure that the rewards match your efforts. You don’t get to have a day off just because you’ve worked on an assignment for half an hour!

How to stop procrastinating – Tip 7: Share your study goals

Just as working with a study buddy can help kick start your motivation, sharing your goals with someone who will check on your progress and make you accountable can help you stop procrastinating and increase the likeliness of you completing your work.

Summary It’s really important to know how to stop procrastinating when you suffer from any dips in motivation rather than letting it turn into a habit and get out of hand. By implementing some simple strategies you can kick start your studies again and successfully complete your assignments within your given deadlines.