In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: If you know or decide that something needs to be done, don't give up until it is. Rest and finding a work-life balance are always important, but so is taking care of the things you need to get done. If you know you have a problem with procrastination, then make it a point to resist it for a month. Doing so can give you a foundation for long-term success and a strong work ethic. During this period, if you feel the urge to procrastinate, remind yourself "I need to get this done," and make yourself do work instead of turning to distractions. No one is perfect, so we all make mistakes in our work from time to time. However, if you make it your goal to do your work well (no matter what it is), it will increase your motivation to succeed, and to fight procrastination. You can even make a goals list and post it nearby to help keep you inspired and on-track. If you feel yourself getting tired or worn out because of work, stop and rest. If you try to work when you are exhausted, you risk doing less than your best. Not only can this be discouraging, it can make more work for you to do later when you have to correct something or do it over again. Just make sure you aren't procrastinating, and that you have a clear plan of when and how to pick up with your task after you rest. If you work in or study a creative field, procrastination can be a way of dealing with pressures of criticism and/or creative block. If this is the case, resolve yourself to worry about perfecting a project later in the work process. That way, you can get started, make progress, be encouraged, and improve your work later. If you work in or study a creative field, you might also benefit from setting two deadlinesone to get a first "draft" of a project, and a second to revise and improve the project. It can also be beneficial to give yourself time between these two deadlines to take a break and refresh your perspective.
Summary: Commit to doing what needs to be done. Make a 30-day effort to resist procrastination. Focus on doing your work well.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: An amortization schedule will help you understand your monthly payments and fit them into your budget. The benefit of creating your own spreadsheet is that you can save it on your own computer and print it out, which you can't do with the online calculators. Most basic spreadsheet apps have amortization table templates built in. You also may be able to find a template for the spreadsheet app you use and download it for free online. Using a template will save you from having to enter the amortization formula manually. Your spreadsheet will have a separate line or row for each payment over the life of the loan. You may want to organize your spreadsheet so that the first half of the payments are on one side of the page and the other half run down the other side of the page, so you can see the whole table at a glance. The first column of your spreadsheet typically should be the date each payment will be made. Work with your spreadsheet functions to see if you can get these dates to auto-populate based on a formula rather than having to input each one manually. The two columns that provide the amount of each payment that goes to principal and the amount that goes to interest will be the most useful columns for you in comparing different loans or understanding how your loan is amortized. In the beginning, you'll notice that more of your payment goes to interest than to principal. This is because interest is being computed on a larger amount of principal initially. As you pay down the principal, the interest you pay gradually decreases as well and more of your payment goes to principal. If you aren't using a specifically designed amortization table spreadsheet, you'll have to enter the code yourself for the amortization formula so that your spreadsheet will auto-populate these columns and you don't have to calculate each amount by hand. You may want to add an additional column for the interest rate. If you have a fixed-rate loan, you may feel this column is unnecessary, but it could be useful if you have an adjustable-rate loan. Unless you have an adjustable-rate loan, your monthly payments aren't going to change, so you can easily fill in the payments column using cut and paste. Your overall balance typically should be the last column on the spreadsheet. Use the formula function to fill in the data for this column, showing the balance decline by the amount of each monthly payment. You also may want to include a column that shows how the principal balance (rather than the total payoff amount) is declining over time. To populate this column, create a formula that subtracts the amount of each payment applied to principal from the total remaining principal after each payment. If you have a fixed-rate loan, your amortization schedule will determine the amount of each monthly payment. This amount won't change unless you are late with a payment, at which point your lender will charge you late fees and other penalties. Some lenders reserve the right to increase the interest rate if you are late on multiple payments, which could affect the amount of your monthly payment. Keep in mind that if you are late on a mortgage payment, you typically must continue to pay fees and penalties until your mortgage is brought current. This means if you skip one month's payment and then make the regular monthly payment the next month, you'll be charged for two months of late fees. In many cases, you can make extra payments each month and these will be applied entirely to the principal of your loan. Making extra payments, whether regularly or sporadically, can help reduce the amount of interest you have to pay. You'll also pay off your loan faster. With an amortization schedule you can create an extra column for extra payments. Enter extra payments to see how much sooner you can pay your loan off.
Summary:
Download a template. Create a line for each payment. Include the date of each payment. Add columns for principal and interest. Set columns for your balance and payments. Make your payments on time. Evaluate the impact of extra payments.