Hello!

Welcome to the first in the series of TOEIC test tips. Let's get started.... 

In this first blog, we tackle a nasty problem that affects just about everyone who takes the TOEIC test - procrastination. How can you procrastinate and still score high on the TOEIC test? There's a pretty good chance that you've got about a thousand different things to do right now. Many of those things are probably more pressing than looking at your email or checking your phone messages. But instead of reviewing the next chapter in your text book or going over your TOEIC preparation notes, you're reading your email and telling yourself that you'll do some more TOEIC test practice a little later. That's procrastination: the tendency to avoid doing today what you think you can do tomorrow. Likely, you'll avoid doing what you need to do tomorrow also. But procrastination isn't the same as doing nothing -- you are doing something right now -- and understanding that, is the key to getting everything done. Procrastinators aren't lazy, they just avoid the things they should be doing... and do something else instead. Procrastination is just doing the right things in the wrong order. Think of it this way: procrastinators aren't people who sit around doing nothing -- they're people who sit around doing slightly important things (like reading emails or organizing their bookshelves) before they do the really important things (like summarizing Chapter 3 or taking another TOEIC practice test). If that sounds like you, don't blame yourself; blame the way you ordered your tasks. According to psychologists, there are several reasons why people procrastinate, and there are all sorts of theories about how to beat it. Forget about beating it. You've probably been procrastinating for years and if I try to tell you how to beat it, you'll probably just put it off.

All you have to do is change the way you draw up your list of things to do.

1. Make a “To Do” list first, make a list of all the things you have to do. Put down everything, even the things you're going to do anyway (like reading emails or cleaning the furniture).

2. Prioritize your work and arrange your work in order of importance so that the most important things are at the top and the least important ones are at the bottom. ( If you are already thinking that maybe you'll start with the jobs at the bottom? That's procrastination).

3. Rearrange your list. Now here's where it gets interesting. Record your list so that the job in first place looks important, but isn't. Make it the kind of job that you have to do some time, but it doesn't really matter when -- a job you can put off easily without getting into trouble. When you procrastinate and avoid doing that important-looking job, what you end up doing will be a more important one.

For example, your list of tasks for today might look something like this:

1. Review TOEIC study guide section 5

2. Take TOEIC practice test on Chapter 4 content 2. Read through notes

4. What if your list of tasks looked like this:

1. Read through notes.

2. Check email.

3. Review TOEIC study guide section 3.

4. Take TOEIC practice test on Chapter 4 content.

Well, you'd probably be reviewing section 3 of the TOEIC study guide right now or taking the TOEIC practice test. You wouldn't be doing these things because you really want to; you'd be doing them as a way to avoid reading through your notes. That's what procrastinators do. You're still procrastinating, but now your procrastination is making sure that you do what's really important first. These techniques may seem weird, but experiments have shown that they can work. If you're a procrastinator then by all means give it a try. What have you got to lose?

All the Best!