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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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How to Focus on Homework to Get It Done on Time

By Dr. Robert Gordon, CPC   |  05/16/2023

For many students, one of the most difficult parts of their academic journey is figuring out how to manage their time and stay focused. It isn't just a challenge for school students in modern education – many working professionals also struggle with successful time management!

Therefore, mastering time management skills as a student can not only benefit you during your academic pursuits, but also throughout your professional career. It's important for students to learn how to focus on homework so they're completing assignments on time and not rushing through the learning process.

Yet despite your best efforts and planning, there will likely come a time when you find yourself running out of time to complete homework assignments.

How to Focus on Homework When You're Almost Out of Time

Is your homework deadline fast approaching? Are you unsure how you're going to complete an assignment in time? If you find yourself in this situation, the first recommended action is to assess the remaining time before the homework is due.

Depending on how many hours you have before the deadline, you might still be able to focus on homework to complete it on time. I would recommend at least doing some work on your assignment to get it going.

If you decide to ask the instructor for an extension, there's no guarantee they'll grant it to you. If you don't receive an extension, you should try to submit something, even if it's incomplete. Any score is better than a zero or incomplete.

5 Steps to Help You Focus on Homework That's Due Soon

Here is some advice about how to complete homework when your time is limited.

Tip #1: Eliminate Distractions and Find a Creative Environment

Start by eliminating any distractions that might prevent you from being able to focus on homework. Turn off your phone or other media devices and do not visit distracting websites, like social media platforms or online gaming sites. These harmful distractions will only prevent you from being able to maintain your focus on homework.

Also, gather your study supplies and find a quiet study space where you can focus on homework without a lot of background noise. If you can't find a quiet place, consider playing white noise or calm music such as classical music from classical composers – whatever you prefer listening to that helps you maintain focus!

Such music or other calming sounds can help drown out loud conversations or other distractions. That elimination of distractions is particularly beneficial if you're working in public places like coffee shops or libraries.

As you prepare to focus for a long period of time, remember that you'll need to still take care of yourself and you likely won't be able to complete your homework in one sitting. The human brain needs sustenance and breaks, especially if you're staring at a computer screen for several hours.

Be sure to pack healthy snacks and a water bottle. If you start to feel tired, start to fall asleep, or find your mind wandering, take a short break to get fresh air and get your blood flowing. Eating healthy snacks can help keep you awake and allow your brain to focus on homework.

I recommend scheduling a break ahead of time so you have something to look forward to and maintain focus during allotted work times. Giving your brain and body a break periodically will help you feel awake and stay motivated in the long run so you can continue to focus on completing your homework.

Also, be sure to communicate your homework study plan to a family member or others around you. They are more likely to give you space and limit distractions if they know you are busy and need some quiet time to stay focused on getting your homework assignments done.

Tip #2: Divide a Homework Assignment into Manageable Tasks

Break your school assignment down into smaller tasks. Make a list of what needs to be done for that particular assignment, set priorities to focus on, and start at the top of your list.

Many times, a written project will require some library research. Preparing for a test might mean reviewing notes, flashcards, and course materials. A list of necessary tasks will help you stay organized, stay focused, and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Tip #3: Seek Out Assistance

When it comes to homework, you don't have to go it alone. Many universities provide online resources to help out. Online libraries may provide resource material or special learning tools that can help you expedite your research efforts and help you through the educational process.

Perhaps you can find a study buddy from your class to help you do your homework quicker or share study notes. Meeting in a group study room, for example, may help you stay accountable, minimize distractions, and, ultimately, stay focused on completing your schoolwork.

Most universities also provide tutoring services. Reaching out to a tutor assumes you have at least a day or two before turning in your assignment, so if you've got limited time it will likely be hard to schedule time with a tutor. However, if your instructor approves an extension for the assignment, working with a tutor can be an excellent part of your plan to complete your homework.

Leveraging these school resources and support can help you understand your assigned material better, maintain focus, and often complete work faster.

Tip #4: If You Are Granted an Extended Deadline, Stick with It

If your instructor agrees to extend your deadline and submit work late, adhere to that deadline. Set time aside to complete all the tasks for that one assignment and hold yourself accountable.

If you run behind on one task, you must work even harder to stay on track. Keeping to a task list, establishing a study routine, and having progressive deadlines will help you maintain focus and stay motivated.

Tip #5: Review and Edit Your Work Thoroughly

Be sure to carefully proofread and edit any written school assignments, especially if you’re running late. Checking over your work before submitting it makes you more likely to catch any errors or mistakes.

Many times, the best way to find errors is to read your paper aloud. Once you hear what you’ve written, your mistakes will be evident.

In addition, consider using a tool like Grammarly to help edit your work. You can also have someone else read the paper and offer comments. If there is enough time, a tutor can also be used to edit your class assignments.

Uh-Oh, Homework Is Due Soon: How to Ask for an Extension

If a homework assignment is due in mere hours, contact your instructor immediately to explain your situation and request more time.

But before you email, text, or call your instructor, take some time to do research and make a reasonable proposal. You should review your class syllabus or course materials regarding class assignment deadlines and late penalties.

Some universities have a policy not to accept homework turned in three to seven days after a deadline, so knowing the parameters of being late is critical for your request to the instructor. For example, if school policy does not allow an instructor to accept late work after three days, then it is not a good idea to propose turning in your work a week after the deadline.

When you contact your instructor, offer the instructor a new deadline for your work and ask about late penalties. Those late penalties are usually in the syllabus or course materials, but instructors often have some leeway in enforcing them. Getting an instructor’s agreement in writing will be helpful if anything goes wrong or if the instructor forgets the deal regarding the late schoolwork.

Be Sure to Tell Your Instructor Why Class Assignments Will Be Late

You should also explain the reason for your inability to complete the assignment. Always tell the truth, as karma has a way of catching up with people. There could be unusual circumstances or disruptions in your life, such as:

• Changes in work
• New military orders or work assignments
• Family problems
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Other life events

I would not recommend claiming that you do not understand the assignment as your excuse for being late. If you did not understand your class assignment, why are you waiting until hours before it is due to ask questions?

If you are in a situation where the deadline is very close, read the assignment a couple of times to ensure you understand it. If you have a question about your class assignment, you can ask your professor when you request an extension.

However, there's a good chance you may not get a response from them until after the assignment is due. In the future, read the assignment at the start of the week and ask a question about it then.

Granting Extensions Depend on the Instructor, But It's Worth Asking

As an instructor, I typically stick to what is stated in the syllabus or course materials when I’m choosing to impose penalties for late work. However, there are some cases where I am flexible. Getting an agreement in writing ensures you get what you expect, rather than having your instructor forget about the reason you’re late with your class assignments.  

The process of asking for an extension will be difficult, and there is no guarantee that your teacher will accept late work. Some classes and instructors are adamant about not accepting late work. I would still recommend asking before the deadline, as you might be successful.

By following the advice I have recommended, you can hopefully complete your schoolwork on time and avoid late submission penalties on homework assignments.

If you do need to ask your instructor for an extension, remember that they are not obligated to grant it to you. Be ready to accept the lost points and work harder on your remaining school assignments.

By making a few easy changes in your homework preparation and planning, you can hopefully avoid needing to rush through homework assignments or asking for an extension. Learning how to focus on homework assignments in advance may help you enjoy the learning process more and complete coursework on time.

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

• September 15, 2022

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.

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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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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., 8 easy ways to finish your homework faster.

How many times have you found yourself still staring at your textbook around midnight (or later!) even when you started your homework hours earlier? Those lost hours could be explained by Parkinson’s Law, which states, “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” In other words, if you give yourself all night to memorize those geometry formulas for your quiz tomorrow, you’ll inevitably find that a 30 minute task has somehow filled your entire evening.

We know that you have more homework than ever. But even with lots and lots to do, a few tweaks to your study routine could help you spend less time getting more accomplished. Here are 8 steps to make Parkinson’s Law work to your advantage:

1. Make a list

This should be a list of everything that has to be done that evening. And we mean, everything—from re-reading notes from this morning’s history class to quizzing yourself on Spanish vocabulary.

2. Estimate the time needed for each item on your list

You can be a little ruthless here. However long you think a task will take, try shaving off 5 or 10 minutes. But, be realistic. You won’t magically become a speed reader.

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3. Gather all your gear

Collect EVERYTHING you will need for the homework you are working on (like your laptop for writing assignments and pencils for problem sets). Getting up for supplies takes you off course and makes it that much harder to get back to your homework.

The constant blings and beeps from your devices can make it impossible to focus on what you are working on. Switch off or silence your phones and tablets, or leave them in another room until it’s time to take a tech break.

Read More: How to Calculate Your GPA

5. Time yourself

Noting how much time something actually takes will help you estimate better and plan your next study session.

6. Stay on task

If you’re fact checking online, it can be so easy to surf on over to a completely unrelated site. A better strategy is to note what information you need to find online, and do it all at once at the end of the study session.

7. Take plenty of breaks

Most of us need a break between subjects or to break up long stretches of studying. Active breaks are a great way to keep your energy up. Tech breaks can be an awesome way to combat the fear of missing out that might strike while you are buried in your work, but they also tend to stretch much longer than originally intended. Stick to a break schedule of 10 minutes or so.

8. Reward yourself! 

Finish early? If you had allocated 30 minutes for reading a biology chapter and it only took 20, you can apply those extra 10 minutes to a short break—or just move on to your next task. If you stay on track, you might breeze through your work quickly enough to catch up on some Netflix.

Our best piece of advice? Keep at it. The more you use this system, the easier it will become. You’ll be surprised by how much time you can shave off homework just by focusing and committing to a distraction-free study plan.

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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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• EXPLORE Random Article

How to Enjoy Homework

Last Updated: April 19, 2023

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a private tutor in San Carlos, California. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. This article has been viewed 52,263 times.

Homework can often feel stressful and boring. Unfortunately, if you're in school it's a part of life. If you consistently dread doing homework, you should look into ways you can enjoy the task. This way, school will be more pleasant for you overall. You can start with subjects that interest you, give yourself breaks and rewards, and work on changing your mentality regarding homework in general.

Planning Homework Time

• It may help to take a few days to measure your natural ebb and flow of energy. You may find that, during late afternoon, you feel a sudden slump in energy. However, as it gets closer to the evening hours, you may suddenly have a boost in energy. Therefore, instead of doing homework after school, try to do your homework after dinner each night.
• You'll feel happier and more productive if you're studying during a time when you're experiencing a peak in energy. Homework will seem to go by faster, and you will not struggle as much to concentrate.

• You can alternate between subjects you like and dislike. This can help give you motivation while moving through subjects that bore you. For example, if you love science but hate history, do half of your science assignment, then half of your history one, and then return to science.

• Even small changes can make homework time more enjoyable. You could, for example, move your desk near the window. Natural light may lead to a more calming environment, and you can occasionally look up and enjoy the view.
• You can also think about studying outside the house. If you love hanging out at a local coffee shop, try doing your homework there. You can get a latte or a coffee as a treat as you move through your homework.

• You may have to experiment with different songs. Some songs may be distracting. If a song makes you want to get up and dance, for example, it may not the best to include on a homework playlist, as you will lose focus in your homework. Some people find that classical music is very helpful when studying.
• Not everyone can concentrate with music in the background. If you find music is making it harder for you to study, you may want to nix the playlists and focus on other means to enjoy your homework.

Giving Yourself Motivation

• Good examples of what to do during your breaks are taking walks, meditating, stretching, or getting yourself a snack.
• Many people find it's most effective to work in short spurts. You may want to plan to work in half hour to 45-minute intervals, for example, and then take a 5 to 10-minute break.
• Be careful with breaks, however. Make sure you time your breaks wisely so they don't end up running over. If you allow yourself a 10 minute Facebook break every 40 minutes, set a timer on your phone to make sure you do not end up procrastinating on social media for hours.

• Be careful who you include in a study group. While you want to be able to enjoy yourself, you also want to get work done. Choose people who are serious enough students that you won't end up distracted all night.
• Together as a group, you can brainstorm ways to have fun. For example, you can agree you'll do homework in silence for 40 minutes and then take a 15 minute break to chat.

• Be careful, however, not to do sloppy work. If you're trying to break a record, you may speed through your homework. Strive to work efficiently rather than quickly.
• Talk to your parents to see how the topic your studying may affect them in the present day.
• Be careful not to get distracted in this extra research or you’ll lose focus on your homework. Set a timer for yourself so you don’t spend too much time doing it.

Changing Your Mindset About Learning

• It can help to make a to-do list. Your studies are items you can check off the list, allowing you to relax and unwind. You'll also feel a sense of achievement with each item you check off your list.
• Stop and think about what you've accomplished when you finish your homework. Try to feel proud of yourself for getting your work done. You'll learn to work towards this sense of accomplishment in the future.

• If you dislike your writing assignments, pause and consider how good writing skills can help you get a job. If you dislike your computer class, try to keep in mind that basic computer skills will be important in college and the working world.

Expert Q&A

• If you have a friend who's a serious student, ask him or her for tips on how to make homework fun. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you are reviewing for a test, review it for 15 minutes then give yourself a break. Go back to studying for 15 minutes and then take another break. This method can help you to process the information, which in the end should result in better results! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/how-to-enjoy-studying-flow/
• ↑ https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/studying-fun.html

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10 Powerful Tips to Complete Your Homework on Time

Are you struggling to complete your homework? Perhaps you have difficulty balancing schoolwork, home duties, and studies. Many teachers believe that homework is an essential part of life.

However, I think most students would disagree. Procrastination can be the biggest reason we don’t do our homework and thinking if somebody could “ do my homework for me .“

These tips will help keep you on track and ensure you submit your assignments on time.

Tasks that appear difficult or repetitive at first glance are often ignored. It is the hardest part about doing homework. This can be overcome by simply taking out the assignment and placing it on the table.

This will help you get one step closer to completing the task.

2. A dedicated study area

You need an area that is specifically designed for each job. This is the main reason freelancers don’t get as much work done when they sleep on their beds. I’ve been there. You should have a place that is organized and allows you to do your homework.

3. Avoid distractions

Digital technology allows us to quickly access huge amounts of information. However, it also presents the challenge of increased distractions. It can distract you from your studies by constantly checking your email and getting notifications on your social media accounts. Apps that encourage concentration such as StayFocusd are a good choice. Turn off your phone and pay attention to the assignment.

4. Time Management

Each week, set aside some time to do your homework. This should be done when you feel alert. This time should be used each day to complete any outstanding assignments. Prioritize by starting with the most urgent tasks.

5. Start with the Toughest Assignment

Everyone has their own preferences. Sometimes, you just can’t wait for the assignment to begin, while other times, it might make you sick. The hardest assignment should be completed first. Once you are done, the next tasks will be much easier.

6. Reduce It

Sometimes, a task you love can feel overwhelming. You may avoid finding the right information because of this dread. Start with an outline if you are writing an essay. Divide the report into manageable pieces and work through each one, step-by-step.

7. Take a break

You need to recharge your brain and body just as you would when you study. Most people can only concentrate for 45 minutes. Plan the time you will work, taking breaks as needed.

You will be working on the assignment for 45 mins. After each interval, you’ll take breaks of 10 minutes. During breaks, you can do anything.

8. Set up a reward system

A reward system can motivate you to continue doing what you’re doing. You can take longer breaks after working for two hours without any regular breaks. You could also watch one more episode of your favorite show. You don’t need to get a huge reward; you could just receive a piece of your favorite candy.

9. Multitasking is not a good idea

Experts from legit essay writing services advise handling each task individually. You will be less productive if you do too many things at once. You will also spend more time working on one job than you would normally need.

10. Get help

You can do the school work on your own. If necessary, seek out tutors, friends, family members, and peers to help you. Students feel more confident and self-esteem when they hand in assignments they are proud of.

Consider getting a study buddy. You can keep them updated about missed work and they could be a useful resource to aid you in your studies.

Don’t be late with your homework or find it difficult to begin your assignments. Instead, follow the tips above.

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Mom-Tested Tips for Ending Homework Battles

Posted: August 27, 2023 | Last updated: August 27, 2023

Back-to-school season means a return to making lunches, signing field trip permission slips, planning for 127 different spirit day outfits, and having to face the prospect of taming the homework beast once again. Although some experts think homework shouldn't exist at all, the truth is that most kids will face reading logs, worksheets, and book reports at some point in the near future. For some kids (and their VERY lucky parents), getting homework done is a "no drama for their mama" situation.

For other kids, on the other hand, the struggle is all too real.

There are lots of reasons homework can become a battle, so we are super grateful for the advice of other moms who've figured out how to end those fights before they start. Read on for some genius tips, including knowing when to call it quits and when to get some help.

More from CafeMom: Utah Middle School Faces Backlash Over Forcing Kids To Eat Bugs for Assignment

Different Kids, Different Needs

"My best advice is to remember what works for one kid might not work for the other. My son has always wanted to come home and do homework right away so he can get it over with and have the rest of the day to play. I learned the hard way that it is MELTDOWN CITY if my daughter doesn’t get a snack and some play time before she has to do homework. Set them up for success by figuring out what time of the afternoon/evening is best for them." – Martha D., Iowa

"Homework was so awful with my son. Like, it was taking him almost two hours to do basically two 3rd grade workbook pages and 20 minutes of reading and I was yelling, he was crying. It felt like ‘wait, this shouldn’t be so hard’ and that was accurate.

"The homework challenge was the thing that kind of clued us in that there was something more going on. He eventually got diagnosed with a learning difference and ADHD, so I think my advice is to ask for help if the level of homework battle is just beyond normal." – Lara R., Colorado

Make a Cozy Space

"I made a little homework nook in our kitchen with all the supplies they might need, comfortable chairs, and some snacks that they can help themselves to. I feel like it helps to have a welcoming space, and I usually make dinner when they are doing homework, so I can get that done but still be close by if they need help." – Jenny N., California

Watch the Screens

"Ugh. My kid’s school has them do homework on their school iPads, which I HATE. Last year it was taking my 2nd grade son forever to get his homework done and staying up too late, not getting chores done because ‘I still have homework, Mom!’.

"I eventually clued in to the fact that he was only spending like 40 minutes on homework and the rest of the time was screwing around on the iPad. Now he has to do his homework in the dining room, so I can see that he’s actually doing it. He gets done in less than an hour now." – KayCee C., Minnesota

Do the Hardest Thing First

"My suggestion is sort of basic, but it works for us: do the least fun/hardest thing first. Have a snack, do something relaxing, and then tackle the hard thing first when the brain is fresher. A lot less of battle when the worst is out of the way first." – Annie P., Arizona

Ditch the Log

"Can we just, as parents, band together and put an end to freaking reading logs? For whatever reason, all of our homework battles were around reading logs. As someone who loves reading, I hated seeing how much having to log it sucked the joy out of reading for my kids. So I just told my kids we’ll skip them.

They still read every day but not having to log it took the pressure off. It’s second grade! Who cares if they don’t turn in a reading log! Let that stuff go!" – Sasha W., Washington

More from CafeMom: Mom Puts Entire Family on 'Screen Detox' & Daughter Has Already Jumped 5 Reading Levels

"I’m strict about screen time (even for my high school kids) and our rule is simple: no screens until homework is done. We’ve done this since day one of having homework and the kids just know that we don’t budge on it. Consistency of expectations is the key!” – Laura W., Michigan

Homework Isn't Everything

"One of the things that helps our family is having a clear sense of how important homework is to us. The truth is that, with kids who are still in elementary school, it isn’t that important to us. Outside playtime, doing Legos, having fun with friends is more important to their development than homework is. So, I make it optional: they can do it when they want, if they want." – Blake E., Colorado

Always Start With a Snack

"My parenting lightbulb moment was realizing that fully 90% of my kid's post-school meltdowns (including homework ones) were because she was STARVING after school. I've started packing car snacks for her to eat on the way home and it makes everything easier once we get there." – Jamie J., Arizona

Be Realistic About Time

"Sometimes you have to give your kids permission to skip homework. Like, for us we are crazy busy on Wednesdays. We have soccer and church and there's just not time to do it. If I try to rush my 8 and 10 year olds to get homework done, everyone just gets stressed and cranky. I told their teachers that we just don't do homework on Wednesdays and they were fine with it. Saved so many tears!" - Melody D., Minnesota

Practice With a Planner

"Every Sunday, my son (he's 16) and I sit down and do his planner. He needs that extra support to help figure out how to break down doing bigger projects and how far in advance to start studying. Remember that teenage brains aren't fully developed! They don't just automatically know how to do tasks like this! Help them build the habit now so they are ready to do on their own in college." – Amy S., California

More from CafeMom: 5 Essential Conversations Moms Need To Have With Their Teens

Ask the Teacher

"When my first kid started getting homework, we were struggling. It was taking him at least two hours to get through all of it. In 1st grade! Of course there were awful meltdowns. I just assumed that was normal until I mentioned it to another mom and she was like 'uh, it should be taking like 15 minutes ..'

"I finally talked to his teacher and she confirmed that she'd never want him to be spending two hours a day on homework. We figured out some strategies around it and it got better. My advice: talk to the teacher if every home sesh is a struggle or if it is taking hours a day." – Kelly C., Indiana

"First, unless you are a single mom, don't act like a single mom! Dads need to help with the homework BS too! When we are gearing up for a homework fight, sometimes it's best if I tag out and he takes over. Some fresh parenting energy can help." – Olivia T., Rhode Island

Make Reading Fun

"For early grades, the bulk of their homework time is probably going to be reading, so finding ways to make that fun is clutch. We take reading outside or in the hammock, or even at a park just to mix it up." – Melissa H., Texas

Set a Timer

"With my ADHD kid, we do the 20-10-20 method and it helps reduce the tension a lot. He has to do 20 minutes of homework, gets a 10 minute break, and then another 20 minutes. We use a timer and he knows he can do whatever he needs to do in those 10 minutes. We say 'Anyone can do anything for 20 minutes' and I think that's true!" – Alice S., Minnesota

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How to Get Homework Done when You Don't Want To

Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Ashley Pritchard, MA and by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Madden . Ashley Pritchard is an Academic and School Counselor at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Ashley has over 3 years of high school, college, and career counseling experience. She has an MA in School Counseling with a specialization in Mental Health from Caldwell University and is certified as an Independent Education Consultant through the University of California, Irvine. There are 9 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 249,344 times.

Homework can be a drag, but it's got to be done to keep your grades up and stay on track during school. Going somewhere quiet, making a plan, and giving yourself breaks can all help you stay focused and on task to get your work done quickly. Try to keep your assignments organized and give yourself credit for completing hard or boring work, even if you didn’t want to.

Getting Motivated

• Keep a list of your assignments and check them off as you finish them. This can give you a sense of accomplishment that can motivate you to keep going.

• Make it the rule that you work for a certain amount of time, or until a certain amount of work has been accomplished. Afterward, you can hang out. Stick to this schedule.
• Try this out and see if it works. If you're too distracted by having friends around, make a date to hang out after homework instead.

• Make sure you keep the competition to yourself. Competing with your friends isn’t fun, especially over homework assignments and grades.

• Learning something that will probably help with future assignments, even if you don't know what they are yet.
• Proving to your teacher that you understand the homework so that they don’t keep assigning it over and over.
• Improving your GPA.
• Getting a good grade.

• Try not to reward yourself with food, as that can lead to snacking when you aren’t really hungry.

Staying Focused

• For instance, tell yourself that if you finish your first assignment in 20 minutes, you can go on your phone for 5 minutes.

• Make sure you stand up and do something when it's your break, or you won't get your wiggles out.
• Set a timer on your phone or use a kitchen timer to let yourself know when it's time to switch tasks.

• If you don't have control over the subject, try to find connections between the topic and something you care about. Find aspects of the subject that interest you.
• For instance, if you have to study History but you care the most about fashion, investigate the styles of the times and places you are studying. Learn how political and economical developments changed the way people dressed.

• You can find playlists on Spotify and YouTube that are made for studying and doing homework.

• When you're struggling to focus, sign out of your email and all social media so you don't check them as a reflex.

Creating Good Study Habits

• If you have many textbooks and worksheets, stack them and put them to the side.
• Get things like pencils, erasers, calculators, rulers, and paper.

• Having a planner will make it less tempting to procrastinate, as long as you have broken up your studying into manageable chunks.
• Your planner can be paper, or you can get one on your phone. Just make sure it has space for task lists as well as events.
• Once you have completed a task, cross it off or put a check next to it. Seeing that you're getting your work done will make you feel better, which in turn will motivate you to keep up the good work.
• Don't put more than you can do in one day on a list! Split up your week's work so that every day has a manageable amount.

• If you have a job or extracurricular activities that change your daily schedule, determine a weekly schedule that you stick to as much as possible.

• Sometimes just explaining what you have to do will help you understand it better.
• Talking to another person is a great way to brainstorm ideas. They may ask you questions or provide comments that can help you organize your ideas.
• Other times, the person you are talking to will notice something about the prompt that you overlooked.

Supercharge Your Studying with this Expert Series

Expert Q&A

Reader Videos

• Try asking a family member to help you remember when to start your assignments so you don’t forget. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 2
• If you’re really struggling with a topic, consider going to a tutor for extra help. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 2
• Getting motivated can be tough. Just try your best, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 2

Tips from our Readers

• Set up a dedicated study area at home with your needed supplies, to establish a consistent homework routine. Having everything in one prepared place helps minimize distractions.
• Use a planner to schedule out all your assignments. Break them into small, manageable pieces so it's less overwhelming. Checking tasks off as you finish motivates you along.
• If completely stuck on an assignment, reach out and talk it through with someone. Verbalizing it can provide new insights to move forward.
• Take short activity breaks every 45 minutes. Get up, stretch, grab some water. It refreshes your mental focus so you stay engaged.
• Incorporate a fun personal interest into an assignment when possible. Writing about something you care about keeps you absorbed.
• When you really need to concentrate, eliminate enticing distractions like your phone. Logging out keeps you on track.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/comm/files/smarttalk_staff_guide.pdf
• ↑ http://www.wcsu.edu/housing/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/05/Handout-V6N6.pdf
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/worry-wise/201410/how-prevent-homework-procrastination
• ↑ Ashley Pritchard, MA. Academic & School Counselor. Expert Interview. 4 November 2019.
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ http://kidshealth.org/en/kids/organize-focus.html?WT.ac=p-ra#
• ↑ https://www.stonybrookmedicine.edu/sites/default/files/homework_tips.pdf
• ↑ https://childmind.org/article/strategies-to-make-homework-go-more-smoothly/
• ↑ http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html#

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What Do You Do When A.I. Takes Your Voice?

Two voice actors say an A.I. company created clones of their voices without their permission. Now they’re suing. The company denies it did anything wrong.

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By Cade Metz

Cade Metz has covered the rise of artificial intelligence for more than a decade.

Last summer, as they drove to a doctor’s appointment near their home in Manhattan, Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage listened to a podcast about the rise of artificial intelligence and the threat it posed to the livelihoods of writers, actors and other entertainment professionals.

The topic was particularly important to the young married couple. They made their living as voice actors, and A.I. technologies were beginning to generate voices that sounded like the real thing.

But the podcast had an unexpected twist. To underline the threat from A.I., the host conducted a lengthy interview with a talking chatbot named Poe. It sounded just like Mr. Lehrman.

“He was interviewing my voice about the dangers of A.I. and the harms it might have on the entertainment industry,” Mr. Lehrman said. “We pulled the car over and sat there in absolute disbelief, trying to figure out what just happened and what we should do.”

Mr. Lehrman and Ms. Sage are now suing the company that created the bot’s voice. They claim that Lovo, a start-up in Berkeley, Calif., illegally used recordings of their voices to create technology that can compete with their voice work. After hearing a clone of Mr. Lehrman’s voice on the podcast, the couple discovered that Lovo had created a clone of Ms. Sage’s voice, too.

The couple join a growing number of artists , publishers , computer programmers and other creators who have sued the makers of A.I. technologies, arguing that these companies used their work without permission in creating tools that could ultimately replace them in the job market. (The New York Times sued two of the companies, OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, in December, accusing them of using its copyrighted news articles in building their online chatbots.)

In their suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, the couple said anonymous Lovo employees had paid them for a few voice clips in 2019 and 2020 without disclosing how the clips would be used.

They say Lovo, which was founded in 2019, is violating federal trademark law and several state privacy laws by promoting clones of their voices. The suit seeks class-action status, with Mr. Lehrman and Ms. Sage inviting other voice actors to join it.

“We don’t know how many other people have been affected,” their lawyer, Steve Cohen , said.

Lovo denies the claims in the suit, said David Case, a lawyer representing the company. He added that if all individuals who provided voice recordings to Lovo gave their consent, “then there is not a problem.”

Tom Lee, the company’s chief executive, said in a podcast episode last year that Lovo now offered a revenue-sharing program that allowed voice actors to help the company create voice clones of themselves and receive a cut of the money made by those clones.

The suit appears to be the first of its kind, said Jeffrey Bennett, general counsel for SAG-AFTRA, the labor union that represents 160,000 media professionals worldwide.

“This suit will show people — particularly technology companies — that there are rights that exist in your voice, that there is an entire group of people out there who make their living using their voice,” he said.

In 2019, Mr. Lehrman and Ms. Sage were promoting themselves as voice actors on Fiverr , a website where freelance professionals can advertise their work. Through this online marketplace, they were often asked to provide voice work for commercials, radio ads, online videos, video games and other media.

That year, Ms. Sage was contacted by an anonymous person who paid her $400 to record several radio scripts and explained that the recordings would not be used for public purposes, according to correspondence cited by the suit.

“These are test scripts for radio ads,” the anonymous person said, according to the suit. “They will not be disclosed externally, and will only be consumed internally, so will not require rights of any sort.”

Seven months later, another unidentified person contacted Mr. Lehrman about similar work. Mr. Lehrman, who also works as a television and movie actor, asked how the clips would be used. The person said multiple times that they would be used only for research and academic purposes, according to correspondence cited in the suit. Mr. Lehrman was paid $1,200. (He provided longer recordings than Ms. Sage did.)

In April 2022, Mr. Lehrman discovered a YouTube video about the war in Ukraine that was narrated by a voice that sounded like his.

“It is my voice talking about weaponry in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict,” he said. “I go ghost white — goose bumps on my arms. I knew I had never said those words in that order.”

For months, he and Ms. Sage struggled to understand what had happened. They hired a lawyer to help them track down who had made the YouTube video and how Mr. Lehrman’s voice had been recreated. But the owner of the YouTube channel seemed to be based in Indonesia, and they had no way to find the person.

Then they heard the podcast on their way to the doctor’s office. Through the podcast, “ Deadline Strike Talk ,” they were able to identify the source of Mr. Lehrman’s voice clone. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor had pieced the chatbot together using voice synthesis technology from Lovo.

Ms. Sage also found an online video in which the company had pitched its voice technology to investors during an event in Berkeley in early 2020. In the video, a Lovo executive showed off a synthetic version of Ms. Sage’s voice and compared it to a recording of her real voice. Both played alongside a photo of a woman who was not her.

“I was in their pitch video to raise money,” Ms. Sage said. The company has since raised more than $7 million and claims over two million customers across the globe.

Mr. Lehrman and Ms. Sage also discovered that Lovo was promoting voice clones of her and Mr. Lehrman on its website . After they sent the company a cease-and-desist letter, the company said it had removed their voice clones from the site. But Mr. Lehrman and Ms. Sage argued that the software that drove these voice clones had already been downloaded by an untold number of the company’s customers and could still be used.

Mr. Lehrman also questioned whether the company had used the couple’s voices alongside many others to build the core technology that drives its voice-cloning system. Voice synthesizers often learn their skills by analyzing thousands of hours of spoken words, in much the way that OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other chatbots learn their skills by analyzing vast amounts of text culled from the internet.

Lovo acknowledged that it had trained its technology using thousands of hours of recordings of thousands of voices, according to correspondence in the suit.

Mr. Case, the lawyer representing Lovo, said that the company trained its A.I. system using audio from a freely available database of English recordings called Openslr.org. He did not respond when asked if Mr. Lehrman’s and Ms. Sage’s voice recordings had been used to train the technology.

“We hope to claw back control over our voices, over who we are, over our careers,” Mr. Lehrman said. “We want to represent others this has happened to and those that this will happen to if nothing changes.”

Tell us how your law firm is using A.I.

We’d like to hear from lawyers working with generative A.I., including contract lawyers who have been brought on for assignments related to A.I. We won’t publish your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first.

Cade Metz writes about artificial intelligence, driverless cars, robotics, virtual reality and other emerging areas of technology. More about Cade Metz

Explore Our Coverage of Artificial Intelligence

News  and Analysis

News Corp, the Murdoch-owned empire of publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, announced that it had agreed to a deal with OpenAI to share its content  to train and service A.I. chatbots.

The Silicon Valley company Nvidia was again lifted by sales of its A.I. chips , but it faces growing competition and heightened expectations.

Researchers at the A.I. company Anthropic claim to have found clues about the inner workings  of large language models, possibly helping to prevent their misuse and to curb their potential threats.

The Age of A.I.

D’Youville University in Buffalo had an A.I. robot speak at its commencement . Not everyone was happy about it.

A new program, backed by Cornell Tech, M.I.T. and U.C.L.A., helps prepare lower-income, Latina and Black female computing majors  for A.I. careers.

Publishers have long worried that A.I.-generated answers on Google would drive readers away from their sites. They’re about to find out if those fears are warranted, our tech columnist writes .

A new category of apps promises to relieve parents of drudgery, with an assist from A.I.  But a family’s grunt work is more human, and valuable, than it seems.

How long will cicadas be around this year? Here's when to expect Brood XIX, XIII to die off

Trillions of periodical cicadas from two broods are emerging from their underground habitats in over a dozen states this year, filling the air and creating a lot of noise in the process.

There are two broods hitting a combined 17 states this year: the 13-year Brood XIX located mainly in the Southeast, and the 17-year Brood XIII in the Midwest. The two broods, which have not emerged together since 1803, will be found in both Illinois and Iowa.

You may have already seen some of these cicadas emerging, but how long will they be around this year, and how long do they stay underground between emergence years?

Here's what to know about a cicada's life, both under and above ground.

2024 cicada map: See where Brood XIX, XIII cicadas are emerging around the US

When do cicadas emerge?

According to  Cicada Mania , the cicadas begin to emerge from their underground habitats when the soil 8 inches underground reaches 64 degrees, and are often triggered by a warm rain. 

Thanks to warm temperatures, cicadas have already been spotted above ground in states across the Southeast and Midwest.

Can you eat cicadas? Try these tasty recipes with Brood XIX, Brood XIII this summer

How long will the cicadas be above ground?

How long cicadas live depends on their brood and if they are an annual or periodical species.

The two periodical broods this summer are Brood XIX, which have a 13-year life cycle, and Brood XIII, which have a 17-year life cycle.

Once male and female periodical cicadas have mated and the latter has laid its eggs, the insects will die after spending only a few weeks above ground − anywhere from three to six weeks after first emerging.

That means many of this year's periodical cicadas are set to die in June, though some could die off in late May or July, depending on when they emerged.

The nymphs of annual cicadas remain underground for two to five years , according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. These cicadas are called " annual " because some members of the species emerge as adults each year.

What is the life cycle of a cicada?

The life cycle of a cicada starts with mating. The female then lays eggs in holes made in tree branches and shrubs,  National Geographic reports . The eggs will hatch after six to 10 weeks and the cicada nymphs will burrow themselves into the ground, attaching to the tree's roots.

The cicadas will remain underground for a " dormant period " of two to 17 years, depending on the species. Then they emerge in adult form, according to National Geographic.

2024 emergence map: Check out where Broods XIX, XIII are emerging

The two cicada broods were projected to emerge in a combined 17 states across the South and Midwest. They emerge once the soil eight inches underground reaches 64 degrees, expected to begin in many states in May and lasting through late June.

The two broods  last emerged together in 1803 , when Thomas Jefferson was president.

Contributing: Olivia Munson, USA TODAY.