i am too lazy to do my homework

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How to Stop Being Lazy and Unmotivated So You Can Achieve Your Goals

Last Updated: May 1, 2024 Fact Checked

Improving Your Mindset

Taking action, energizing yourself, staying motivated, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Annie Lin, MBA and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Annie Lin is the founder of New York Life Coaching, a life and career coaching service based in Manhattan. Her holistic approach, combining elements from both Eastern and Western wisdom traditions, has made her a highly sought-after personal coach. Annie’s work has been featured in Elle Magazine, NBC News, New York Magazine, and BBC World News. She holds an MBA degree from Oxford Brookes University. Annie is also the founder of the New York Life Coaching Institute which offers a comprehensive life coach certification program. There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,499,844 times.

Everyone feels lazy from time-to-time, but sometimes you get stuck in a funk. What you’re experiencing is totally normal, and you have the power to change your habits for the better. We’re here to help you break out of your pattern of laziness so you can start tackling the things that are important to you. With our help, you’ll be able to beat procrastination and regain your motivation.

Things You Should Know

• Clean and organize your space. Having clutter around you can negatively affect your ability to get motivated.
• Tell yourself that you can break this habit of laziness. Negative self-talk only holds you back, so monitor your thoughts and put a positive spin on them.
• Break large goals into smaller, more achievable goals. Accomplishing a goal, even a small one, will motivate you to keep moving forward.

• Keeping a daily schedule also helps you stay organized.

• Replace thoughts like, “I’m so lazy,” with, “I needed this rest. Now, I can tackle a new task.”
• Tell yourself things like, “I can do this,” “Progress adds up over time, so I’m doing great,” and “I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”

• Are you doing something you don’t like?
• Are you tired or overwhelmed?
• Are you feeling depressed or anxious?
• Are you afraid of failure? Success?

• If you're tired, start devoting some time to relaxing. Everyone needs down time, so schedule breaks for yourself
• If you're overwhelmed, try to simplify your routine. Break up what you need to do into smaller parts and prioritize.
• If you're afraid, take a small step toward facing your fear.
• If you're hurting, maybe the only answer is time. Grief and sadness will fade in time, and you can’t rush the process.
• If you're uninspired, what can you change about your routine? Can you put yourself in a different environment? How can you vamp up everyday life?

• Really engage your 5 senses to focus on the present. Look at the scene around you, listen to music, smell a lovely scent. Just enjoy being rooted to the earth.

• Future you might be healthier or more successful.
• You might be living your ideal life.

• Try using the 5-second rule. When you start to feel stressed or get the urge to procrastinate, give yourself 5 seconds to start the activity. [8] X Research source

• For some tasks, like a big project, you might need to start earlier so you have enough time to get it all done.
• It’s okay to switch between tasks and work on more than one goal at a time. Just make sure you’re not rushing yourself.
• Try to focus on one task at a time rather than multitasking. You actually get more done if you focus solely on the task at hand.

• “I can do this.”
• “I’ve worked so hard for this, and I deserve to succeed.”
• “I’m creating the life I want.”
• “Every step makes a difference.”

• Having an accountability partner can be a big help when you’re working toward a goal. Ask a friend to check in with you regularly to see what kind of progress you’re making.
• Make sure to surround yourself with people that support and drive you.

• Set deadlines for yourself, but be flexible. Sometimes you have to adjust your expectations because you underestimated a task.

• “I’m doing a great job.”
• “I’m proud of myself for making it this far.”
• “I knew I could do it.”
• “I’m so talented.”

• Try placing your alarm clock on the other side of the room so that you have to physically get out of bed to turn it off. This makes pressing the snooze button or falling back asleep much more difficult.
• Literally jump to get your blood circulating. It may be the last thing you want to do, but if you can make yourself, you'll be all that more alive after.

• Let’s say your goal is to write a research paper. Your smaller steps might include: choose a topic, conduct research, develop a thesis, write an outline, write a first draft, revise the paper, and finalize the paper.
• Try keeping a journal or planner so you can track what you plan to do and what you achieve.
• Create a vision board to inspire you to pursue your goals.

• Once those checks start accumulating, you won't want to stop. You'll literally see what you've been working towards and what you're capable of and that momentum will feel so good you'll have to keep going. You'd be disappointed and feel worse if you didn't.

• How will this shape my future?
• Where will I be in a year?
• How will this make me happy?
• What can I do better?

• Tell yourself, “I’ll do my best and celebrate my progress,” and “I’ll keep going no matter what.”

• It’s okay to break up your exercise into several small blocks. For instance, you might exercise for 10 minutes 3 times a day.
• Did we mention exercise is also a huge part of being healthy? When we're healthy, we feel better on the whole. In general, most people need 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. [21] X Trustworthy Source Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services Go to source

• Vitamins and supplements can also help boost your nutrition.
• If you're worried you have a nutritional deficiency, talk to your doctor.

• When in doubt, wear outfits that make you look and feel your best.

• Watch a movie.
• Take a long break.
• Eat your favorite dessert.
• Purchase something you’ve been wanting.

• Post the list somewhere you can see it, like in your workspace or on your phone’s lock screen.

• You won't be a great businessman, a great runner, a great cook, or even great at your job overnight. It’s normal to experience failures on the road to success, so keep going.

• For instance, you might be able to ask family members or roommates to help with some of your chores.
• Similarly, you might decide to drop a hobby so you have more time to work on the goal that’s most important to you.

• Remember to just get started. You can do this!

Overcome Laziness and Procrastination with this Expert Series

• Surround yourself with people who uplift you, whether it is through media, technology or otherwise. The love, support and encouragement of others can boost your inner strength. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
• Drink cold water when you feel lazy because water stimulates your brain. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Try using the 20/10 technique. A 20/10 is 20 minutes of completing a task followed by a 10-minute break. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 4

• It’s normal to feel demotivated at times, especially if you’re going through a rough time. If you’re struggling to regain your motivation, talk to a therapist . Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/health/boost-your-motivation-in-6-ways#how-to-boost-motivation
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-to-use-self-talk-to-improve-performance#1
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201505/the-causes-of-laziness
• ↑ Annie Lin, MBA. Life & Career Coach. Expert Interview. 25 November 2019.
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-do-life/202008/how-overcome-feeling-lazy
• ↑ https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/motivation-how-to-get-started-and-staying-motivated
• ↑ https://www.inc.com/thomas-koulopoulos/according-to-science-this-5-second-rule-will-make-.html
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/motivation.html
• ↑ https://hbr.org/2017/07/the-science-of-pep-talks
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/health/suggestions-for-setting-realistic-expectations-with-yourself#others-expectations
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/health/boost-your-motivation-in-6-ways#getting-motivated
• ↑ https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2021/dec/does-hitting-the-snooze-button-help-or-hurt/
• ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/the-mental-health-benefits-of-exercise.htm
• ↑ http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html
• ↑ https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/eight-tips-for-healthy-eating/
• ↑ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dress-for-success-how-clothes-influence-our-performance/
• ↑ https://hbr.org/2020/08/your-to-do-list-is-in-fact-too-long

About This Article

If you're struggling to overcome laziness, come up with a solution to fix the cause of your laziness. For example, if you're lazy because you feel tired, devote 30 minutes to taking a nap and then start on your to-do list. In the mornings, get out of bed as soon as your alarm goes off, and make a checklist of all of the things you need to accomplish during the day. If you become frustrated or overwhelmed by a task, take a step back to go do something easier, and then revisit the task again to finish it. Keep reading for helpful advice on getting and staying motivated throughout the day. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Stop Being Lazy

Jodi Clarke, LPC/MHSP is a Licensed Professional Counselor in private practice. She specializes in relationships, anxiety, trauma and grief.

What to Ditch: Old Habits

What to start doing: new approaches, make good food choices, incorporate exercise, prioritize sleep, practice stress management, set boundaries, avoid comparisons.

Feeling lazy and unproductive is normal sometimes, but problems can arise when it happens often. The list of tasks still undone and issues not addressed can eventually affect self-image and confidence, which in turn can feed a lack of motivation. Here are a few tips and strategies to break the cycle and overcome laziness.

Press Play for Advice On Staying Motivated

This episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to stay motivated and focused even when you don't want to. Click below to listen now.

Follow Now : Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Amazon Music

What you might think of as "lazy" may just be a matter of switching your approach and getting rid of old, unhelpful habits that have kept you from feeling productive and achieving your goals. Here are several such habits:

• Making your goals too big or complicated . If you give up before completing a task, it might not be laziness. Instead, you might have underestimated how much effort and time it will take to reach your goals.
• Expecting yourself to be perfect . Instead, understand that the path toward your goal is most likely going to be full of twists, turns, and setbacks.
• Listening to your inner critic . If the term "lazy" is part of your self-talk, many more negative and critical statements are probably coming from your inner critic , too. You may even bring out your inner critic in an attempt to motivate yourself. What happens then: Your critical voice focuses on your flaws and shortcomings, rather than strengths and positive attributes that could help you move forward.
• Listening to criticism from others . Feedback from others helps shape your self-concept . Being called "lazy" can affect how you see yourself. Similarly, criticism of your efforts can cause self-doubt or discouragement.
• Not creating a plan . When excited about a new goal, you might forget the importance of creating a plan. Without a roadmap to your goal, you might become overwhelmed and begin to feel aimless.

Here are achievable steps that can help you turn things around or stay on track with your goals:

• Create small, attainable goals . Break that huge goal into smaller goals that will help you feel accomplished and motivated. As you consider the big picture, remember the key steps that will be needed to get there and write them down. If needed, break those down into even smaller or shorter-term goals. 
• Take time to develop a plan . Reflect on your desires and goals, considering those small, attainable steps to get there. Be realistic about the amount of effort, time, money, help, or other factors involved in meeting this goal. Going into the process with an action plan will help you feel more confident and peaceful, as well as give you something to refer to when you feel discouraged or have a setback.
• Focus on your strengths . If you're used to an inner critic that focuses on your flaws and shortcomings, take inventory of your strengths. Consider challenges you have faced and reflect on the personal strengths you used to get through them. If you still struggle to identify character strengths , ask friends or family what they see as your greatest strengths.
• Celebrate small victories . Celebrate your victories as you accomplish small goals and overcome setbacks so you continue moving forward. The pride in meeting goals can help reinforce positive self-talk. Your sense of self-efficacy will increase with each accomplishment, which can help you find long-term success.
• Recruit support . It's OK to ask for help. Connect with others in a positive, healthy way and share your experience; their encouragement and support can help you develop resiliency .

Taking care of our physical health can help set the stage for increased energy which, in turn, can allow us to put these other positive changes into action.  

Diet plays a significant role in energy levels. Processed convenience foods are quick to grab on the go, but they usually don't offer enough nutrition to keep your metabolic fires burning well.

Instead, go for protein to maintain stable blood sugar levels and avoid energy crashes throughout the day. Nosh on these:

• Dark leafy greens

But avoid these:

• French fries
• Sugary drinks

Eating small meals throughout the day can help you maintain steady energy levels, whereas large, heavy meals can cause sluggishness.

Research has shown that even just low to moderate levels of exercise can have a significant impact on energy, helping to reduce fatigue. Ways to incorporate more exercise include:

• Walking your dog
• Jogging with a friend
• Hiking with a group
• Attending a group fitness class
• Trying a yoga class

When It's Not Simple Laziness

Sometimes, a lack of motivation can signal an underlying condition such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or depression . Consult your healthcare provider if you're feeling less productive than usual for an extended period to rule out (or address) any physical or psychological problems.

If you tend to feel lazy, you might think you're getting too much sleep or napping too much. Create and stick to a consistent sleep care routine . It can help you stick to your daytime schedule and, in turn, help you feel more balanced and energized to take on tasks and feel more productive.

Being constantly overscheduled, with demands in multiple areas of life, can leave you physically and emotionally drained. This exhaustion can make you seem lazy when you're actually stressed and overwhelmed.

A significant element of stress management is using time wisely. Saying "yes" to your coworkers, partner, children, and friends is easy, but fulfilling commitments can be difficult.

Look at how you spend your time. Take stock of unfinished tasks on your to-do list. Consider where you can politely say "no" so that you can use that time for things that need your attention and energy.

If the idea of setting boundaries is new to you, start by giving yourself permission to do it. Then, start with small things.

Being afraid of how people will respond to you is OK. Your goal is to improve self-care, increase energy, and feel empowered to tackle the tasks and goals that are important to you. Creating time for yourself is key, and setting small boundaries around your time will help you do just that.

It's natural to look around and think everyone else is getting it right except you. Don't allow yourself to get caught in the destructive, distracting habit of comparing yourself to others .

A Word From Verywell

Taking small steps toward better self-care, increased energy, improved goals, and healthy boundary-setting can help you stop feeling lazy in no time. Prioritizing your progress and moving forward consistently are the keys to long-term change, and you can begin right now with the ideas here.

Ntoumanis N, Healy LC, Sedikides C, Smith AL, Duda JL. Self-regulatory responses to unattainable goals: the role of goal motives . Self Identity . 2014;13(5):594-612. doi:10.1080/15298868.2014.889033

Kelly JD. Your best life: perfectionism--the bane of happiness . Clin Orthop Relat Res . 2015;473(10):3108-11. doi:10.1007/s11999-015-4279-9

Wright S. Silence your inner critic . Nurs Stand . 2014;28(44):28-9. doi:10.7748/ns.28.44.28.s31

Hardavella G, Aamli-gaagnat A, Saad N, Rousalova I, Sreter KB. How to give and receive feedback effectively . Breathe (Sheff). 2017;13(4):327-333. doi:10.1183/20734735.009917

Lenzen SA, Daniëls R, Van bokhoven MA, Van der weijden T, Beurskens A. Disentangling self-management goal setting and action planning: A scoping review . PLoS ONE . 2017;12(11):e0188822. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188822

Proyer RT, Gander F, Wellenzohn S, Ruch W. Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: a randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs. a lesser strengths-intervention . Front Psychol . 2015;6:456. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00456

Zlomuzica A, Preusser F, Schneider S, Margraf J. Increased perceived self-efficacy facilitates the extinction of fear in healthy participants . Front Behav Neurosci . 2015;9:270. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00270

Sjøgaard G, Christensen JR, Justesen JB, et al. Exercise is more than medicine: The working age population's well-being and productivity . J Sport Health Sci . 2016;5(2):159-165. doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2016.04.004

Harvard Health Publishing. Eating to boost energy .

Cleveland Clinic. How small, frequent meals can help athletes keep energy high . Published June 4, 2018.

Puetz TW, Flowers SS, O'connor PJ. A randomized controlled trial of the effect of aerobic exercise training on feelings of energy and fatigue in sedentary young adults with persistent fatigue . Psychother Psychosom . 2008;77(3):167-74. doi:10.5312/wjo.v6.i10.762

Takahashi M. Prioritizing sleep for healthy work schedules . J Physiol Anthropol . 2012;31:6. doi:10.1159/000116610

Williams-Nickelson C. Avoiding overcommitment . American Psychological Association.

Bergagna E, Tartaglia S. Self-esteem, social comparison, and Facebook use . Eur J Psychol . 2018;14(4):831-845. doi:10.5964/ejop.v14i4.1592

By Jodi Clarke, MA, LPC/MHSP Jodi Clarke, LPC/MHSP is a Licensed Professional Counselor in private practice. She specializes in relationships, anxiety, trauma and grief.

• Published on September 15, 2022
• September 15, 2022

How to Focus on Homework and Actually Get Things Done: 12 Hacks for Busy Students

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Chances are, you’ve had some days when you felt overwhelmed after a long day at school. You couldn’t imagine doing anything other than plopping down in front of the television, let alone finding out how to focus on your homework. 

How can you overcome the resistance and get it done? How do you get your mind to include this task in your day as well?

With just a few adjustments, you will be able to expand your capacity to concentrate.

Why Can’t I Focus on My Homework?

Countless factors constantly fight for your attention : social media, people, overthinking, and anxiety. All of this can make you feel as though you have little control over your mind. 

If you want to start to focus better on your homework, you’ll need to set your mind up for success. Remove all distractions .

Here are two key principles that can help you be more successful in your studies:

1. Identify the distractions in your surroundings

What are the things in your daily life that take your mind away from your studies? Clearly identifying these distractions can help you understand both the problem and what causes it.

Among our environmental distractions, digital distractions are one of the worst kinds, and according to a number of studies , their effect is on the rise in the classroom.

If you’re looking to gain more concentration and, thus, form better study habits, question your online behavior first and foremost.

2. Limit the use of technology to find focus

What’s the role of social media in your daily life? Have you ever sat down to calculate how social media distracts you from doing the things you should be doing?

When you are wondering how to focus on homework long after you’ve put your phone away, you’re still thinking about the last posts you saw on Instagram. The sound of new notifications can be enough to reroute our attention from the task at hand.

And then comes the information overload, the fear of missing out, and the all-too-common signs of addictive behavior. Technology is affecting your mind more than ever, and it’s taking your focus away.

How to Focus on Homework: 12 Things You Can Do to Be More Indistractible

Here are 12 tips on how to stay focused while completing your homework, taught by superbrain coach Jim Kwik and habit transformation expert Nir Eyal .

• Make a routine
• Set up a study-friendly environment
• Avoid heavy meals
• Organize your study notes
• Tell others to stay away
• Listen to study music
• Set deadlines
• Take brain breaks
• Use discomfort as motivation for productivity
• Use time blocking
• Let go of thoughts that distract you
• Reimagine your task

Let’s look at each study hack in more detail.

1. Make a routine

Routines help you be productive without exerting as much effort. When you have homework to do, a study routine can be the reason you actually sit down, set enough time aside, concentrate, and stay focused until you complete the project.

This process doesn’t need to be complicated: just tell yourself that you will sit at your desk at home once you’re back from school. Put your phone on silent, make an outline of the work that needs to get done, and simply begin with what’s most important.

2. Set up a study-friendly environment

A place for everything and everything in its place. That applies to studying, too.

Lying in bed with your notebook is considered a distraction, as is being in the living room with your laptop while others are doing their activities.

You need an isolated place when you decide to focus on your homework. Make it feel comfortable, keep it organized, keep it clean, and consider putting up some motivational posters or positive affirmations .

3. Avoid heavy meals

It’s not advisable to have a big meal beforehand. Big meals can ruin your focus and make you feel sluggish and lazy because it takes a big amount of time and energy for your body to digest. A snack is okay.

There are also some foods , though, that are just plain bad for your productivity. For example, soda, candy, and fried foods are all full of sugar and have no nutritional value. They make your insulin spike up, but then it crashes very fast, which makes you feel depleted of energy.

4. Organize your study notes

Prioritize your work. Keep lists and place the most important items on top. Then work on the items that you should get done first.

It helps to outline what you need to do, breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps. Use colors to highlight the essentials . 

This makes it all look much simpler and you’re more likely to actually get started. The brain loves organization and it won’t be so likely to procrastinate when it knows you have a structure set in place.

5. Tell others to stay away

Don’t be afraid to let others know that you’re studying and require some time and space to get your work done. Decide on fixed hours for studying and tell your friends and family members that you won’t be available during that time of the day.

If others respect your study time, you’ll be more inclined to respect it as well. 

6. Listen to study music

There are many tracks out there designed to help your mind focus. Whether you use binaural beats or just instrumental music, the right sounds can really help to tune your brain into a productive frequency.

This meditation is also great to listen to; it puts your mind in a clear, concise, and ready-to-take-on-the-world mode:

7. Set deadlines

Even if your teacher has already given you deadlines for each assignment, set new ones yourself at earlier dates.

This helps you build discipline, learn how to focus on studying, and prioritize every day.

8. Take brain breaks

Frequent breaks actually increase your productivity and focus. You’ll see that after each study session, the brain needs to be engaged with something different —  you need to activate other parts of your brain before going back to your studies so that you can reach top performance.

You can also use the Superbrain Yoga Technique. In the Superbrain Quest, Jim talks about implementing it during your breaks. It goes as follows:

• Massage the left lobe of your ear with your right hand, and the right one with your left hand
• Inhale and squat down
• Exhale and come back up while continuing massaging your opposite ear with the opposite hand
• Keep going for a few minutes

As your body moves, your brain grooves. — Jim Kwik, trainer of Mindvalley’s Superbrain Quest

9. Use discomfort as motivation for productivity

The brain is wired to protect us from danger, and our ancestors needed this function of the psyche to survive. Discomfort is associated with danger, and whenever they felt it, they knew it was time to run away or protect themselves in one way or another.

In today’s world, danger isn’t so imminent. However, discomfort is, and the brain still works to protect us in the same way. 

So why not use it to your advantage?

Once you have this mindset shift, you can see the discomfort that comes with doing your homework as fuel for moving forward, from pain to pleasure. So instead of procrastinating and avoiding the discomfort, just use it as motivation to get things done.

And maybe you can even save yourself a fun activity to do later in the day, so you have something to look forward to.

10. Use time blocking

You can use time blocking and set a specific amount of time for parts of your homework that needs to be done. For example, you block 30 minutes of reading, then another 30 minutes of writing down highlights from the text. 

This method will give you more structure and support you when you need to focus on school work, as you will have a dedicated structured time to do so.

11. Let go of thoughts that distract you

When you need more concentration, but your thoughts keep getting in the way, here’s a fun visualization exercise you can use:

• Before you start working on your homework, close down your eyes and imagine a flowing river in front of you. 
• Now, place every thought on a leaf and let it run down the river while watching it move away from you. 

Do this repeatedly for 5-10 minutes and see how your mind becomes clearer, more productive, and more inspired.

12. Reimagine your task

How can you make the process of doing your homework more fun? Is there any way you can think of to make it more exciting and engaging?

As you introduce play and fun into any task, your capacity to stay focused will increase. So just try out different methods to engage more in your homework. 

For example, what if you made a trivia quest about your history lesson homework? Or what about riddles to make you remember all the characters from the novel you have to read? 

Once you play around with these kinds of games, you might find that focusing on your homework isn’t as boring as you thought it would be.

Unleash the Power of Your Focus

Discovering how to focus on your homework can go beyond schoolwork and actually support you in many other activities you want to do. Concentration is one of the best skills to nurture for your growth.

If you need a little guidance at the beginning of your focusing journey, Mindvalley has it in store for you. 

By unlocking your FREE Mindvalley access , you can check out sample classes from quests that help you develop better focus and study habits, such as Becoming Focused and Indistractable by Nir Eyal and Superbrain by Jim Kwik. You can also immerse yourself in beautiful sounds and guided meditations designed to improve concentration and help you enter the flow state.

The earlier you start, the greater your journey of self-discovery will be. Welcome in.

— Images generated on Midjourney.

Recommended Free Masterclass For You

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Join the foremost expert in memory improvement and brain performance, Jim Kwik, in a free masterclass that will dive into the one skill you will ever need — learning how to learn Reserve My Free Spot Now

Alexandra Tudor

Jim Kwik is the trainer of Mindvalley’s Superbrain and Super Reading Quests. He’s a brain coach and a world expert in speed reading, memory improvement, and optimal brain performance. Known as the “boy with the broken brain” due to a childhood injury, Jim discovered strategies to dramatically enhance his mental performance. He is now committed to helping people improve their memory, learn to speed-read, increase their decision-making skills, and turn on their superbrain. He has shared his techniques with Hollywood actors, Fortune 500 companies, and trailblazing entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Richard Branson to reach their highest level of mental performance. He is also one of the most sought-after trainers for top organizations like Harvard University, Nike, Virgin, and GE.

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How To Stop Being Lazy: 24 Tips That Actually Work!

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Are you a lazy person? Do you struggle to get things done?

Everyone’s been there before. Sometimes it’s just so difficult to find the motivation to get all of the things done.

Maybe you’re overworked, dealing with a medical issue, or you’re just burned out. Mustering the energy when your tank is on Empty can be near impossible.

But wait a minute… did you catch what we said there? Maybe you’re overworked , dealing with a medical issue , or you’re just burned out ?

Do any of those things sound like laziness?

Like you just don’t want to do the things that you know you should be doing? That would better your life? That will help you maintain the quality of your life?

The word “lazy” is shaming language that is starting to get challenged in mental health circles.

What we call laziness doesn’t necessarily reflect the actual reasons behind why we aren’t doing what we need to do.

Is a person lazy because they’re too exhausted to do additional work?

Is a person lazy because they struggle with depression and their body isn’t producing the energy to do the work?

Is a person lazy who shuts down because they are overwhelmed by their anxiety?

Is a person lazy because they feel like they aren’t being respected and just don’t want to do the work?

Lazy, by definition, is simply an unwillingness to work or use energy. But it’s seldom used in such a neutral way. Instead, we use it against ourselves as a way to shame ourselves into doing the work. Other people use it against us to try to shame us into motivation.

You can’t be lazy. You shouldn’t be lazy. You have things to do! Responsibilities and all of that!

And a lot of that just comes from the social construct of our work ethic. America is the land of opportunity. So if you’re not succeeding, you must be lazy and not working hard enough! Which is an attitude that completely ignores the randomness of success.

Hard work can make you more likely to succeed. However, there are still plenty of people out there who will break their backs in hard labor and never experience “success” in the way it’s marketed to be.

Still, we need to find the motivation and path toward our success. No one else is going to do the work for you.

So, how can you stop being lazy?

Consult a life coach to help you break through the ‘laziness’ that is holding you back. Use the quick and simple form on Bark.com to have qualified life coaches email you to discuss their coaching services and provide quotes.

1. Accept yourself for what you are.

The word “lazy” has negative connotations. There’s no real way around that. It’s the most common way that word is used.

But you’re allowed to be a person who doesn’t always want to do stuff constantly. That may be an active choice, or it might be something imposed on you from an external factor.

Whatever the reason, it’s important to be kind and compassionate with yourself. Clearly, you care about your motivation and ability to get things done. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here reading this article. You wouldn’t be out hunting for knowledge on being more productive and getting more things done.

People will often use metaphors like, “You don’t have to be working all the time. You’re not a machine.” Which isn’t really correct. Anyone who’s worked with machines knows that machines don’t work all the time either. They regularly go down for maintenance. Otherwise, they break and need fixing. And much like a machine, you can’t be productive all the time.

Avoid calling yourself lazy. Avoid shaming yourself. Putting negative thoughts into your head will make the situation harder on yourself than it needs to be.

2. Understand why you are not motivated.

Can you identify why you’re not motivated? Why do you feel you are lazy? Identifying the why will let you find solutions to the problem that may not be as simple as just not wanting to work.

Consider questions like:

How often do you get breaks? Are you working all the time? Do you have the energy to do the things that you are going to do? Do you get good sleep?

Do you have a good diet? Are your body and brain getting the right nutrients they need to help keep you motivated and energetic?

Is it a mental health concern? Do you find yourself overwhelmed constantly? Do you feel hopeless or apathetic? Do you feel like nothing matters? Do you feel like there are too many decisions to make?

All of these things may point to medical reasons for your lack of motivation and desire. If you can’t pinpoint a reason, it’s a good idea to talk to a mental health professional about it. They may be able to help you hone in on the reason.

3. Develop better habits.

People are creatures of habit. Sometimes, laziness and lack of motivation can be rooted in our regular habits.

For example, let’s say you work from home. Every day at about 2 PM, you decide to take a nap for your lunch break. Your body and brain will get accustomed to having that nap every day, so when it gets to be about 1:45, your brain and body are telling you that it’s about time for sleep. They will start slowing down and preparing to rest.

On the other hand, maybe you just don’t have much to do. Maybe you’re at a place in your life where you’re not really working, there’s not a whole lot to do around the house, and you’re just spending a lot of time lounging. There’s nothing wrong with taking some time off to yourself, but it’s a lot harder to get going again when you’re off a schedule and need to get back on it.

Make productivity into a habit. Get some things done, and it will be easier to grow your motivation.

4. Set some reasonable goals.

Goals are a fantastic way to build motivation. The SMART goal system is a simple, effective way to get more things done. A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

For example, let’s say you want to lose some weight. “Losing weight” is a non-specific goal that is hard to set a successful condition to. A SMART goal will be a smaller goal that will bring you closer to the ultimate goal of losing more weight. It would be more like:

“I’m going to lose weight by not consuming more than 1800 calories per day for the next 30 days.”

That’s a specific, SMART goal that provides an actionable way to attain the overall goal. It’s much easier to find motivation and get the job done when you have a specific plan to reach success.

5. Work on small things.

Do you have grand plans? Not everyone does. That’s okay if you don’t. Some people don’t dream big or have major goals that they strive for. The reasons can be anything from mental health to just being satisfied with the smaller things in life.

The interesting thing about the small things in life is that all of the bigger things are just a composition of that small thing. For example, many smaller moving pieces go into earning a degree. You have to apply for the school, maybe relocate, attend and pass classes, study, do projects, and much more.

Small things can help provide you with motivation when you’re feeling blasé about your life. Accomplishing smaller goals (usually) activates the brain’s reward circuits, providing dopamine and endorphin boosts as a reward for doing well. Use that to get yourself moving toward the things that you want to accomplish.

6. Use time management techniques.

Time management techniques can be an excellent way to combat laziness that is the result of feeling overwhelmed. Of course, many people don’t do well when they have a massive project hanging over their head that is absolutely going to need several hours to complete, but man, where do you start?

The Pomodoro technique is a common time management technique that can help you make the most of your time. It’s simple. You work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. This cycle is called a Pomodoro. After four Pomodoros, you take a longer break of about 15 to 20 minutes.

Managing your time this way helps break the day up, keeping your mind fresh and motivated. You don’t want to spend all day staring at a computer screen, burning through the hours just to try to get this thing done. That just leaves you exhausted and spent at the end of the day.

So instead, you are creating space within your day to work and not work. You are creating habits and routines that will give your brain downtime when you need to rest.

It’s common to use a timer with this technique, so you don’t distract yourself with keeping time all day. Set the timer for 25 minutes, work until the timer, take a few minutes, restart the timer, and repeat.

7. Don’t allow yourself to make excuses.

Excuses will derail your progress if you let them. You can always find a reason to not do the work.

One common way for people to procrastinate is to “wait for the time to be right.” Well, guess what? There usually isn’t a right time. You can end up waiting for years for all of the stars to align before finally doing what you know you should be, and the opportunity could be long gone.

An excuse is flimsy reasoning to not do the work.

But what about a reason? Sometimes we can’t do the work because there are additional circumstances that are preventing us from acting. That’s fair and reasonable. On the other hand, sometimes you do have to wait. Sometimes it’s another person who isn’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing. Sometimes it’s that you don’t have enough information or resources to accomplish your goal.

These things are fair and valid. Instead, stop making excuses that keep you from moving forward with your duties and goals.

8. Don’t let perfection stand in the way of completion.

Perfectionists often undermine their own success by not settling for good. Instead, they spend far more time agonizing over specific details, trying to hammer out every tiny thing until it meets their criteria of perfect.

But perfectionism isn’t always that simple. Sometimes perfectionism is an anxiety response. By focusing on perfecting the project, the person can excuse themselves from actually completing it.

After all, a completed project is something that can be picked apart, put under a microscope, and judged. A lot of people just aren’t comfortable with that. So instead, they always have a little more work to do. This one little thing needs tweaking. “If I just keep working on it! Then it will be perfect!”

The truth of the matter is that nothing is ever perfect. And even if you do produce the most perfect thing in the world, other people may not appreciate it the way you do.

For example, consider writing. A writer sits down and wants to create the perfect story. They develop the perfect story arc, execute their grammar flawlessly, edit the story down, and tweak it to be in line with their perfect vision. Then they release the thing they wrote, and their audience hates it. How can that possibly happen? It’s simple. The writer and reader are two different people with two different sets of expectations.

A writer can create a technical masterpiece. It can be a slogging bore of a chore to bother reading for anyone who isn’t into technical masterpieces.

Life is no different. Your perfect may mean nothing to anyone else because they just aren’t that interested in your perfect.

9. Reward yourself for completing tasks.

Do reward yourself when you finally complete your goals. Allow yourself to sit back, revel in accomplishing your goal, and give yourself a little happiness as a reward.

That might be treating yourself to something a little extra special or doing something fun that you might not normally do.

A physical reward for a goal completed can help reinforce those reward circuits of the brain because you have a tangible thing to look at as a result of your work. This can be quite helpful when you are pursuing intangible or long-term goals.

For example, losing weight and fixing your diet is a long-term project that will require commitment and discipline. Rewarding yourself with some better clothes as you lose weight can be a good reward.

Do try to avoid rewards that are counterproductive, though.

“I’ve been sober for 30 days! I’ll drink to that!”

“I’ve lost 25 pounds! I’m going to sit down and eat a pizza!”

It sounds ridiculous, but people do it all the time. Unfortunately, it’s not helpful and can cause you to fall back into unhealthier habits.

10. Protect your personal space.

You need to be the one to ensure there is a clear delineation between your work and your personal life. Mobile phones have made this much harder because so much of the world assumes that you should always be reachable. That is anxiety-inducing and a gross intrusion on your personal space.

Do not install work-related apps on your personal devices. Do not use your work devices for personal reasons. Do not work off the clock or take work calls off the clock. Take your vacation, personal, and sick time if you are lucky enough to have it. Maintain separation from your work.

If you must have a phone and your workplace is not providing one, go buy a burner phone from any big box retailer or one of the many convenience stores that carry them.

11. Do not let managers use the word “lazy” to influence you.

Allow me to share a bit of a personal story with you. I’ve had quite a few jobs as someone that didn’t always have a very stable life. Bad management loves to motivate people by weaponizing laziness, except they don’t use the word lazy. They say things like:

“We really need you to pick up some of the slack in your department.”

“X employee was able to do it. So why can’t you?”

“We just don’t have the budget to hire someone else right now.”

“Don’t you want to be a team player?”

It’s all BS meant to pressure you into doing more for less. Their goal is to always keep costs down. So why bother hiring someone to replace the person who just quit when they can lay a guilt trip on you to get you to work harder? After all, many places offer their management bonuses if they can keep their payroll budget under a certain amount.

And do not fall for, “Well, we know you’re doing all of this extra work, but we can’t afford to give you a raise or a promotion right now. Let’s see how things are in six months.” I’ll tell you exactly how things will be in six months. “We just don’t have that in the budget.”

Bad management will sap your energy and motivation. They will leave you an emotional husk. So do not settle for bad management if you can avoid it.

A phrase I personally found helpful was, “I’ll try to pick up that slack, but I don’t know if I have enough time in my day to do it.” If you say no, they can write you up for insubordination or try to bully you into thinking you’re wrong. And then, you can put out the reason, “I just didn’t have the time to get it all done.”

They will likely complain or say you just need to work harder. Just shrug and look at them blankly. Don’t argue. You won’t win.

12. Reduce your stress.

Stress plays a negative role in our ability to function as people. Of course, a little stress isn’t necessarily bad. Sometimes it’s good to have the disruption. But regular, consistent, long-term stress can have a starkly negative impact on your mental and physical health.

By the time you actually get around to resting, you no longer have the time or the energy to keep up with the stress you’re experiencing.

Now, if you’re in a high-stress job, sometimes you can’t avoid that. So you need to have ways of managing and blowing off that stress so that you can still function when you get out of work.

However, sometimes that’s just not possible. So if you find that you just can’t function when you’re not at work because you’re constantly stressed out about work, it might be time to consider a career change or finding a different job.

13. Embrace planning and scheduling.

Sometimes a lack of productivity can come from poor planning. It’s hard to get everything you need done if you are constantly chasing around responsibilities and putting out fires. So try to incorporate more scheduling into your workday where you can.

It’s much easier to meet your goals when you have time set aside to address them. It means you don’t have to deal with the start and stop nature of general work.

Email is one major time and productivity thief. For example, let’s say that you’re working on a project. An email lands in your inbox, so you have to stop your work, shift your focus to the email, answer the email, and then get back into the project you were working on. That can easily turn into 5 or 10 minutes of inefficiency per email. Now, if you work in a job where you are getting 10 emails a day, that’s a whole lot of lost productivity and wasted time.

One way to manage that communication style is to pick a set time (or times) in the day to check your mail. Do it in the morning, at lunch, and/or before you go home. That way, you can spend the rest of your time focusing on your actual work.

14. Improve your sleep.

Sleep is the cornerstone of good health. Your body repairs itself and produces a lot of important chemicals when you’re in the deepest reaches of sleep.

However, suppose you are not sleeping consistently or regularly. In that case, your body may not have enough time to do everything it needs to do. Shallow or broken sleep can cause moodiness, depression, worsen anxiety, and deprive you of the feeling of being rested.

Common ways to improve sleep hygiene include not using screens before bed (even with blue blockers), avoid stimulating drinks before bed, and have a comfortable place to sleep. People tend to sleep better in a comfortable bed in a cooler climate.

Try to maintain a sleep schedule where you get the amount of sleep that leaves you rested. That’s usually about six to eight hours of sleep, but it can be different depending on the person.

15. Improve your diet.

Your diet is an important part of your motivation and energy. Food and drink are the fuel that keeps your machine running. Avoid foods that can cause you to spike and crash in energy; sugar, caffeine, high-fat, and processed foods.

Steer away from junk food and snacking on bad foods like potato chips, snack cakes, and candy. We consume so much sugar that it drastically affects the way other foods taste. For example, suppose you stay away from foods with refined sugars for a couple of weeks. In that case, naturally sweet foods like fruit will taste much sweeter.

Good food is necessary to keep your body running efficiently.

16. Get regular exercise.

Regular exercise provides a net positive effect on how much energy you have. You will find that as you exercise, your body gets used to it and wants more activity. That energy is what you can pour into accomplishing your goals and not being lazy.

Exercise is beneficial even if it’s a small amount, so long as you do it regularly. Even taking a walk and getting some sunshine for 15 minutes a day can provide a massive boost to your energy levels.

17. Drink more water.

Change out the sugary juices and sodas, coffees and teas, and energy drinks with good old-fashioned water.

Water is just good for you.

It has no calories and is used by your body to help keep everything in working order.

Drink more water.

18. Surround yourself with motivated, positive people.

There’s a saying that goes, “You are the five people you spend the most time with.” It’s pointing to the influence that our friends and family often have on us.

People have a difficult time moving against the flow that they find themselves in. For example, suppose you surround yourself with negative people who never want to do anything or improve their situation. In that case, it’s much easier for you to shrug off your own progress and just be lazy with your friends.

However, surrounding yourself with people who have goals can help you create a support network to keep everyone on track.

Being around negative people who are content with slacking off is not the way to get things done.

19. Lean into your personal strengths.

Frustration is a powerful demotivator. You may be trying to accomplish something that you’re just not good at. It might be that the overall goal you’re trying to achieve doesn’t really align with your personal strengths.

Is there a way to put your goals in alignment with your strengths? You can make the pursuit of your goals all that much easier by leaning hard into your strengths and outsourcing your weaknesses.

For example, let’s say you want to get fit. However, you don’t know much about nutrition or eating healthy. Now, you can teach yourself plenty of that information through the internet. However, it might be easier to just see a nutritionist and have them help you develop a meal plan to learn the basics of eating healthy. Talking to a professional can save you a lot of time, money, and energy, which you can then put toward your goal.

20. Do use motivators.

Though you shouldn’t rely on your personal motivation to get things done, you can use motivators to inspire you to keep moving forward.

People are motivated by many different things, which are split into two categories.

First, there are intrinsic motivations. These are the things within you that cause you to take action. That might include things like a desire to be better, passion, justice, or a desire for success.

Second, there are extrinsic motivations. These are external factors that provide motivation. Extrinsic motivations are things like money, travel, being attractive to others, or praise from other people.

What kind of motivators inspire you to action? How can you include those to give yourself that extra boost when you don’t feel like putting in the work?

You may be able to bolster your motivation and inspiration for yourself before you get into your work. Maybe you follow many artists or have a vision board that outlines what your ideal life looks like. These kinds of things can serve as an extrinsic motivation when you find yourself lacking intrinsic motivation.

21. Don’t rely solely on willpower to get things done.

Willpower is powerful tool that can help you push through the bad times. However, it’s not a good idea to solely rely on willpower to make the bigger goals happen. Willpower can wax and wane. You may be fired up and all ready to take on the world today; but tomorrow you may find yourself exhausted and unable to do the work.

That’s okay.

That’s your brain telling you that it’s time to take a break. You don’t have to have an iron will to get things done and accomplish your goals.

22. Redefine what it means to fail.

Are you afraid of failure? Many people are. They aren’t actually lazy; they are just afraid of being made to look foolish or of not succeeding.

But, here’s the secret. Successful people fail all the time. They succeed because they don’t necessarily look at failure as the end. It doesn’t have to be. It’s okay if something doesn’t work out. But, what are you going to do with that information? Are you going to throw in the towel and say, “Alright, I failed. I give up!”

Or, are you going to take that failure as a lesson in what doesn’t work and pivot to another approach? A failure doesn’t have to be an end if you don’t want it to be. Sometimes a failure is just an obstacle putting you in a better direction for success.

Failure isn’t a dirty word. But, of course, that isn’t going to stop negative people from treating it like one. Ignore those people. Why do you care what people who don’t support you think? They are irrelevant.

23. Stop thinking and start doing.

It’s good to plan the route you want to take toward success. The problem is that too much can be a bad thing.

Laziness may not be a lack of motivation or desire; sometimes, people just get too wrapped up in their own thoughts about the thing. They spend all their time thinking, planning, planning more, and thinking more. This is called “analysis paralysis.”

The secret to breaking through this is to stop thinking and start doing. Make your initial plan, and then start doing it.

The problem with too much planning is that it assumes you can foresee every hurdle you’re going to face. You won’t. You don’t know what you don’t know. All you can do is face those unknown obstacles when you finally run into them.

You have to be confident that you are smart and capable enough to find solutions to those problems when you do experience them.

And you are!

What’s more, you have the internet at your fingertips. There is undoubtedly someone somewhere who has run into the problems that you are having. The information is out there. And if it’s not, then you get the privilege of trying new things to see what works and what doesn’t!

24. Live in the present.

Do you live in the present? What does it even mean to live in the present?

It’s not complicated. To live in the present means, you are actively choosing what you are doing in the present moment, rather than being pulled along or acting out of habit.

For example, let’s say you spend a lot of time on social media. You scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll, and the next thing you know, it’s two hours later. Did you actively decide to scroll social media for two hours? Or was it something you just mindlessly did out of habit because that’s just what you’re used to doing?

That principle applies to many things. People waste hours mindlessly playing video games, binge-watching shows, scrolling social media, or just doing nothing because that’s just what they do. It may not even be bringing them pleasure, peace, or relaxation. It’s just what they do.

Don’t be pulled along by your habits. Make active choices. And that doesn’t mean that you have to completely give up these things. Just be mindful of how you spend your time. Maybe you want to play a video game for an hour and then get out and exercise. Or maybe you put a show on in the background while you clean up your living space.

Actively choose how you want to spend the precious limited time you have. You don’t get more time.

In conclusion…

Laziness is a complicated subject. It’s rarely as simple as the shameful thing that it’s meant to be. For most people, laziness is actually just being tired or needing lifestyle changes. An inability to get things done may point to a medical condition that features fatigue or tiredness for other people. Many mental illnesses can cause exhaustion to a point where the person struggles to function consistently.

If you are affected by chronic laziness and can’t seem to put a finger on why, consult with medical professionals. It may not be as simple as, “I just need to get back to work.”

Be kind to yourself and to others. People don’t generally want to do a bad job or miss out on opportunities. Laziness is not something that most people choose.

Still not sure how to stop being lazy? Speak to a life coach today who can walk you through the process. Simply fill out this short form to get quotes from several coaches along with details of how they can help.

You may also like:

• 8 Effective Ways To Finish What You Start If You Can’t Finish Anything
• The 10 Types Of Motivation That You Can Use To Achieve Your Goals
• 8 Ways To Be More Proactive In Life (+ Examples)
• How To Bring Yourself To Do Something You Don’t Really Want To Do
• How To Increase Mental Stamina: 10 Effective Tips
• Discipline: The Only Bulletproof Method Of Getting Things Done
• 10 Things To Do When You Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything
• 10 No Nonsense Ways To Be Consistent In Your Life

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About The Author

Jack Nollan is a person who has lived with Bipolar Disorder and Bipolar-depression for almost 30 years now. Jack is a mental health writer of 10 years who pairs lived experience with evidence-based information to provide perspective from the side of the mental health consumer. With hands-on experience as the facilitator of a mental health support group, Jack has a firm grasp of the wide range of struggles people face when their mind is not in the healthiest of places. Jack is an activist who is passionate about helping disadvantaged people find a better path.

Daniel Wong

30 Tips to Stop Procrastinating and Find Motivation to Do Homework

Updated on June 6, 2023 By Daniel Wong 44 Comments

To stop procrastinating on homework, you need to find motivation to do the homework in the first place.

But first, you have to overcome feeling too overwhelmed to even start.

You know what it feels like when everything hits you at once, right?

You have three tests to study for and a math assignment due tomorrow.

And you’ve got a history report due the day after.

You tell yourself to get down to work. But with so much to do, you feel overwhelmed.

So you procrastinate.

You check your social media feed, watch a few videos, and get yourself a drink. But you know that none of this is bringing you closer to getting the work done.

Does this sound familiar?

Don’t worry – you are not alone. Procrastination is a problem that everyone faces, but there are ways around it.

By following the tips in this article, you’ll be able to overcome procrastination and consistently find the motivation to do the homework .

So read on to discover 30 powerful tips to help you stop procrastinating on your homework.

Enter your email below to download a PDF summary of this article. The PDF contains all the tips found here, plus  3 exclusive bonus tips that you’ll only find in the PDF.

How to stop procrastinating and motivate yourself to do your homework.

Procrastination when it comes to homework isn’t just an issue of laziness or a lack of motivation .

The following tips will help you to first address the root cause of your procrastination and then implement strategies to keep your motivation levels high.

1. Take a quiz to see how much you procrastinate.

The first step to changing your behavior is to become more self-aware.

How often do you procrastinate? What kinds of tasks do you tend to put off? Is procrastination a small or big problem for you?

To answer these questions, I suggest that you take this online quiz designed by Psychology Today .

2. Figure out why you’re procrastinating.

Procrastination is a complex issue that involves multiple factors.

Stop thinking of excuses for not doing your homework , and figure out what’s keeping you from getting started.

Are you procrastinating because:

• You’re not sure you’ll be able to solve all the homework problems?
• You’re subconsciously rebelling against your teachers or parents?
• You’re not interested in the subject or topic?
• You’re physically or mentally tired?
• You’re waiting for the perfect time to start?
• You don’t know where to start?

Once you’ve identified exactly why you’re procrastinating, you can pick out the tips in this article that will get to the root of the problem.

3. Write down what you’re procrastinating on.

Students tend to procrastinate when they’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

But you might be surprised to discover that simply by writing down the specific tasks you’re putting off, the situation will feel more manageable.

It’s a quick solution, and it makes a real difference.

Give it a try and you’ll be less likely to procrastinate.

4. Put your homework on your desk.

Here’s an even simpler idea.

Many times, the hardest part of getting your homework done is getting started.

It doesn’t require a lot of willpower to take out your homework and put it on your desk.

But once it’s sitting there in front of you, you’ll be much closer to actually getting down to work.

5. Break down the task into smaller steps.

This one trick will make any task seem more manageable.

For example, if you have a history report to write, you could break it down into the following steps:

• Read the history textbook
• Do online research
• Organize the information
• Create an outline
• Write the introduction
• Write the body paragraphs
• Write the conclusion
• Edit and proofread the report

Focus on just one step at a time. This way, you won’t need to motivate yourself to write the whole report at one go.

This is an important technique to use if you want to study smart and get more done .

6. Create a detailed timeline with specific deadlines.

As a follow-up to Point #5, you can further combat procrastination by creating a timeline with specific deadlines.

Using the same example above, I’ve added deadlines to each of the steps:

• Jan 30 th : Read the history textbook
• Feb 2 nd : Do online research
• Feb 3 rd : Organize the information
• Feb 5 th : Create an outline
• Feb 8 th : Write the introduction
• Feb 12 th : Write the body paragraphs
• Feb 14 th : Write the conclusion
• Feb 16 th : Edit and proofread the report

Assigning specific dates creates a sense of urgency, which makes it more likely that you’ll keep to the deadlines.

7. Spend time with people who are focused and hardworking.

Jim Rohn famously said that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

If you hang out with people who are motivated and hardworking, you’ll become more like them.

Likewise, if you hang out with people who continually procrastinate, you’ll become more like them too.

Motivation to do homework naturally increases when you surround yourself with the right people.

So choose your friends wisely. Find homework buddies who will influence you positively to become a straight-A student who leads a balanced life.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun! It just means that you and your friends know when it’s time to get down to work and when it’s time to enjoy yourselves.

8. Tell at least two or three people about the tasks you plan to complete.

When you tell others about the tasks you intend to finish, you’ll be more likely to follow through with your plans.

This is called “accountability,” and it kicks in because you want to be seen as someone who keeps your word.

So if you know about this principle, why not use it to your advantage?

You could even ask a friend to be your accountability buddy. At the beginning of each day, you could text each other what you plan to work on that day.

Then at the end of the day, you could check in with each other to see if things went according to plan.

9. Change your environment .

Maybe it’s your environment that’s making you feel sluggish.

When you’re doing your homework, is your super-comfortable bed just two steps away? Or is your distracting computer within easy reach?

If your environment is part of your procrastination problem, then change it.

Sometimes all you need is a simple change of scenery. Bring your work to the dining room table and get it done there. Or head to a nearby café to complete your report.

10. Talk to people who have overcome their procrastination problem.

If you have friends who consistently win the battle with procrastination, learn from their experience.

What was the turning point for them? What tips and strategies do they use? What keeps them motivated?

Find all this out, and then apply the information to your own situation.

11. Decide on a reward to give yourself after you complete your task.

“Planned” rewards are a great way to motivate yourself to do your homework.

The reward doesn’t have to be something huge.

For instance, you might decide that after you finish 10 questions of your math homework, you get to watch your favorite TV show.

Or you might decide that after reading one chapter of your history textbook, you get to spend 10 minutes on Facebook.

By giving yourself a reward, you’ll feel more motivated to get through the task at hand.

12. Decide on a consequence you’ll impose on yourself if you don’t meet the deadline.

It’s important that you decide on what the consequence will be before you start working toward your goal.

As an example, you could tell your younger brother that you’ll give him $1 for every deadline you don’t meet (see Point #6).

Or you could decide that you’ll delete one game from your phone for every late homework submission.

Those consequences would probably be painful enough to help you get down to work, right?

13. Visualize success.

Take 30 seconds and imagine how you’ll feel when you finish your work.

What positive emotions will you experience?

Will you feel a sense of satisfaction from getting all your work done?

Will you relish the extra time on your hands when you get your homework done fast and ahead of time?

This simple exercise of visualizing success may be enough to inspire you to start doing your assignment.

14. Visualize the process it will take to achieve that success.

Even more important than visualizing the outcome is visualizing the process it will take to achieve that outcome.

Research shows that focusing on the process is critical to success. If you’re procrastinating on a task, take a few moments to think about what you’ll need to do to complete it.

Visualize the following:

• What resources you’ll need
• Who you can turn to for help
• How long the task will take
• Where you’ll work on the task
• The joy you’ll experience as you make progress

This kind of visualization is like practice for your mind.

Once you understand what’s necessary to achieve your goal, you’ll find that it’s much easier to get down to work with real focus. This is key to doing well in school .

15. Write down why you want to complete the task.

You’ll be more motivated when you’re clear about why you want to accomplish something.

To motivate yourself to do your homework, think about all the ways in which it’s a meaningful task.

So take a couple of minutes to write down the reasons. Here are some possible ones:

• Learn useful information
• Master the topic
• Enjoy a sense of accomplishment when you’ve completed the task
• Become a more focused student
• Learn to embrace challenges
• Fulfill your responsibility as a student
• Get a good grade on the assignment

16. Write down the negative feelings you’ll have if you don’t complete the task.

If you don’t complete the assignment, you might feel disappointed or discouraged. You might even feel as if you’ve let your parents or your teacher – or even yourself – down.

It isn’t wise to dwell on these negative emotions for too long. But by imagining how you’ll feel if you don’t finish the task, you’ll realize how important it is that you get to work.

17. Do the hardest task first.

Most students will choose to do the easiest task first, rather than the hardest one. But this approach isn’t effective because it leaves the worst for last.

It’s more difficult to find motivation to do homework in less enjoyable subjects.

As Brian Tracy says , “Eat that frog!” By this, he means that you should always get your most difficult task out of the way at the beginning of the day.

If math is your least favorite subject, force yourself to complete your math homework first.

After doing so, you’ll feel a surge of motivation from knowing it’s finished. And you won’t procrastinate on your other homework because it will seem easier in comparison.

(On a separate note, check out these tips on how to get better at math if you’re struggling.)

18. Set a timer when doing your homework.

I recommend that you use a stopwatch for every homework session. (If you prefer, you could also use this online stopwatch or the Tomato Timer .)

Start the timer at the beginning of the session, and work in 30- to 45-minute blocks.

Using a timer creates a sense of urgency, which will help you fight off your urge to procrastinate.

When you know you only have to work for a short session, it will be easier to find motivation to complete your homework.

Tell yourself that you need to work hard until the timer goes off, and then you can take a break. (And then be sure to take that break!)

19. Eliminate distractions.

Here are some suggestions on how you can do this:

• Delete all the games and social media apps on your phone
• Turn off all notifications on your phone
• Mute your group chats
• Archive your inactive chats
• Turn off your phone, or put it on airplane mode
• Put your phone at least 10 feet away from you
• Turn off the Internet access on your computer
• Use an app like Freedom to restrict your Internet usage
• Put any other distractions (like food, magazines and books unrelated to your homework) at the other end of the room
• Unplug the TV
• Use earplugs if your surroundings are noisy

20. At the start of each day, write down the two to three Most Important Tasks (MITs) you want to accomplish.

This will enable you to prioritize your tasks. As Josh Kaufman explains , a Most Important Task (MIT) is a critical task that will help you to get significant results down the road.

Not all tasks are equally important. That’s why it’s vital that you identify your MITs, so that you can complete those as early in the day as possible.

What do you most need to get done today? That’s an MIT.

Get to work on it, then feel the satisfaction that comes from knowing it’s out of the way.

21. Focus on progress instead of perfection.

Perfectionism can destroy your motivation to do homework and keep you from starting important assignments.

Some students procrastinate because they’re waiting for the perfect time to start.

Others do so because they want to get their homework done perfectly. But they know this isn’t really possible – so they put off even getting started.

What’s the solution?

To focus on progress instead of perfection.

There’s never a perfect time for anything. Nor will you ever be able to complete your homework perfectly. But you can do your best, and that’s enough.

So concentrate on learning and improving, and turn this into a habit that you implement whenever you study .

22. Get organized.

Procrastination is common among students who are disorganized.

When you can’t remember which assignment is due when or which tests you have coming up, you’ll naturally feel confused. You’ll experience school- and test-related stress .

This, in turn, will lead to procrastination.

That’s why it’s crucial that you get organized. Here are some tips for doing this:

• Don’t rely on your memory ; write everything down
• Keep a to-do list
• Use a student planner
• Use a calendar and take note of important dates like exams, project due dates, school holidays , birthdays, and family events
• At the end of each day, plan for the following day
• Use one binder or folder for each subject or course
• Do weekly filing of your loose papers, notes, and old homework
• Throw away all the papers and notes you no longer need

23. Stop saying “I have to” and start saying “I choose to.”

When you say things like “I have to write my essay” or “I have to finish my science assignment,” you’ll probably feel annoyed. You might be tempted to complain about your teachers or your school .

What’s the alternative?

To use the phrase “I choose to.”

The truth is, you don’t “have” to do anything.

You can choose not to write your essay; you’ll just run the risk of failing the class.

You can choose not to do your science assignment; you’ll just need to deal with your angry teacher.

When you say “I choose to do my homework,” you’ll feel empowered. This means you’ll be more motivated to study and to do what you ought to.

24. Clear your desk once a week.

Clutter can be demotivating. It also causes stress , which is often at the root of procrastination.

Hard to believe? Give it a try and see for yourself.

By clearing your desk, you’ll reduce stress and make your workspace more organized.

So set a recurring appointment to organize your workspace once a week for just 10 minutes. You’ll receive huge benefits in the long run!

25. If a task takes two minutes or less to complete, do it now.

This is a principle from David Allen’s bestselling book, Getting Things Done .

You may notice that you tend to procrastinate when many tasks pile up. The way to prevent this from happening is to take care of the small but important tasks as soon as you have time.

Here are some examples of small two-minute tasks that you should do once you have a chance:

• Replying to your project group member’s email
• Picking up anything on the floor that doesn’t belong there
• Asking your parents to sign a consent form
• Filing a graded assignment
• Making a quick phone call
• Writing a checklist
• Sending a text to schedule a meeting
• Making an online purchase that doesn’t require further research

26. Finish one task before starting on the next.

You aren’t being productive when you switch between working on your literature essay, social studies report, and physics problem set – while also intermittently checking your phone.

Research shows that multitasking is less effective than doing one thing at a time. Multitasking may even damage your brain !

When it comes to overcoming procrastination, it’s better to stick with one task all the way through before starting on the next one.

You’ll get a sense of accomplishment when you finish the first assignment, which will give you a boost of inspiration as you move on to the next one.

27. Build your focus gradually.

You can’t win the battle against procrastination overnight; it takes time. This means that you need to build your focus progressively.

If you can only focus for 10 minutes at once, that’s fine. Start with three sessions of 10 minutes a day. After a week, increase it to three sessions of 15 minutes a day, and so on.

As the weeks go by, you’ll become far more focused than when you first started. And you’ll soon see how great that makes you feel.

28. Before you start work, write down three things you’re thankful for.

Gratitude improves your psychological health and increases your mental strength .

These factors are linked to motivation. The more you practice gratitude, the easier it will be to find motivation to do your homework. As such, it’s less likely that you’ll be a serial procrastinator.

Before you get down to work for the day, write down three things you’re thankful for. These could be simple things like good health, fine weather, or a loving family.

You could even do this in a “gratitude journal,” which you can then look back on whenever you need a shot of fresh appreciation for the good things in your life.

Either way, this short exercise will get you in the right mindset to be productive.

29. Get enough sleep.

For most people, this means getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. And teenagers need 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night to function optimally.

What does sleep have to do with procrastination?

More than you might realize.

It’s almost impossible to feel motivated when you’re tired. And when you’re low on energy, your willpower is depleted too.

That’s why you give in to the temptation of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube videos more easily when you’re sleep-deprived.

Here are ways to get more sleep , and sleep better too:

• Create a bedtime routine
• Go to sleep at around the same time every night
• Set a daily alarm as a reminder to go to bed
• Exercise regularly (but not within a few hours of bedtime)
• Make your bedroom as dark as possible
• Remove or switch off all electronic devices before bedtime
• Avoid caffeine at least six hours before bedtime
• Use an eye mask and earplugs

30. Schedule appointments with yourself to complete your homework.

These appointments are specific blocks of time reserved for working on a report, assignment, or project. Scheduling appointments is effective because it makes the task more “official,” so you’re more likely to keep the appointment.

For example, you could schedule appointments such as:

• Jan 25 th , 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Math assignment
• Jan 27 th , 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Online research for social studies project
• Jan 28 th , 4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Write introduction for English essay

Transform homework procrastination into homework motivation

Procrastination is a problem we all face.

But given that you’ve read all the way to here, I know you’re committed to overcoming this problem.

And now that you’re armed with these tips, you have all the tools you need to become more disciplined and focused .

By the way, please don’t feel as if you need to implement all the tips at once, because that would be too overwhelming.

Instead, I recommend that you focus on just a couple of tips a week, and make gradual progress. No rush!

Over time, you’ll realize that your habit of procrastination has been replaced by the habit of getting things done.

Now’s the time to get started on that process of transformation. 🙂

Like this article? Please share it with your friends.

Images: Student and books , Homework , Group of students , Consequences , Why , Writing a list , Organized desk , Gratitude

January 19, 2016 at 11:53 am

Ur tips are rlly helpful. Thnkyou ! 🙂

January 19, 2016 at 1:43 pm

You’re welcome 🙂

August 29, 2018 at 11:21 am

Thanks very much

February 19, 2019 at 1:38 pm

The funny thing is while I was reading the first few steps of this article I was procrastinating on my homework….

November 12, 2019 at 12:44 pm

same here! but now I actually want to get my stuff done… huh

December 4, 2022 at 11:35 pm

May 30, 2023 at 6:26 am

October 25, 2023 at 11:35 am

fr tho i totally was but now I’m actually going to get started haha

June 6, 2020 at 6:04 am

I love your articles

January 21, 2016 at 7:07 pm

Thanks soo much. It’s almost like you could read my mind- when I felt so overwhelmed with the workload heap I had created for myself by procrastination, I know feel very motivated to tackle it out completely and replace that bad habit with the wonderful tips mentioned here! 🙂

January 21, 2016 at 8:04 pm

I’m glad to help 🙂

January 25, 2016 at 3:09 pm

You have shared great tips here. I especially like the point “Write down why you want to complete the task” because it is helpful to make us more motivated when we are clear about our goals

January 25, 2016 at 4:51 pm

Glad that you found the tips useful, John!

January 29, 2016 at 1:22 am

Thank you very much for your wonderful tips!!! ☺☺☺

January 29, 2016 at 10:41 am

It’s my joy to help, Kabir 🙂

February 3, 2016 at 12:57 pm

Always love your articles. Keep them up 🙂

February 3, 2016 at 1:21 pm

Thanks, Matthew 🙂

February 4, 2016 at 1:40 pm

There are quite a lot of things that you need to do in order to come out with flying colors while studying in a university away from your homeland. Procrastinating on homework is one of the major mistakes committed by students and these tips will help you to avoid them all and make yourself more efficient during your student life.

February 4, 2016 at 1:58 pm

Completely agreed, Leong Siew.

October 5, 2018 at 12:52 am

Wow! thank you very much, I love it .

November 2, 2018 at 10:45 am

You are helping me a lot.. thank you very much….😊

November 6, 2018 at 5:19 pm

I’m procrastinating by reading this

November 29, 2018 at 10:21 am

January 8, 2021 at 3:38 am

March 3, 2019 at 9:12 am

Daniel, your amazing information and advice, has been very useful! Please keep up your excellent work!

April 12, 2019 at 11:12 am

We should stop procrastinating.

September 28, 2019 at 5:19 pm

Thank you so much for the tips:) i’ve been procrastinating since i started high schools and my grades were really bad “F” but the tips have made me a straight A student again.

January 23, 2020 at 7:43 pm

Thanks for the tips, Daniel! They’re really useful! 😁

April 10, 2020 at 2:15 pm

I have always stood first in my class. But procrastination has always been a very bad habit of mine which is why I lost marks for late submission .As an excuse for finding motivation for studying I would spend hours on the phone and I would eventually procrastinate. So I tried your tips and tricks today and they really worked.i am so glad and thankful for your help. 🇮🇳Love from India🇮🇳

April 15, 2020 at 11:16 am

Well I’m gonna give this a shot it looks and sounds very helpful thank you guys I really needed this

April 16, 2020 at 9:48 pm

Daniel, your amazing information and advice, has been very useful! keep up your excellent work! May you give more useful content to us.

May 6, 2020 at 5:03 pm

nice article thanks for your sharing.

May 20, 2020 at 4:49 am

Thank you so much this helped me so much but I was wondering about like what if you just like being lazy and stuff and don’t feel like doing anything and you don’t want to tell anyone because you might annoy them and you just don’t want to add your problems and put another burden on theirs

July 12, 2020 at 1:55 am

I’ve read many short procrastination tip articles and always thought they were stupid or overlooking the actual problem. ‘do this and this’ or that and that, and I sit there thinking I CAN’T. This article had some nice original tips that I actually followed and really did make me feel a bit better. Cheers, diving into what will probably be a 3 hour case study.

August 22, 2020 at 10:14 pm

Nicely explain each tips and those are practical thanks for sharing. Dr.Achyut More

November 11, 2020 at 12:34 pm

Thanks a lot! It was very helpful!

November 15, 2020 at 9:11 am

I keep catching myself procrastinating today. I started reading this yesterday, but then I realized I was procrastinating, so I stopped to finish it today. Thank you for all the great tips.

November 30, 2020 at 5:15 pm

Woow this is so great. Thanks so much Daniel

December 3, 2020 at 3:13 am

These tips were very helpful!

December 18, 2020 at 11:54 am

Procrastination is a major problem of mine, and this, this is very helpful. It is very motivational, now I think I can complete my work.

December 28, 2020 at 2:44 pm

Daniel Wong: When you’re doing your homework, is your super-comfortable bed just two steps away? Me: Nope, my super-comfortable bed is one step away. (But I seriously can’t study anywhere else. If I go to the dining table, my mum would be right in front of me talking loudly on the phone with colleagues and other rooms is an absolute no. My mum doesn’t allow me to go outside. Please give me some suggestions. )

September 19, 2022 at 12:14 pm

I would try and find some noise cancelling headphones to play some classical music or get some earbuds to ignore you mum lol

March 1, 2021 at 5:46 pm

Thank you very much. I highly appreciate it.

May 12, 2023 at 3:38 am

This is great advice. My little niece is now six years old and I like to use those nice cheap child friendly workbooks with her. This is done in order to help her to learn things completely on her own. I however prefer to test her on her own knowledge however. After a rather quick demonstration in the lesson I then tend to give her two simple questions to start off with. And it works a treat. Seriously. I love it. She loves it. The exam questions are for her to answer on her own on a notepad. If she can, she will receive a gold medal and a box of sweets. If not she only gets a plastic toy. We do this all the time to help her understand. Once a week we spend up to thirty minutes in a math lesson on this technique for recalling the basic facts. I have had a lot of great success with this new age technique. So I’m going to carry on with it for now.

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to do homework: 15 expert tips and tricks.

Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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The Case Against Grading Homework

When homework is meaningful and contributes to their learning, students are more likely to complete it.

As a middle school teacher, I sometimes spot students huddled up in the school hallway before class frantically copying homework. A teacher can stop to intervene, as I have done dozens of times, but we all know that they’ll just find a new place to copy the work away from the observant eyes of the adults at school. This is clearly academic dishonesty, and it’s easy to point the finger at the students. But what is the root cause of this dishonest behavior?

The student who is copying their homework either didn’t have time to complete it, forgot to do it, or doesn’t care to do it. They are copying the work so they can earn, most likely, a completion grade on the assignment. Students know the drill—if it looks like they did the assignment, then that’s good enough for a completion check mark in the grade book.

Is the student concerned that it’s imperative to review and practice this material in order to do well on the subsequent assessments in class? Is the student concerned that they will be found out during a rich conversation about the exercises in class? Probably not, or else the student would not resort to simply copying the work.

What are we doing as teachers to make homework worthwhile for the students beyond the typical completion grade?

3 Ways to Motivate Students to Do Ungraded Homework

1. Make assignments meaningful. Teachers and students alike know that practice is necessary to perform well. It would be hard to argue with an athletic coach that going to practice is not necessary, and instead, it’s fine to just show up to the game and wing it.

”Practice > scrimmage > game” is a helpful metaphor that the educators at Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, use to describe their school’s homework/assessment grading structure. Like team practice, homework is assigned for the purpose of practicing and reviewing—and to further the metaphor, practices are not graded, of course. Scrimmages can be compared to quizzes or other lower-stakes assessments. Lastly, the game is the culminating summative assessment such as a project or test.

Using this metaphor borrowed from athletics, it’s clear that students must practice and review to perform their best for the big game.

Beyond sharing this metaphor with your students, sometimes it takes explicit explanation from the teacher for the students to see this connection. “Tonight you are assigned 15 various conjugation exercises to help you prepare for your mock job interview project. Both partners will need to be proficient with simple past tense to conduct the interview.” If a student wants to engage appropriately in their upcoming French interview project, they will be motivated to review their ​​passé simple conjugations.

2. Feedback doesn’t have to be a grade. A sixth-grade student once told me that she completed all her math homework, but she never knew if she did it right. If I were in her math class, I would be unmotivated to do any of my homework.

Beyond providing an answer key so that students can self-check that they are on the right track with their work, teachers can also engage in meaningful feedback on homework. This might look like students randomly posting problems and their work on the board, students discussing problems in small groups, or providing time in class for students to ask about any questions they were unsure about. (Read more about how to create a mistake-friendly classroom here .)

I find that when I follow homework with a rich discussion the next day, students are more likely to complete their assignments. They know they cannot fully participate in the discussion unless they have their work with them at that moment. When homework is followed with feedback, students can close the loop on how they are performing with a concept, without having to be assigned a grade.

3. Students are still held accountable even if homework isn’t graded. Cathy Vatterott, author of Rethinking Homework , writes for the Association of Middle Level Education , “Teachers who don’t grade homework still monitor completion of assignments and communicate with parents about missing work. They just don’t count it as part of the student’s grade.” Teachers can keep a record of homework completion to inform conversations with parents and caregivers.

A teacher might share this information with a parent: “Emma struggled with simplifying fractions on her recent quiz. She was assigned two practice assignments on this topic last week, but she only brought one to class. It is important that she keep up with the daily practice to improve with this concept.”

There are several ways to keep a record of student work without assigning a grade. Laila I. McCloud, director of the MEd in Higher Education Program at Grand Valley State University, writes in the article “ Keeping Receipts: Thoughts on Ungrading from a Black Woman Professor ,” “I keep receipts in the following ways: having students engage in peer review of their work, providing detailed feedback, and using course engagement reflections.”

Instructional coach Tyler Rablin suggests a team-style game to get students engaged with the previous night’s homework or allow the students to use their homework (with feedback) as an aid on a future assessment. “Accountability doesn’t just have to mean an added consequence, but it can be a much more authentic and natural consequence (both positive or negative) for the homework.”

There will always be pushback from teachers, administrators, and parents who claim that students will not complete the assignment if it’s not graded. To counter this argument, there will always be students who won’t do the assignment whether it’s graded or not. When homework isn’t graded, a student’s average in the class reflects only what they know and can do in class—a more equitable reflection of a student’s progress .

With meaningful assignments and robust feedback, students may be more motivated to engage with practice and review. Reflect on ways you can shift your students’ perspective on homework. If students are regularly not completing the work you’re assigning, ask for feedback on how the assignments can become more meaningful and beneficial to their learning.

A lot of teachers are working on new approaches to homework in an attempt to guide students to focus on their learning rather than grades . If you have strategies you’ve had some success with, or if you have questions that other educators might be able to help with, please share them in the comments.

3 steps for overcoming student laziness

“Today I don’t feel like doing anything. I just wanna lay in my bed” – Bruno Mars (The Lazy Song)

Ah, the classic lazy syndrome…let’s not lie, it’s something we all feel from time to time. For some of us, it’s actually how we feel EVERY TIME a task is presented – It can wait. Netflix and chill for just a little longer . But unfortunately, laziness can be a real grade-killer. It sucks the fun out of studying and makes us work overtime. Not to mention, it causes unnecessary stress, and in extreme cases, can even destroy our surrounding relationships. Going hand-in-hand with procrastination, laziness fills any task with dread and prohibits our potential as successful individuals.

What exactly precipitates us to be lazy and to prioritize leisure before work? Why are we excited to play videogames or watch movies, but the mere thought of any form of studying triggers thoughts of self-pity and despair? Studies show there are multiple factors that discourage us from getting off our butts and finishing tasks at hand, but among the top few are those most familiar to us.

The lack of motivation, no sense of urgency, and a fear of stepping outside our comfort zones represent factors that lull us into laziness. That being said, the answer to overcoming our slothfulness may be something we’ve heard one too many times…

“I will always find a lazy person to do the job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” – Bill Gates

Even Bill Gates, considered one of the most successful people on the planet, recognises a lazy person’s true potential.

So what’s the secret to unlocking said potential? What is the ultimate secret to overcoming laziness and not just achieving, but thrashing our goals? The truth is…

THERE IS NO SECRET!!

That’s right! We said it! You have to get out of your comfort zone, put in a significant amount of effort and make a change in your lifestyle to overcome lazy habits. Research shows that the top habits of successful students include planning your study and assignments, avoiding procrastination and eliminating distractions. With these hefty truth bombs dropped, we do have some measure of freedom to create our journey in overcoming laziness. Here are three steps students can take to (actually) overcome laziness.

1. Unleash the Beast!

Unleash your hidden energy by getting excited about the future possibilities. The first step to overcoming laziness is to GET OUT of your rut. Picture your goals and write them down. Focus on where you want to be one year from now. Stop whining about what ‘should have been’ and focus on what ‘could be’. To kick-start your engine, watch motivational videos and listen to success stories such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson.

Consider today to be a fresh start to unlimited opportunities. If your success is measured in scoring straight A’s in all your courses, visualize and start planning. Planning your goals also requires a definite timeline and measurable results. Start with baby steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day so you don’t need to rush your goals. Create a safe space for you to grow and achieve your intended results. Once you are high on the rush of what’s to come, move to clearing clutter in every facet of life. Be it your room, your computer, or most importantly – your mind. Throw out the unused and unwanted clutter that may be hindering your progress. A bad habit like overeating, a distraction such as your favourite videogame, or even negativity in the form of bad company – it’s all gotta’ go!

2. Pull up your socks!

Once clutter is cleared, it’s time to hit full throttle. Time to pull up those socks! This crucial step is where self-discipline comes in. Warning: it’s uncomfortable, tedious, and sometimes even painful. But in the long run, discipline is what brings you success.

Start by saying NO to temporary pleasures; Facebooking when you should be studying, playing basketball when you should be completing the assignment due on Monday, or watching another episode of The Walking Dead when you should be preparing for tomorrow’s quiz. Deny yourself momentary enjoyment for future success.

Along with saying NO to temporary pleasures, we also strive to instil good habits . Do vast reading on the habits of successful people. Read biographies of famous people and historical events. Keep to your schedule. Get a good night’s rest and start your morning by fixing a healthy breakfast. Outline your timetable and be detailed and deliberate about it. In every way possible, stick to the timetable down to the minute.

Keep your emotions in check . The younger you are, the more volatile your emotions. As laziness and emotion are correlated, we have to make sure our emotions are not the deciding factors to our actions. Don’t put off the day’s tasks of the day just because you “don’t feel like doing them”. Remember that when the going gets tough, the tough get going . It also helps greatly to work smart. Working smart means thinking creatively on how to manage your time as a student. Consult fellow students who achieve good grades and ask them how they do it. Pick up valuable tips and try them. Rest assured, you’ll gain much more than just the strength to overcome the demon that is your laziness.

3. Be sure to self-review

When moving forward, it’s always good to take a glance back at the past. With every small step you take to fight laziness, look back and see how far you have come. As time goes on, you’ll look back on everything you’ve achieved, fighting back that laziness and making sweet, sweet progress. Not only will this build confidence, it will also drive you to succeed as an honourable student. After the self-check, it’s important that you reward yourself accordingly.

Laziness is a negative, almost parasitic trait we must all fight to overcome. For some of us, it takes a while to truly win the battle. But have faith that you can do it! Follow these 3 steps and soon your laziness will be but a figment of the past.

This article was written by Joel Vijay from  iPrice  Group

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What To Do If I Am Too Lazy To Do Homework: 4 Useful Suggestions

Laziness gets to us all at one point or another. We just have to find ways to overcome it and power through. While laziness can be powerful, it is just a temporary feeling. It can often be overcome by simple force of will. The reach of real will power can be endless as long as you want to accomplish what you are trying to do, you can use will power and a few tricks to stop being lazy and start doing the work that needs to be done. Here are a few useful suggestions to overcoming it with will power.

Useful Suggestions

• Find motivation
• Stick to a schedule
• Do it as soon as you get home
• Do it in order

Find Motivation

Whatever in life you aspire to, even if it is just not being grounded for bad grades, use it to become motivated to do your work. If you want to get into a better college than you will need to get good grades first, which requires doing your schoolwork. No matter what you need to do to accomplish your work, use it to drive you to succeed and do the work required of you.

Stick to a Schedule

Make sure that you schedule all of your work. There are planners both in print and online now that can be used to track homework needs. If you stick to a strict schedule then you will be just fine. As long as you don’t use excuses to skip times on the schedule then you should be able to stay on track.

Do It As Soon As You Get Home

It is best to get all of your work done as soon as you get home so that it is out of the way. This way you don’t have time to procrastinate.

Do It in Order

Make sure to do the work due soonest first and work on any projects in small amounts over as much time as you have. Doing work this way is best for productivity. Being productive is a great way to combat laziness.

All of these tips are great ways to get your work done and combat being too lazy to work. Laziness happens to the best of us but using all of these strategies will help you to be able to do your work and keep your grades up.

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Procrastination

Why does my teen procrastinate, it's probably not due to laziness..

Posted June 25, 2020 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• What Is Procrastination?
• Find a therapist near me

I was sitting on my couch recently, staring at my phone with my computer open on my lap. A text popped up from a teenaged client struggling with anxiety . She wrote something to the effect of, “How do I make myself do my homework? I know I need to, but I am just too lazy.”

Part of me wanted to laugh since the reason I was staring at my phone was that I, too, was procrastinating. I wanted to be working on an article I was in the middle of writing, but I couldn’t quite motivate myself to open the document. My phone was much easier.

I don’t think there is a person out there who hasn’t found themselves procrastinating at some point. I am a particular fan of what I have termed “productive procrastination .” That is when I do something productive like organizing my linen closet instead of doing the more pressing, time-sensitive task I am avoiding. I rationalize that the productive task needs to be done, but the truth is, it really doesn’t.

Procrastination is not an easy habit to break. Calling yourself lazy actually makes it harder to break. The task is made even more difficult when teenagers hear adult voices calling them lazy. In general, insulting ourselves and others reduces motivation rather than increases it. In the case of procrastination, it is also an inaccurate insult. Procrastination is rarely a problem of laziness. It is actually a problem related to emotion regulation .

We put things off because it is difficult to tolerate a feeling that the activity elicits. In my case and my client’s, we were procrastinating in order to avoid the anxiety evoked by what we needed to do.

In my client’s case, she is a high-achieving student who has fallen behind while she struggles with panic attacks. Doing homework (which she is very capable of) raises her anxiety in the short-term because she is confronted with the knowledge that she is behind.

My procrastination was fueled by the anxiety I feel when I don’t know exactly what I want to write. I hate staring at a page when I'm stuck! It makes me anxious and a bit insecure about the possibility of failure. Writing is fun for me, but uncertainty is not.

Procrastination isn’t a personality flaw or a time- management issue. It's a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom , anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt, and more. We procrastinate because our short-term need for a better mood outweighs our long-term need to complete the task. This need is even greater in adolescents whose emotions are less manageable. Many teens use procrastination as a maladaptive way to ward off unpleasant emotions.

I will openly admit that I have not found a cure for this behavior, as evidenced by my recent procrastination as well as the difficulty therapists have assisting clients to eliminate the habit. However, I do find a few approaches helpful for myself, and I encourage parents to apply them in handling their teens’ procrastination.

• Try to mindful of what emotion your teen is avoiding instead of what task he or she is avoiding. In that way, you can work together on soothing the emotion instead of either parent or child focusing on the “lazy” insult.
• Explain to teens the fact that avoidance reduces the emotion in the short-term but only increases it in the long term. That encourages them to confront the activity with the knowledge that they are saving themselves from longer-term discomfort.
• I am a huge fan of setting up small rewards as motivation. Plan a fun activity for when your teen is finished, and reward smaller steps on the way to completion with small rewards (I like a chocolate break). Encourage your teen to set up their own rewards.
• Most importantly, set smaller goals to allow a feeling of success. We are much more motivated to continue when we feel we have accomplished something. For example, I encouraged my client to set a goal of completing one math problem instead of telling herself she had to completely catch up. She knew she could do that and could, therefore, avoid the anxiety without avoiding the task completely.

Our teens will likely continue to procrastinate at times. We will too. Yet everyone will make more progress in breaking the habit if we separate the act from the label of “lazy.”

Alisa Crossfield, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist practicing at The Dialectical and Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center in Westport, Connecticut.

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At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

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Because differences are our greatest strength

Homework anxiety: Why it happens and how to help

By Gail Belsky

Expert reviewed by Jerome Schultz, PhD

Quick tips to help kids with homework anxiety

Quick tip 1, try self-calming strategies..

Try some deep breathing, gentle stretching, or a short walk before starting homework. These strategies can help reset the mind and relieve anxiety. 

Quick tip 2

Set a time limit..

Give kids a set amount of time for homework to help it feel more manageable. Try using the “10-minute rule” that many schools use — that’s 10 minutes of homework per grade level. And let kids know it’s OK to stop working for the night.

Quick tip 3

Cut out distractions..

Have kids do homework in a quiet area. Turn off the TV, silence cell phones, and, if possible, limit people coming and going in the room or around the space.

Quick tip 4

Start with the easiest task..

Try having kids do the easiest, quickest assignments first. That way, they’ll feel good about getting a task done — and may be less anxious about the rest of the homework.

Quick tip 5

Use a calm voice..

When kids feel anxious about homework, they might get angry, yell, or cry. Avoid matching their tone of voice. Take a deep breath and keep your voice steady and calm. Let them know you’re there for them. 

Sometimes kids just don’t want to do homework. They complain, procrastinate, or rush through the work so they can do something fun. But for other kids, it’s not so simple. Homework may actually give them anxiety.

It’s not always easy to know when kids have homework anxiety. Some kids may share what they’re feeling when you ask. But others can’t yet identify what they’re feeling, or they're not willing to talk about it.

Homework anxiety often starts in early grade school. It can affect any child. But it’s an especially big issue for kids who are struggling in school. They may think they can’t do the work. Or they may not have the right support to get it done. 

Keep in mind that some kids may seem anxious about homework but are actually anxious about something else. That’s why it’s important to keep track of when kids get anxious and what they were doing right before. The more you notice what’s happening, the better you can help.

Dive deeper

What homework anxiety looks like.

Kids with homework anxiety might:

Find excuses to avoid homework

Lie about homework being done

Get consistently angry about homework

Be moody or grumpy after school

Complain about not feeling well after school or before homework time

Cry easily or seem overly sensitive

Be afraid of making even small mistakes

Shut down and not want to talk after school

Say “I can’t do it!” before even trying

Learn about other homework challenges kids might be facing . 

Why kids get homework anxiety

Kids with homework anxiety are often struggling with a specific skill. They might worry about falling behind their classmates. But there are other factors that cause homework anxiety: 

Test prep: Homework that helps kids prepare for a test makes it sound very important. This can raise stress levels.

Perfectionism: Some kids who do really well in a subject may worry that their work “won’t be good enough.”

Trouble managing emotions: For kids who easily get flooded by emotions, homework can be a trigger for anxiety. 

Too much homework: Sometimes kids are anxious because they have more work than they can handle.

Use this list to see if kids might have too much homework .

When kids are having homework anxiety, families, educators, and health care providers should work together to understand what’s happening. Start by sharing notes on what you’re seeing and look for patterns . By working together, you’ll develop a clearer sense of what’s going on and how to help.

Parents and caregivers: Start by asking questions to get your child to open up about school . But if kids are struggling with the work itself, they may not want to tell you. You’ll need to talk with your child’s teacher to get insight into what’s happening in school and find out if your child needs help in a specific area.

Explore related topics

The Only Question Lazy People Need to Ask Themselves Today

I’m not usually a procrastinator , but even I have days where I dread the simplest of tasks. There have been times when it feels impossible to churn out an article for an upcoming deadline, and it’s during those periods where I feel irreparably lazy —unmotivated, unproductive, and unfit for my job. Although this doesn’t happen all the time (certainly not every day), it’s enough to question whether or not my love for editorial is sufficient in combatting my occasional urge to do nothing.

Then I read this Better Humans piece by Tony Stubblebine about the topic. In it, Stubblebine discusses his own relationship with laziness and says that because he never felt any excitement or interest in doing homework growing up, he just assumed he was lazy. When in actuality, he just wasn’t passionate about his schoolwork.

And that got me thinking: How many times has one slow day made me feel as though laziness were hardwired into my character? Why should a single moment define me and drown out all the times that I did show up, work hard, and excel?

According to Stubblebine, it’s easy to throw up your hands and surrender to this supposed character flaw, but it’s more helpful to take a step back and look at what’s making certain tasks so hard to finish. In the section that resonated the most with me, he says:

It’s also useful to examine the parts of our lives that seem hard. Are those hard things hard because you’re not interested in them?

And this point here is key: You’re probably not lazy at all. Instead, look at those slow moments when you feel like doing something is unreasonably more difficult than it should be. Chances are, you’re just disinterested. You’re just not that into it.

“The point I wanted to make to you was to consider what stories you’re telling yourself about what you can’t do,” he explains. “Are any of those really just situations of disinterest that you’re spinning into personal failings?”

That’s when I looked back at my own instances of so-called unwillingness to get work done. Usually, it’s because I’m writing on a topic that my heart’s not completely in. Stubblebine agrees: “Perhaps you’re not lazy, or grossly unmotivatable—you’re just not tapping into those things that get you going. That’s not a value judgment on you, but rather a situation.”

On the other hand, whenever I’m able to realize that a topic isn’t the right one for me, pivoting in a new direction with the piece usually does the trick. Ask yourself what minor thing you can do to add some intrigue to the boring project or task on hand and see if it helps motivate you.

Whatever you do, the next time you’re feeling like you can’t get going—when you can’t get yourself to wake up in the morning or when you have a particularly uninteresting task to do—don’t beat yourself up about it. Instead, think about what it is that’s making it so hard for you to muster up motivation.

Pinpointing this won’t necessarily get you out of doing uninspiring work, but at least you won’t be so hard on yourself for feeling lazy.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

I use ChatGPT to do my homework – teachers are too lazy to check

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When 16-year-old student Fiore realised an English essay was due the next day, his first thought wasn’t to open a book and cram the assignment into an all-nighter. 

After all, it’s 2024.

Instead, he got ChatGPT to save his bacon by writing the entire essay for him within seconds. All he had to do was input the assignment criteria, the required number of paragraphs and formatting information before letting the AI chatbot do the rest. 

Describing this process as ‘incredibly easy’, Fiore has since submitted at least five essays this way and, he tells Metro.co.uk, has no regrets. 

‘I started using ChatGPT because it’s much easier than actually doing work and my grade was already suffering,’ admits the teen. ‘Most of the time the essays are just English assignments that I simply don’t feel like doing, or based off reading material I don’t want to read.’

While ChatGPT generates ‘pretty convincing’ essays, Fiore always proofreads them and occasionally edits a few words so that they sound ‘more organic’. And whatever he’s doing works, he adds, as they’re bringing in better grades, too. 

No regrets 

Although many people would fear plagiarism detectors or eagle-eyed lecturers spotting AI-generated essays , Fiore isn’t afraid of getting caught.

In fact, he doesn’t believe that his teachers ‘will go through the effort of checking’ essays for ChatGPT-generated content , saying that his school ‘doesn’t explicitly say anything against AI use’.

And while his parents don’t know he uses ChatGPT for his schoolwork, he doesn’t think they would ‘necessarily care’. 

‘I will absolutely be using ChatGPT for assignments to come, English or not,’ the student says adamantly. 

It’s a move Chris Carron, CEO of plagiarism detection software company Turnitin, warns against, however. He says that using AI to ‘outsource their homework and essays’, can affect students’ ability to ‘learn or build critical thinking and communication skills’ that will be needed beyond school.

‘This new shortcut may be tempting in a pinch, but it will set them up for failure in the workplace,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.

However, it could be a little too late. After analysing 200 million essays, Turnitin found that more than one in ten comprised at least 20% AI-generated text. Six million had at least 80% AI content.

Legitimate use

Not all students are using AI to cheat, though – and not are all using ChatGPT, with a range of similar models available including Google’s Gemini . Many view this technology as a tool to assist their studies and enhance their learning.

23-year-old Elizabeth, who is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism, regularly uses ChatGPT in her works. She says the chatbot helps her better understand complex academic reading materials by simplifying hard-to-understand text.

She has also found uses for it in essay writing, inputting paragraphs and asking the AI tool to rephrase her writing to make it ‘more succinct’ – something some may consider cheating, or at least questionable.  

The software also helps her find sources when researching essays, adds Elizabeth. 

‘ I started using it a few months after it came into popular use,’ she tells Metro.co.uk. ‘I was definitely worried about things like plagiarism at first, but mostly when I was talking about it with other people. 

I would say I felt conflicted but only before I’d actually seen for myself the ways it would be useful and what its limitations would be.’ 

Since then, the student has learned how to use the tool responsibly, which her lecturers even discussed in talks.

Elizabeth says the use of AI among her peers is ‘pretty common now’. She’s heard stories of people getting in trouble for misusing the technology and says there’s a sense of shame surrounding such uses.

But she believes there is a fine line between using ChatGPT to inspire essay writing and using it ‘as a substitute for studying or as a shortcut in essay writing’.

Elizabeth continues: ‘I never copy and paste their output, but it gives me a blueprint to go off of to write more clearly.

‘As a student, it helps to have something that can break down very abstract concepts.’

Supporting disabled students

Maya Seth, a 22-year-old public relations executive, was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was 11 and, because of her condition, found it hard to keep pace with reading materials during her design degree.

While Maya received one-to-one support from her university, she also used ChatGPT to comprehend in-depth academic text. 

Asking ChatGPT to summarise academic articles enabled her to determine the ‘key points’, she explains. This helped her save time as she could ‘quickly work out if an article was worth reading’ in the first place. 

‘Studying a creative subject, AI was also a great way to get over creative blocks by using it as a way to make my blank page less blank,’ she says.

‘I didn’t use anything the AI produced, but it was a good thought-provoking starting point.’

But as this technology isn’t always accurate, Maya says it’s important to ‘read the whole article, not just the AI summary’.

She advises: ‘Students can use the tools ethically by being transparent about their AI use and ensuring against misinformation through fact checking with credible sources.’

Since leaving university in 2023, Maya is now exploring ways it can help her in the workplace as part of an AI working group at her company. She adds: ‘I think ChatGPT is a great tool that we all need to work out how to use ethically.’

It’s not just students

Educators can also find uses for AI tools. Last year, education secretary Gillian Keegan said the tech could do the ‘heavy lifting’ for teachers by marking students’ homework and planning lessons.

They are already using AI software for creating annual school reports with the click of a button, and one school has even appointed an AI headteacher

Minty Pester, an art and media lecturer at a Welsh college, says artificial intelligence is allowing him to ‘speed up admin tasks’ and ‘plan units of work’.

The technology is also helping him provide students with tailored support, he says. 

He explains: ‘AI makes it quick and easy to change the level something is aimed at or to create something new for individuals with specific areas of improvement.’

With AI rapidly transforming the workplace, Minty believes that understanding technology is just as important as maths or digital literacy for students. 

He calls it a ‘vital skill’ that allows students ‘to be more creative with their ideas, to explore concepts and find research that they might not have thought to look for’.

‘The idea is to use it as a tool, not to generate work for the student – they still need to demonstrate their own knowledge and understanding for their qualifications,’ he says.

But is it ethical?

While AI is delivering benefits for both students and teachers, there are obvious ethical implications and technical constraints to consider. 

Jade McLellan, deputy head pastoral at St Dunstan’s College, believes that educators should teach ‘young people about the ethics of AI development’, helping them understand ‘how to use it, but also limit and control it’.

However, Minty says a potential downside of using AI as an educational tool could be ‘a shift in priorities’.

He warns that some may view AI usage as ‘people getting lazy’ or ‘not holding on to information or having the same level of literacy skill’, just like predictive text may affect someone’s ability to spell on their own. 

Minty has also caught students submitting AI-generated work, which he says can result in them being disciplined for plagiarism or ‘losing their whole qualification’.

He says teachers can detect AI-generated essays by looking for ‘change[s] in sentence structure, abundance of adjectives, use of bullet point lists and higher level writing’. 

‘I have caught students trying to pass off work as their own that has been created by AI, luckily for them it was spotted before their final submissions so I could let them know that it needed redoing,’ he adds. 

‘Students that try and ‘get away’ with a copy and paste assignment tend to put as much effort into their prompts as they do writing their own work, and it shows.’

Because the large language models powering ChatGPT and other AI tools are trained on large datasets, there are also data privacy concerns. 

Minty says both students and educators should refrain from entering sensitive information or copyrighted work into these tools. 

‘We can get around this by using ‘closed’ AI tools that don’t take or store the inputs such as Microsoft Copilot,’ he adds.

Educators used to more traditional teaching methods may struggle to understand AI technology and use it incorrectly, too.

One professor in Texas ran his students’ essays through ChatGPT to see if the AI chatbot had written them , failing many students after it said ‘yes’. But it turns out ChatGPT was actually lying . 

‘Despite the widespread adoption of AI in the classroom, teachers require more support and guidance to identify AI usage and introduce good practices into the classroom,’ says Jason Tomlinson, managing director at edtech company RM Technology. 

‘In fact, research by RM Technology found that a third of teachers believe their students have a better understanding of AI than they do.’

When it comes to addressing ‘this knowledge gap’,  he says the education system must develop regulatory policies on AI use, collaborate with experts from the private sector and improve the accessibility of teacher training schemes.

And, as 17-year-old Eastbourne College student Reuben Booth found out, AI tools like ChatGPT can generate ‘verbose’ answers that ‘lack practical sense’.

‘Its responses could therefore be easily noticed by my teachers and it generally doesn’t allow me to access high marks in my work,’ the teenager explains.

‘I once asked Chat GPT to summarise a long document, which I couldn’t apprehend, into bullet points. However, I found that this meant the understanding of the text I gained was limited, leaving me with no choice but to re-trace my steps and make my own bullet points to work out the text adequately.

‘I would opt against using Chat GPT, most notably because it often doesn’t provide me with answers that contain the precision and specific knowledge that the mark schemes require in all my individual subjects.’

Considering both the opportunities and downsides of AI use in education, Chris, CEO of Turnitin, encourages the sector to ‘experiment with leveraging AI in all teacher and student work’.

Doing so will help educators clarify ‘where and how AI can help with productivity or quality of teaching materials’, he says. 

He concludes: ‘We’re hearing of significant productivity gains for teachers, creating more time for teaching and working with students.’

MORE : Why are we using AI to create women with big boobs?

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I'm just too tired to do homework/study after school every day

I'm a senior in high school. Because I have debate practice every day after school except Fridays, I don't get to leave school until around 5:45pm, but because of traffic I usually don't get home until 6:30pm. Naturally the first thing I do when I get home is take a long shower and eat dinner until about 7:30 and by that point, I'm just pooped. I have no motivation to study or do homework and all I want to do is go to bed. So far I've been sustaining that by doing most of my homework/studying in the mornings when I get to school (I wake up at 6am to get to school by 7:30am, but I don't have a class until 8:45am—at least for first semester) but I feel like that's just not sustainable partly because I'm still not exactly functioning so early in the morning, I'd much rather start my day in a more enjoyable manner than scrambling to catch up on homework, and I'll have a class at 8am second semester.

Does anyone have any tips on what I can do to not find the energy/motivation to actually do homework and study after school?