1.  Utilize iCal, Google Calendar, the planner you got for Christmas with the puppies on the cover – something – where you will write down every tiny thing that needs to get done:  writing the rent check, studying for an exam, buying groceries, calling your aunt for her birthday, etc.

2.  Actually look at that calendar once in while to make sure you’ve covered everything on your To-Do lists and you’ve made it to all of your meetings.

3.  Set up meetings with friends and/or professors to discuss your progress on a project or to go over a rough draft of a paper.  This forces you to have some part of it – hopefully even a pretty good working draft – done in advance of the due date.

4.  Set aside time each day to do anything you’d like:  read a book (for pleasure!), watch T.V., go for a walk, go shopping, blog, etc.  Surprisingly, this will prevent you from stalling when it’s “work time” because you can’t use the excuse “I haven’t had any me time.”

5.  Dress the part.  If you wear sweatpants 24/7 and rarely wash your hair, it won’t help your expectations for yourself.  Try sprucing up your outfit every once in a while.  It will honestly help you feel energized all day.

6.  Put your iPod in its charger and set it to play a long loop of music.  A short loop, and you’ll have an excuse to play with the music choices every half hour.  Play music from your computer and the temptation to sort through music is constantly at your fingertips.  You get the idea.

7.  Download JDarkRoom.  It’s free shareware that is excellent for writing papers and reports.  JDarkRoom is a minimalist word processing software that goes full-screen so that other parts of your screen aren’t distracting you as you try to focus on your writing task.  When you’re done, simply copy and paste into your word processor to proofread and format.

8.  Maybe you should sign off AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Gchat, and any other IM service you have open…

9.  Reward yourself for finishing something on time.  Eat a piece of chocolate, read another chapter in a fun book, or see a movie the next weekend.  You’ll have time to do those things because the work will be done!

10.  Don’t blog when you should be studying.