<p>For the parents who “don’t get it” as to vacations during the school year, I speak from personal experience when I say that you put a lot of pressure on kids when you take them out of school for a “vacation” that either puts them behind or requires them to lug a ton of books and work along. If you make that choice, please consider scheduling loosely so the kiddo has time to enjoy the surroundings and get the work done and get some rest.</p>
<p>For bumble, advice from a recovering craven procrastinator: Put down the laptop, or at least turn off the wireless card, and turn off your cell phone too. Take care of all the basic physical needs (bathroom, food, drink), then sit down and get started on an assignment. Pick the one that you can finish most quickly and easily; then go right on to the next one. You will build momentum in this way.</p>
<p>Starting is the hardest part – so here’s the big secret for procrastinators: Once you’ve started, don’t stop. Because each time you stop, you have to start up again. No texting friends or checking Facebook or CC in between problems… that makes you start again, and that’s the hard part. That’s why it’s “easier” to get things done at the last minute – because you don’t have time to stop working on it. Spend at least two hours working before you stop for anything. Work your way up to four-hour blocks, if you have that much work to catch up on.</p>
<p>Once you’re caught up, train yourself differently; you will need this habit in college, in your career, and in parenting. If you’re given two weeks to complete an assignment and you know you can do it in two days – do it in the first two days, not the last. Because real life (jobs, illness, fatigue, fun social events, relationships) has a way of sneaking up on you, and it might steal away that last week and leave you with nothing to show for your assignments. Even if that doesn’t happen… it can be fun to hang out in the computer lab on the night before a big due date and gloat over how you finished your project last week. 
And letting stuff pile up makes it harder to start, because the pile is intimidating.</p>
<p>Finally, make this your mantra: It doesn’t have to be perfect … it just has to be done! If you’re having trouble writing the perfect opening paragraph of something… don’t. Just write a paragraph that says what you need to say. You can go back and fix it later, but trying to produce perfection at the outset keeps you from starting.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>