Advice: how to stop procrastinating

I've been hearing students use the word "procrastination" a lot lately. I'd be giving an extra lesson to a student who was behind on her studies, and she'd tell me that her biggest problem is procrastination. Or I'd be listening to a in-house project presentation (which we call a viva, for some reason), and on the slide entitled "Problems Encountered", there'd be the word "Procrastination" as point number one. One of my students even made a Facebook post asking if there is a job where the requirement is the ability to procrastinate, because that's his greatest skill.

And while the students all profess to know that procrastination is not a valid excuse, I get the impression that they're not all that bothered by it, or at least not bothered by it enough to stop procrastinating. They seem to wear it like a badge of honour.

Maybe it's the word itself: "Procrastination." It sounds like a scientific term, or an honorary title. These days I'm getting the impression that "procrastinator" is being held in the same regard as "introvert" or "geek" - not necessarily bad, just misunderstood. Unfortunately, unlike "introvert" or "geek", there are no redeeming qualities to being a procrastinator at all.

The Free Dictionary defines "procrastinate" as "to put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness." Therefore, although the word "procrastinator" sounds somewhat impressive, it really refers to someone who has bad time management skills or is lazy. I could call myself a "vertically challenged, horizontally abundant oriental homo sapien equipped with a visual correction device", but in the end I'm still just a short, fat Chinese guy with glasses.

For students, procrastination usually translates to not doing an assignment or studying for a test early. When the deadline looms, the student finds that they do not have enough time to do a thorough job, and so the quality of their work suffers. Do this often enough and it results in bad grades or even failing. Do I really have to explain why this is a bad thing?

It's funny 'cos it's true.

Most people procrastinate to a greater or lesser extent. I certainly do it, e.g., it took me over 2 months to write this blog post. Like anyone else, I'd much rather take a nap or play some Hearthstone instead of marking assignments or answering work emails. But I'd like to think that I have my procrastination mostly under control, so I'm going to share my technique with you.

Here's my mysterious, ultra-secret technique: just do it. That's right, simply decide to do your work rather than goof off.

"But 'cher," you say, "I just can't! Every time I think about doing my work, I am unable to concentrate and end up watching Youtube videos instead!" To this I say, yes you can, it just takes willpower and practice.

The willpower part is easy to understand. You need the willpower to get started on that dreary assignment or to open up that PowerPoint file to start studying. Now here's the secret: it also takes practice because it gets easier the more you do it. I promise this is true.

Let's look at this logically. Whenever you procrastinate, you rationalize it to yourself that you'll be OK as long as you leave yourself enough time before the deadline. The next thing you know, you've left yourself insufficient time and are unable to complete your work properly. And you feel awful about it. Then you do it again, and the death spiral continues.

Now, let's say that with a supreme effort of willpower, you manage to do your work promptly, well before the deadline. You don't lose any goofing-off time that you couldn't have afforded in the first place, and now you're able to enjoy yourself with a clear conscience. I don't know about you, but I find that I don't enjoy myself as much when I have work that I haven't done nagging at me from the back of my mind.

Start small.

I also find that maintaining a To-do list helps. Just write down everything that you need to do, along with when you need to do it. The very act of writing down your tasks is a help, because you can see at a glance the amount of stuff that you need to do. Windows 7 and 8 comes with the Sticky Notes application, which lets you write notes that appear on your desktop. This is an excellent place to put your To-do list, because you will see it every time you start your computer.

Feel free to sub-divide each task into smaller tasks, and give yourself a deadline for each sub-part. Every time you complete an item on the list, cross it out (or delete it from Sticky Notes). Personally, I love removing an item on my list after a job well done, and seeing my To-do list become just a little bit shorter.

Do this for a while, and you'll find that procrastination simply isn't worth it. Once you get used to doing your work in a timely manner, you will find that it gets easier, and you'll enjoy yourself a lot more during your well-deserved breaks. Plus your 'cher won't have to nag you so much.


Image Source: http://www.mooidus.nl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/funny-to-do-list-items.jpg

Advice: stay focused in class

This post is for all you students out there. Have you ever done any of the following?

1. Surfed the net, watched Youtube videos or played a computer game, etc., while the lecturer's droning on about who knows what.
2. Did stuff mentioned in point 1 but still listened to the lecturer because you work better when multitasking.
3. Did work for one class in another class.
4. Fallen asleep in class. As in literally fallen asleep. Snoring, drooling, Z's floating above your head.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that my advice on all of the above is: don't do it. Let me address each point separately.

1. Electronic distractions

Pretty much every student that I catch not paying attention in class due to surfing, playing a game or having a long WhatsApp conversation would immediately stop what they're doing (usually with a guilty, sheepish expression), so it's clear that they know that they shouldn't be doing it. And yet, most of them go back to distracting themselves after 5 minutes, and I can only nag them so many times.

I really need to listen to what the lecturer is sayi...

I assume that all students want to score well in examinations, (and, more importantly, use the concepts taught when they encounter it in practice in the future). Many students tell me that they plan to read up on the topic themselves later. To these students I ask, why not figure out the concepts now, when the lecturer is explaining the concepts and is available for questions, and do all your surfing and game playing later?

I don't buy the excuse that "I'm not in the mood to learn right now, I'll learn better later when I'm ready." I don't know about you, but I'm a lazy procrastinating bum. If I'm not forced to sit my butt in a classroom for lessons, I'm honest enough with myself to know that I'm likely to never do it on my own. Hmm, do I play a computer game, go out with my friends, or read a textbook on class diagrams? Decisions, decisions.

Besides, you knew your timetable beforehand. You know you've got 3 hours of lessons tomorrow morning. Make yourself ready. Trust me, it's easier this way, and you get to goof off on your own time without a nagging lecturer glaring at you.

2. Multitasking

While I always reserve the possibility that I'm wrong, I strongly suspect that people who say that "I work better when multitasking" are talking out of their behinds. Seriously, I don't think human brains work that way. Yes, I know that studies have shown that listening to music can help you study. However, note that it helps you study, as in "revise stuff you've already learnt." However, I doubt that playing a computer game while the lecturer is talking can help you learn stuff that you don't yet know. Trust me, I play computer games, and when I'm really into a game, nothing else penetrates my skull. The same applies to reading 9gag, watching NigaHiga or any of the other various distractions.

I worry about these students because, unlike the ones in point 1 above who feel guilty about not paying attention, they are rationalizing their actions by saying that they actually perform better. If you regularly multitask during lessons, um, stop it? Listen to your 'cher. Try focusing on the lesson fully, and I promise that you'll learn better.

3. Doing work from another class

This one I understand. There are two occasions when this happens most frequently: when the students have just left another class and are still discussing topics from that class, and when there's a looming deadline. However, I still try to put a stop to it because they're just replacing one problem with another. Here's a conversation I had recently with a student who was doing Developing Web Applications (DWA) homework in my OOAD class:

Me: Are you doing DWA work?

Student: Yes.

Me: In OOAD class.

Student: Uh, yes...

Me: So, do you do OOAD work during DWA?

Student: Uh...

Me: Do you see the problem?

In emergency situations with a looming deadline, sometimes there's no choice. This means that you're suffering the consequences of poor time management (that assignment to be submitted in 2 hours should have been done much earlier), and the only thing you can do is to plan it better next time. Most of the time, though, focus on the class you're in, not the class you're not. Otherwise you'll just be doing catch-up all the time.

4. Falling asleep

I've had students fall asleep in class. My insecure ego thinks, "jeez, am I really that boring? I'm a terrible teacher!", and then when I wake the student up for an explanation, they invariably tell me that they just slept late.

Here's a radical idea: sleep early. Seriously. You can say no to that DOTA game that will last until 3am if you know that there's a lesson at 10am the next day. And if your friends insist, tell them off. Please. You're a student whose only responsibility is to learn. Take your responsibilities seriously.

I was really tempted

And don't get me started on the students who come to class late because they woke up late...

Listen, I understand. I've done similar things back when I was a student, all except actually falling asleep. Of course, this was back in the dark ages before the Internet (jeez I'm old). But yeah, I doodled, played countless games of tic-tac-toe and Hangman with my friends, and did all sorts of things to stop my brains from leaking out of my ears during particularly boring lectures. And let me tell you, I did get dangerously close to falling asleep on several occasions.

However, I always try to ensure that I understood the concepts taught before I goof off. I read ahead in the slides and took a look at the tutorial questions to see if I could answer them. If so, I relaxed. If not, I listened. I also took notes (I prefer writing notes on a piece of paper rather than typing them in a Word document) and asked questions, which kept me alert, attentive and awake. If I had Internet access when I was a student, I would be Googling concepts as the lecturer talked about them to gain a better understanding. That would be a good use of multitasking.

In summary, when you're in class, commit to it. You're there to learn, and you're responsible for your own education. And if you're anything like me, you'll enjoy yourself so much more when you goof off after a tough day of lessons because you're patting yourself on the back for a job well done.

Image sources:
http://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr91/Mjr162006/Squirrels/squirrel-up-dog-gif.gif
http://mrjgoyeneche.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/social-media-multi-tasking.jpg
https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

Advice: on overruling others

This is my second blog post where I give out sage advice (after this one on love and relationships). What makes me think that I'm qualified to tell you how to live your life? Nothing, other than the fact that it's my blog and I can write what I want, so there. :)

Today's advice concerns making decisions where you might overrule others. In my various roles as module leader, cluster chair and section head, I've found myself having to do this quite frequently. It could be as simple as deciding where to have a meeting, or as sensitive as changing the way a lesson is taught when the rest of the team is against the change.

The advice is as follows: "Always consider the possibility that you might be wrong."

Nobody's perfect, and we all make mistakes. The reason we work in teams is so that we have multiple people with different levels of experience, viewpoints and expertise all trying to find the best way to proceed. Just because I'm the module leader or section head does not automatically mean that I'm smarter or better than the rest of the team, and it would be incredibly arrogant of me to dismiss the conflicting views of everybody else without giving them due consideration. It is important to avoid letting the power go to your head.

By the way, the corollary to the above advice is: "Always consider the possibility that you might be right." There is a fine line between giving others' viewpoints due consideration and being spineless and afraid to make the tough decisions. It's actually easiest to go with the consensus, that way you please everyone and the blame is shared should anything go wrong. However, if you have weighed the merits of all arguments and are still convinced that your decision is correct, then you must have the courage to be the villain and overrule everyone else.

When you do overrule, it is imperative that you explain your reasoning as clearly as possible to everyone concerned. I've been on the wrong end of this multiple times in the past. One of my previous bosses would declare an intention to make a big and (in my opinion) wrong decision. I would politely raise my objection, whereupon said boss would casually and completely disregard it. I would press him for his reasoning, and the only reply I would get is "I know what I'm doing." It drove me nuts.

It all boils down to making the best decision you can with the information that you have at that point in time. The trick is to consider all information calmly and objectively, even if it goes against your personal opinion. Besides, if you always reject other people's viewpoints, they'll eventually stop offering them. Then anything that goes wrong would be completely your fault. And you would deserve it.

What is love?

(...baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more...)

I've only ever been in one relationship; my wife and I got together when I was 16 and she was 14, and we've been together ever since. We've had our share of ups and downs, but we've never really even had a serious quarrel. Honestly, we're disgustingly happy.

Maybe that's why I've had quite a few people seek me out for relationship advice. Well, I haven't done any research or anything, but I've got a very simple Theory of Love(tm) that is composed of two parts, which I will be sharing in this post. For ease of discourse, my pronouns assume that I'm talking to a guy who's possibly in love with a girl.

Here's Part One of my Theory of Love: "When you love someone, making her happy makes you happy."

Read that sentence again. It is VERY different from "You're happy when you're with her." The key is that when you're in love, your happiness is tied to her happiness, not her looks or her actions or whatever. There is nothing wrong with enjoying someone's company, but if you love her, you'd enjoy doing things to please her, because seeing her happy makes you happy. Naturally, seeing her sad makes you sad. If you enjoy going out with her to a party, that's fine. But if she wants to leave because she's got a bad headache and you'd rather stay than send her safely home, maybe it's time to re-evaluate the relationship.

Here's Part Two of my Theory of Love, which is just as important as Part One: "The relationship only works if she feels the same way."

Duh, right? Well, it's amazing how many people forget this part. I see many budding relationships where both parties are happy: he's happy because she's happy, but she's happy because he's doing stuff to make her happy. Unfortunately, she isn't really interested in making him happy, or at least she wouldn't go out of her way to do so. I'm not saying that the girl in this scenario is the villain of the piece. Most likely she is just enjoying herself and not analyzing things too closely.

If both parties feel the same way, then the relationship has every chance of working. Take the example of a guy I know who had a smoking habit of 100 sticks a day. His wife doesn't smoke and hates it when he does, so she wants him to quit. Since he loves his wife, he's willing to try his best to at least cut down; last I checked, he's down to 10 sticks a day. Since his wife loves him, and she knows how difficult it is for him to quit, she encourages him when she can and isn't too hard on him if he needs to puff a stick or two after a stressful day.

See how this works? It's just making mutual compromises because both parties want each other to be happy. And that, to me, is love.