Important Tips To Start Beating Procrastination

As with most habits, it is possible to overcome procrastination. However, we may also be failing to overcome it, if we just:

• Fill our day with low-priority tasks.
• Leave an item on our To-Do list for a long time, even though it's important.
• Read emails several times over without making a decision on what to do with them.
• Start a high-priority task and then go off to make a coffee.
• Fill our time with unimportant tasks that other people ask us to do, instead of getting on with the important tasks already on our list.
• Wait to be in "right mood," or wait for the "right time" to tackle a task.

When we’re not motivated to reach our goal, it’s hard even getting started. So even the first small step towards it will seem like an achievement. For instance, if we have some reading to do for our paper, spend ten minutes or so reading a page.

Once we’ve taken that step, we’ve already told our brain that a change has happened. Our naturally lazy brain (we are all wired to be lazy) will no longer resist. We will then set off a momentum towards our goal, that will carry we like a wave and get us there.

Procrastination is a habit – a deeply ingrained pattern of behavior. This means that we probably can't break it overnight. Habits only stop being habits when we avoid practicing them, so try as many of the strategies, below, as possible to give ourselves the best possible chance of succeeding.

• Forgive ourselves for procrastinating in the past.
• Commit to the task. Focus on doing, not avoiding.
• Promise ourselves a reward.
• Minimize distractions.
• Ask someone to check up on us.
• Rephrase our internal dialog. Use phrases "need to" and "have to," will , imply that we have no choice in what we do.

Sometimes we find ourselves returning to a task repeatedly, still unwilling to take the first step. We hear a little voice in our head saying, “Yeah, good idea, but . . . no.” At this point, we need to ask that voice some questions, to figure out what’s really making it unappealing to take action.

Patiently ask ourselves a few “why” questions—“Why does it feel tough to do this?” and “Why’s that?”—and the blockage can surface quite quickly.

Setting a timer (after putting our phone on the airplane mode) can be a simple way of defining an intent for ourselves. We’ll find it easier to focus on.

Breaking up the time we spend on the task into bite-sized pieces will break down a complex task into smaller, more manageable parts.

For more effective, we can divide up our day into four categories of activities based on a scale of urgency versus importance.

Q 1: Import & Urgent ~ Short-term crises and problems

Q 2: Import but Not Urgent ~ Long-term strategic goals

Q 3: Not Import but Urgent ~ Distractions and interruptions

Q 4: Not Import & Not Urgent ~ Time-wasting activities

To start, all we need to do is audit our day. Jot down every activity we engage in, and indicate what quadrant it falls into. Then, at the end of the week, find out what percentage of our time we spent in each quadrant.

Spend as much time in quadrant 2, the long-term goal-related quadrant, as we possibly can. If we find that ourself procrastinating, pick two tasks that we can do at the start of our day that will help progress us towards our long-term goals the most.