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3. STAYING Organised - Make time and energy work for you?

"You have a beautiful planner, three apps, and a colour-coded schedule. So why are you still cramming at 2 AM, stress-eating while staring at work you've known about for weeks?

Hot take, maybe time management isn't just about time - it's about emotions too."



🧠Why Planning May Fail

When you're dealing with change and stress, your brain has about 30% less energy for planning and focusing. That's why your perfect system falls apart when life gets busy.


The real problem with procrastination: You avoid tasks that trigger uncomfortable emotions - fear of failure, perfectionism, feeling overwhelmed, or just plain boredom. That essay you keep putting off? Your brain sees it as a threat and finds "safer" things to do instead.


Energy vs. Time Management: Most people plan by time ("I'll work from 3-5 PM") but your energy levels change throughout the day. Research shows you have different types of energy:


  • High energy: Best for complex, important work that needs deep thinking

  • Medium energy: Good for routine tasks, emails, organising

  • Low energy: Perfect for planning, easy wins, and self-care


Why you underestimate everything: Your brain imagines the best-case scenario when planning. You think about the perfect study session, not the reality of distractions, tiredness, and your phone buzzing every five minutes.


❤️ The Emotional Side of Getting Things Done


We've all heard these stories:

Emma: "Time feels like an enemy. Like there's never enough, like everyone else got some manual I didn't get. I watch other students seem so calm while I'm constantly drowning."


Alex: "I'll have a perfect morning, then waste the entire afternoon scrolling TikTok. Then I hate myself for wasting time, which makes me waste more time avoiding the guilt."


Casey: "I can't start anything unless I have at least four hours free. Since I never have four hours free, I never start anything. So I'm always behind and always anxious."


Sound familiar? You're not lazy or broken. You're human. The goal isn't perfect productivity - it's sustainable progress that doesn't burn you out.


🙌 Optimise for the Messy 


Energy-Based Planning: Track your energy for one week. When do you feel most focused? Most creative? Most social? Then schedule accordingly:

  • Morning person: Do hard work early, easy tasks later

  • Night owl: Use mornings for routine stuff, afternoons/evenings for important work

  • Variable energy: Plan flexible blocks, not rigid schedules


The Three-List System:

  1. Must do today: 1-3 absolutely essential things

  2. Should do this week: Important but timing is flexible

  3. Could do eventually: Everything else (write it down so it stops bouncing in your head)


Minimum Progress Rule: For every big task, define the smallest step that still counts as progress:

  • Can't write the whole essay? Write one paragraph

  • Can't study for two hours? Review one chapter

  • Can't clean your whole room? Clear your desk


The "Future You" Check: Before making plans, ask: "Will tired Friday evening me actually want to start this essay?" Plan like you're taking care of a friend.


Check it:

What emotion do you feel when you look at your biggest current task? Fear, boredom, overwhelm? Naming it helps you handle it.

  • Scared

  • Bored

  • Overwhelmed

  • Let me at em...


Share it:

"In the comments, share your biggest insight from tracking your energy patterns. When do you do your best work?"



References

Procrastination as Emotion Regulation:

  • Sirois, F. M., & Pychyl, T. A. (2013). Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115-127. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12011

  • Eckert, M., Ebert, D. D., Lehr, D., Sieland, B., & Berking, M. (2016). Overcome procrastination: Enhancing emotion regulation skills reduce procrastination. Learning and Individual Differences, 52, 10-18.

Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Procrastination:

  • Ghasemi, F., Rastegar, A., & Ghorban Jahromi, R. (2020). Emotion regulation difficulties and academic procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 524588. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.524588

  • Schuenemann, L., Scherenberg, V., von Salisch, M., & Eckert, M. (2022). "I'll worry about it tomorrow" – Fostering emotion regulation skills to overcome procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 780675.

Stress Context and Procrastination:

  • Sirois, F. M. (2023). Procrastination and stress: A conceptual review of why context matters. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(6), 5031. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20065031

Academic Stress and Burnout:

  • Sun, J., et al. (2023). Academic stress and academic burnout in adolescents: a moderated mediating model. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1133706.

  • Ahmad, I., et al. (2025). Predicting academic procrastination of students based on academic self-efficacy and emotional regulation difficulties. Scientific Reports, 15, 87664-7.

Fear of Failure and Emotion Regulation:

  • Balkis, M., & Duru, E. (2024). Fear of failure and academic satisfaction: the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties and procrastination. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 39, 2687-2708.


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