Addressing Procrastination: The “STING” Method

Procrastination is an issue every college student must deal with at some point during their four years. It can be difficult to motivate yourself to complete a project or start a 12 page research paper. It sometimes seems easier to just move the task to the back of your mind and face the issue “tomorrow.”  I recently heard about a solution for this very problem. It’s called the “STING” method of addressing procrastination, and it’s an acronym that stands for:

S – Select one task.
T – Time yourself.
I – Ignore everything else.
N – No breaks.
G – Give yourself a reward.

Does this really work?  I put it to the test.  I recently had a to prepare for a debate in my law class which included writing an executive summary before the actual debate. This meant writing notes cards, making a power point presentation, editing a video for the opening statement and ultimately writing the executive summary. Sounds like a death sentence, right?

Before starting I decided which part of the project I was going to tackle and in what order. I started with the video. I set my alarm for 2 hours which made me want to complete the task quickly without distractions. I took no breaks and when I finished I rewarded myself with an episode of House M.D.

To my surprise, the STING method worked. I used this exact format to complete the remaining tasks. My debate team ended up winning in a landslide victory the very next day. I want to learn more about the STING method, however, there is almost no information online. I did find one example titled “It’s All about Mothers and Babies,” where they provide a bit more detail:

Select one task you’ve been putting off.

Break it down to just one small piece if it’s complicated. For  instance,         if the task is cleaning the kitchen, reorganizing a drawer is just one piece of the larger task.

Time yourself.

Use a kitchen timer so you don’t have to watch the clock and give the task one full hour. Children might need to reduce that time to just 10 or 15 minutes.

Ignore everything else that needs to be done.

No breaks allowed.

Give yourself a reward when the task is completed.

Did the STING method work for you? Let us know in the comments below.

About CampusByte

Jay Willingham has wrote 68 articles on this blog.

Jay is a new media writer, entrepreneur, and business development professional with an educational interest in technology and new-media. Find out more about Jay here.

• View all posts by CampusByte →
• Blog