10 Practical Ways to Stop Procrastinating

10 Ways to STOP Procrastinating

Procrastinating… You have a deadline to beat. However, rather than doing all your work, you’re doing miscellaneous things like checking email, social media, watching videos, and spending time on other tasks that could wait. You know what you should be doing, but you simply don’t want to do anything.

Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone!

Procrastination is the habit of delaying an important task, usually by focusing on less urgent, more enjoyable, and more leisurely activities instead. It’s not the same as laziness, which is the unwillingness to act. Many of us are guilty of procrastinating. – there’s always something more interesting than the tasks at hand.
While it may be reassuring to know that you’re not alone, realizing just how much it can hold you back can be disheartening. It’s a bad habit that eats us away and prevents us from achieving more significant results in life.

We prefer procrastinating for different reasons. Sometimes it’s a hidden fear that we don’t want to acknowledge or simply not wanting to do something because we don’t seem motivated. Whatever the reason may be, don’t let procrastinating take over your life and steal your dreams.

Like it is with most habits, it’s possible to overcome procrastination. Here, I’ll share my personal steps on how to deal with and prevent procrastinating. These ten steps will definitely apply to you too:

Break Your Work into Little Steps

Often, we tend to procrastinate when we subconsciously feel like a task is too overwhelming. If we feel like a task is too big to handle, then starting at all feels like a struggle. Break down larger tasks into smaller, simple and reachable ones then focus on one part at a time.

Focus on the immediate task, get it done without thinking of the other tasks. When done, you then move on to the next. Although smaller steps may seem like the slower approach to achieving a goal, it often helps.

Change Your Environment

Different environment or workspace affects our productivity differently, your environment significantly affects your state of mind and productivity. Does your workspace or environment make you want to work, or does it make you want to sleep? You should note that an environment that makes you feel inspired before may lose its effect after a while.

If you are having a hard time working in your environment, you can change things around by revamping your environment and workspace. Ensure your workspace is comfortable so that you have the motivation and dedication to begin your work. While working, grab some healthy snacks to sustain your energy levels and keep your motivation high as well.

Create a Detailed Timeline with Specific Deadline

After you break down your project into smaller bits, you must create a timeline with specific deadlines for each small task. This way, you know you have to complete each task by a particular date. You should set your schedules in such a way that if you don’t finish an assignment by the set date, it affects everything else. This allows you to feel the urgency to act and keeps you on the right track.

Minimize distractions

Make sure you get rid of all potential distraction around you before you start working. Remove things that make it easy for you to procrastinate. Disable notifications that may distract you from the task you are working on, avoid sitting near a TV while you work

Promise Yourself A Reward

Everyone loves to be rewarded. If you complete a difficult task on time, reward yourself with a treat, which might be a slice of cake, a meal from your favourite restaurant, coffee from your favourite coffee shop or even a weekend getaway (your reward should be proportional to the task completed). Also, make sure you notice how good it feels to complete tasks! It creates a sense of motivation that compels you to achieve even more.

Hang Out with People Who Inspire You to Take Action

Identify friends, acquaintances, colleagues or people around you who trigger you- preferably hard workers and go-getters and hang out with them more often. In no time, you’ll inculcate their drive and spirit.

Get an Accountability Buddy

It’s easy to forget about your goals if you’re only accountable to yourself. Having a partner makes the whole process more fun. Your accountability partner should be someone who has his/her own set of goals. Both of you will hold each other accountable to your plans and goals. You don’t necessarily have to have the same goals. It’s even better when you don’t have the same goals so you can learn from one another.

Tell Others About Your Goals

This serves the same function as the accountability partner on a larger scale. Tell all your friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances about your goals. Whenever you see them, they’re likely to ask about your status on those goals. It is a good way to keep yourself accountable to your plans.

Stop Over-Complicating Things

Do you wait to be in the “right mood” or wait for the “right time” to tackle a task? Get rid of that thought because there’s never going to be a perfect time. Stop waiting for the right timing or approach because if you keep waiting for one, you’re never going to accomplish anything.

Keep a to-do list

A poor organization might be one of the reasons you are procrastinating. To overcome this, keep a to-do list as this helps you organize your tasks by priority and deadlines (numerous apps can help you to be more organized).

Every day, make a habit of creating a list of tasks you will do. It will prevent you from forgetting about tasks and deadlines you need to meet and identify the activities you should focus on.
Think of how satisfying and productive you will feel crossing out a completed task.

In the end, taking action is all that matters. You can do the planning and strategize but if you don’t take action, nothing is going to change. It’s very unlikely to procrastinate your way to success.

Whatever it is you are procrastinating on, if you want to get it done, you need to get a hold on yourself and just do it.

Make procrastination under your control and beat it now!