11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination

You have a deadline looming. However, instead of doing your work, you are fiddling with miscellaneous things like checking email, social media, watching videos, surfing blogs and forums. You know you should be working, but you just dont feel like doing anything.

We are all familiar with the procrastination phenomenon. When we procrastinate, we squander away our free time and put off important tasks we should be doing them till its too late.  And when it is indeed too late, we panic and wish we got started earlier. The chronic procrastinators I know have spent years of their life looped in this cycle. Delaying, putting off things, slacking, hiding from work, facing work only when its unavoidable, then repeating this loop all over again. Its a bad habit that eats us away and prevents us from achieving greater results in life.

Dont let procrastination take over your life. Here, I will share my personal steps which I use to overcome procrastination with great success. These 11 steps will definitely apply to you too:

1. Break your work into little steps. Part of the reason why we procrastinate is because subconsciously, we find the work too overwhelming for us. Break it down into little parts, then focus on one part at the time. If you still procrastinate on the task after breaking it down, then break it down even further. Soon, your task will be so simple that you will be thinking gee, this is so simple that I might as well just do it now!.For example, Im currently writing a new book (on How to achieve anything in life). Book writing at its full scale is an enormous project and can be overwhelming. However, when I break it down into phases such as (1) Research (2) Deciding the topic (3) Creating the outline (4) Drafting the content (5) Writing Chapters #1 to #10, (6) Revision (7) etc, suddenly it seems very manageable. What I do then is to focus on the immediate phase and get it done to my best ability, without thinking about the other phases. When its done, I move on to the next.
2. Change your environment. Different environments have different impact on our productivity. Look at your work desk and your room. Do they make you want to work or do they make you want to snuggle and sleep? If its the latter, you should look into changing your workspace. One thing to note is that an environment that makes us feel inspired before may lose its effect after a period of time. If thats the case, then its time to change things around. Refer to Steps #2 and #3 of 13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity, which talks about revamping your environment and workspace.
3. Create a detailed timeline with specific deadlines. Having just 1 deadline for your work is like an invitation to procrastinate. Thats because we get the impression that we have time and keep pushing everything back, until its too late. Break down your project (see tip #1), then create an overall timeline with specific deadlines for each small task. This way, you know you have to finish each task by a certain date. Your timelines must be robust, too i.e. if you dont finish this by today, its going to jeopardize everything else you have planned after that. This way it creates the urgency to act. My goals are broken down into monthly, weekly, right down to the daily task lists, and the list is a call to action that I must accomplish this by the specified date, else my goals will be put off.
4. Eliminate your procrastination pit-stops. If you are procrastinating a little too much, maybe thats because you make it easy to procrastinate. Identify your browser bookmarks that take up a lot of your time and shift them into a separate folder that is less accessible. Disable the automatic notification option in your email client. Get rid of the distractions around you. I know some people will out of the way and delete/deactivate their facebook accounts. I think its a little drastic/extreme as addressing procrastination is more about being conscious of our actions than counteracting via self-binding methods, but if you feel thats whats needed, go for it.
5. Hang out with people who inspire you to take action.  Im pretty sure if you spend just 10 minutes talking to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, youll be more inspired to act than if you spent the 10 minutes doing nothing. The people we are with influence our behaviors. Of course spending time with Steve Jobs/Bill Gates every day is probably not a feasible method, but the principle applies. Identify the people/friends/colleagues who trigger you most likely the go-getters and hard workers and hang out with them more often. Soon you will inculcate their drive and spirit too. As a personal development blogger, I hang out with inspiring personal development experts by reading their blogs and corresponding with them regularly via email/social media. Its communication via new media and it works all the same.
6. Get a buddy. Having a companion makes the whole process much more fun. Ideally, your buddy should be someone who has his/her own set of goals. Both of you will hold each other accountable to your goals and plans. While its not necessary for both of you to have the same goals, itll be even better if thats the case, so you can learn from each other. I have a good friend whom I talk to regularly, and we always ask each other about our goals and progress in achieving those goals. Needless to say, it spurs us to keep taking action.
7. Tell others about your goals. This serves the same function as #6, on a larger scale. Tell all your friends, colleagues, acquaintances and family about your projects. Now whenever you see them, they are bound to ask you about your status on those projects. For example, sometimes I announce my projects on The Personal Excellence Blog, Twitter and Facebook, and my readers will ask me about them on an ongoing basis. Its a great way to keep myself accountable to my plans.
8. Seek out someone who has already achieved the outcome. What is it you want to accomplish here, and who are the people who have accomplished this already? Go seek them out and connect with them. Seeing living proof that your goals are very well achievable if you take action is one of the best triggers for action.
9. Re-clarify your goals. If you have been procrastinating for an extended period of time, it might reflect a misalignment between what you want and what you are currently doing. Often times, we outgrow our goals as we discover more about ourselves, but we dont change our goals to reflect that. Get away from your work (a short vacation will be good, else just a weekend break will do too) and take some time to regroup yourself. What exactly do you want to achieve? What should you do to get there? What are the steps to take? Does your current work align with that? If not,what can you do about it?
10. Stop over-complicating things. Are you waiting for a perfect time to do this? That maybe now is not the best time because of X, Y, Z reasons? Ditch that thought because theres never a perfect time. If you keep waiting for one, you are never going to accomplish anything. Perfectionism is one of the biggest reasons for procrastination. Read more about why perfectionist tendencies can be a bane than a boon: Why Being A Perfectionist May Not Be So Perfect.
11. Get a grip and just do it. At the end, it boils down to taking action. You can do all the strategizing, planning and hypothesizing, but if you dont take action, nothings going to happen. Occasionally, I get readers and clients who keep complaining about their situations but they still refuse to take action at the end of the day. Reality check: I have never heard anyone procrastinate their way to success before and I doubt its going to change in the near future.  Whatever it is you are procrastinating on, if you want to get it done, you need to get a grip on yourself and do it.

Which tips work best for you? Do you have your own personal tip to overcome procrastination? Please share with everyone in the comments section :)

Image

Love this article? Share it with your friends on Facebook

More Info =>> 11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination

Be Happy and Stop Being Responsible for These 4 11. Schedule time blocks Getting away from work is a great way to beat procrastination as well as refuel your ,Practical Ways To Stop Procrastinating. By Marty Nemko. Posted Jan 31st 2013 @ 7:43AM Share. Everyone knows that ambition is key to success. If you ,11 Responses to The 8 Most Practical Ways to Stop Procrastinating. Stuart Young says: check out the 8 Most Practical Ways to Stop Procrastinating. ,It's Completely Free; One Click Registration; Gain Full Access To Site; Gain Full Access To 20k+ Picture Quotes; Participate In Monthly Contest. Win Prizes,DIY IDEA: Shipping Pallet Shelves "You can use it a ton of different ways: spice rack, herb garden shelve lined with coffee/rice sacks for indoors or outside, wine ,11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination Lifehack You have a deadline looming. However, instead of doing your work, you are fiddling with miscellaneous ,You have a deadline looming. However, instead of doing your work, you are fiddling with miscellaneous things like checking email, social media, watching videos ,11 Ways To Stop Procrastinating and Get Motivated You can follow some practical steps and make permanent changes in your life.,BookingNest is bringing together all beauty and wellness professionals together in one place. We are creating a community where anyone can come to BookingNest to find ,11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination Featured Lifestyle Productivity Uncategorized by Celestine Chua | 3K Shares. You have a deadline looming.

More Info =>> 11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination

11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination - Lifehack
11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination Featured Lifestyle Productivity Uncategorized by Celestine Chua | 3K Shares. You have a deadline looming.

11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination | What's ...
BookingNest is bringing together all beauty and wellness professionals together in one place. We are creating a community where anyone can come to BookingNest to find

11 Ways To Stop Procrastinating and Get Motivated | WebProNews
11 Ways To Stop Procrastinating and Get Motivated You can follow some practical steps and make permanent changes in your life.

11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination | DAILY ACADEMIC
You have a deadline looming. However, instead of doing your work, you are fiddling with miscellaneous things like checking email, social media, watching videos

11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination
11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination Lifehack You have a deadline looming. However, instead of doing your work, you are fiddling with miscellaneous

11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination - Pinterest
DIY IDEA: Shipping Pallet Shelves "You can use it a ton of different ways: spice rack, herb garden shelve lined with coffee/rice sacks for indoors or outside, wine

11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination | Apnazilla.com
It's Completely Free; One Click Registration; Gain Full Access To Site; Gain Full Access To 20k+ Picture Quotes; Participate In Monthly Contest. Win Prizes

The 8 Most Practical Ways to Stop Procrastinating ...
11 Responses to The 8 Most Practical Ways to Stop Procrastinating. Stuart Young says: check out the 8 Most Practical Ways to Stop Procrastinating.

Practical Ways To Stop Procrastinating - AOL Jobs
Practical Ways To Stop Procrastinating. By Marty Nemko. Posted Jan 31st 2013 @ 7:43AM Share. Everyone knows that ambition is key to success. If you

29 Ways to Beat Procrastination Once and For All
Be Happy and Stop Being Responsible for These 4 11. Schedule time blocks Getting away from work is a great way to beat procrastination as well as refuel your

More Info =>> 11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination

Related Post:

Posted in: Quitting Smoking