Just how do I do that. I know the theory of what you are saying and I find that it makes sense and I would love to manage my life that way but whenever I try I fail. I just don't seem to know how. Worse: I feel stupid for even asking this question, at least in real life I do, because it seems everyone is doing that.
Part of it for me was how my classes were scheduled. I'd have all of my assignments due on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the 5 classes I took. I was forced to prepare for classes each day rather than cram it all in a day. If this is possible for you to do, do it.
However, in a different semester, I took all of my classes on Mondays and Wednesdays for 10 hours per day because I hated commuting to school multiple days per week. During this time, I would give myself at least one day of the week off to do no classwork. The rest of the days I'd spend an hour on one class then give myself a reward, whether it was eating dinner or playing video games for 2 hours, then I'd return to the class work.
If I had an exam, I would specifically schedule a time to study for it. "On Saturday 4pm I'm going to study the exam, I'll do a quizlet and review my notes until dinner time. I'll eat dinner, then skim the chapter, and I'll be good for the day. If I don't feel confident for the exam, I'll continue to review on Sunday." If I didn't do this, my grades would be shit. In fact, they were. I would routinely get 50% scores on tests and quizzes because I'd never study since I was the "smart" kid who didn't need to study. Me getting shit grades finally got my ass in gear to do this and my scores improved to about 80+%.
I'm not sure
how to tell you how to do it. I just sort of did it because I didn't like the results I was getting. I feel like I'm just regurgitating the theory that you already know but I hope that my experience helped a little bit. If there's something you need me to be more specific about I can explain it better. I think the best way to motivate yourself to take these steps is to have a form of accountability if you don't, and a reward for doing so even if it's self-imposed.