Set up rewards

The more enjoyable a task, the less we procrastinate on it. 

Boring tasks are more likely to lead to procrastination than difficult ones, that's why we keep postponing all the busywork (work that keeps us busy but has little value in itself.)

Difficulty maintaining focus in the face of immediate and more appealing distractions.

If we work in an environment where we're bombarded with distractions and we are not capable of resisting them, we're more likely to procrastinate.

Facing a task, experiencing the uncomfortable emotions associated with it and doing the task despite those  emotions.

It rationalizes the shit out of anything that’s just a little bit uncomfortable and create excuses as to why we shouldn’t do something now. Those excuses are irrational, but sound superficially reasonable. 

• Visualize how great it will be to get it done.
  
• Pre-commit, publicly.
  
• Confront the downside of inaction.
  

People shy away from routines, systems and frameworks because they want to have “freedom.” But in order to get things done, you need rules.

• Self-imposed deadlines.
• Accountability systems (commitment with friends, or a coach).
• Working/studying in intervals.
• Exercising 30 minutes a day.
• A healthy diet.
• Eliminating distractions.
• And most importantly: Internal motivation.

Studies show low mood only increases procrastination if enjoyable activities are available as a distraction. In other words, we're drawn to other activities to avoid the discomfort of applying ourselves.

Procrastination leads to two primary consequences.

1. It's stressful to keep putting off important tasks and failing to meet your goals.
2. Procrastination often involves delaying important health behaviors, such as taking up exercise or visiting a doctor.

Time boxes are a great way to tackle those small but annoying tasks. 

A good strategy for dealing with them is to fix a time period and tackle all of them at one sitting.

If you're procrastinating on a task, don't force yourself to finish it. Just put it in a time box.

Setting a time for it will help you overcome your resistance towards the task and chances are that when the time is up you’ll have built enough momentum to continue working on it much longer.

The key to achievement is your ability to break down the task into manageable pieces and knock them off one at one time. 

Discipline yourself to look neither forward nor backward and you can accomplish things you never thought you could possibly do. 

Instead of describing the things you want to do or the places you want to go, you’re going to describe what you actually do with your time.

Keep a diary of your activities. Make an entry in your time diary at least once every 30 minutes, and keep this up for at least a week. It forces you to see what you're actually doing and what you're not doing.

... is how the brain changes (for better or worse) in response to repeated experience: the things we do often we become stronger at, and what we don't use fades away.

• Accept that you are going to procrastinate sometimes
• Disconnect from your smartphone. Otherwise, it will demand your attention subconsciously 
• Be mindful with your emotions when you catch yourself procrastinating
• Focus on one thing at a time, to avoid feeling overwhelmed
• Take breaks
• Celebrate your accomplishments.

We have two ways of dealing with our procrastination:

1. Make whatever we’re procrastinating on feel less uncomfortable, and
2. Convince our present selves into caring about our future selves.

Often starting a task is the biggest hurdle. Research shows that progress—no matter how small—can be a huge motivator to help us keep going.

Set the timer for just 5 or 10 minutes. While the timer’s running, you don’t have to work, but you can’t do anything else. You have to sit with your work, even if you don’t get started.

Progress on our goals feeds our well-being. So the most important thing to do is bootstrap a little progress: get a little progress, and that’s going to fuel your well-being and your motivation.

This is a self-regulatory strategy in the form of an "if-then plan": "If the phone rings, then I’m not going to answer it." "If my friends call me to say we’re going out, I’m going to say no." So you’ve already made these pre-commitments.