Major life altering exams are on june but im losing the fight against procrastination. Need some advice and tips to maximise my output

🤔 NeedAdvice

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Background:

I’ve struggled with procrastination for most of my academic life. I almost always end up finishing things right before the deadline. it always comes with a lot of stress and the feeling that I’m not using my full potential. just for context, i study in the best clg in my country. about 60k people give exams and only 3k enter. from childhood i have heard from my teachers that i am a genius. but it has always made me guilty of not making even half of my potential. i have always wasted away my time and i am ashamed of it too. exams after 2 months and i have so much left to do.

The thing is, I haven’t given up on myself. I genuinely want to do well and I’m willing to push myself hard. but everything isnt going as planned so i thought id get some advice

What happened this week:

I set a challenge for myself to complete 14 chapters within a week. To help focus, I deleted a lot of my main distractions. deleted Instagram and marvel rivals(i play this a lot).

The first 3 days(sat to mon) I finished 4 chapters. goal was 6 but i underestimated the load. still i cooked and was studying a lot. but i felt i still wasnt reaching 100%. My addiction for wanting to play mr was gone. But i couldnt bring myself to study on tuesday at all. i found my self scavenging for dopamine. i deleted everything and now i had nothing to do. taking breaks is also necessary obv.

I started wondering if removing all leisure activities was actually backfiring. Sometimes instead of studying, I’d just lie down or on phone for hours anyway. So I redownloaded the game on tuesday and played for a short time thinking a controlled break might help. I set a limit and stopped after 1.5 hours, but afterward I struggled to get back into study mode and ended up wasting more time on my phone. so tuesday was a waste.

on wednessday and thursday(today as of writing this) i did manage to study but it was nowhere near as efficient as the 1st 3 days. so now im wondering if the game is the issue, is it hijacking my dopamine somehow? or am i just misdiagnosing myself. mind u i was wasting away hours anyway doing nothing on tuesday. so i thought instead of wasting hours scavenging for dopamine, why not just get a controled break. i have been able to control myself and only played for 1-1.5 hours. i always got up within the time limit i set up. i dont think taking breaks is the issue here.

i have only completed 6 chaps and i only have 1 more day left. ik progress is still progress but still i failed this challenge so miserably. but i wont let this failure set me back. ill keep trying. I have realised that diving head in isnt the way to go, instead i should seek information and advice on psychology to plan out my war against procrastination. which is why in making this post. if playing mr is the problem here then im willing to delete it. if taking breaks is neccesary then i will do it. im not taking a break bcoz i want it rather im only taking it to increase my focus again. everything i do will be to maximise my efficiency. im willing to go through hell for these 2 months to prepare a better future for myself. if i dont do good in this exam, my childhood dream of becoming an engineer will be ruined(srsly, this exam is that important). so please help me and provide me with advice. people who also struggled with procrastination, how did yall manage?

Posted Apr 9, 2026, 8:05 PM UTC

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