11 Ways to Stop Procrastinating

by Celestine Chua on lifehack.org

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, I’m 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 it’s 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 it’s 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 that’s the case, then it’s time to change things around. [...]

3. Create a Detailed Timeline with Specific Deadlines

Having just 1 deadline for your work is like an invitation to procrastinate. That’s because we get the impression that we have time and keep pushing everything back, until it’s 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 don’t finish this by today, it’s 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 that’s 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 or deactivate their facebook accounts. I think it’s a little drastic and extreme as addressing procrastination is more about being conscious of our actions than counteracting via self-binding methods, but if you feel that’s what’s needed, go for it.

5. Hang out with People Who Inspire You to Take Action

I’m pretty sure if you spend just 10 minutes talking to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, you’ll 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 or Bill Gates every day is probably not a feasible method, but the principle applies — The Hidden Power of Every Single Person Around You
‍Identify the people, friends or 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 and social media. It’s 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 it’s not necessary for both of you to have the same goals, it’ll be even better if that’s 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. It’s 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 don’t change our goals to reflect that.Get away from your work (a short vacation will be good, else just a weekend break or staycation 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 there’s 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. [...]

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 don’t take action, nothing’s 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 it’s 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.

Top 10 Ways to Avoid Procrastination

by Regan Collins on collegexpress.com

1. Get organized

You can't do any work if you don't know what assignments need to be completed. Invest in a planner or start using the calendar app on your phone. This makes it much easier to keep track of individual assignments and important due dates. [...]

2. Set simple, achievable goals

Part of the reason we procrastinate is because the task at hand seems too daunting. It’s a lot easier to get started on a project when you establish simple, reachable goals rather than a big, vague plan. Instead of telling yourself, "I'll study biology tonight,” say, "I'll study chapter six tonight." This makes your goals less intimidating and more attainable. [...]

3. Create a timeline/schedule

After you set your goals, create a timeline to complete them. This could be a study schedule for your big exam coming up (“On Tuesday, I'll study chapter five, and on Wednesday, I'll study chapter six”), or it could be mapping out an essay you have to write (“On Saturday, I'll write the introduction and conclusion”). Breaking an assignment into small chunks over time makes it much more manageable.

4. Set a deadline

So many people get trapped in the cycle of "Someday, I'll organize my notes," or "I'll get to that math homework eventually." The truth is “someday” and “eventually” never come. It's important to set a specific date for when you want your goals to be accomplished. If you have an assignment due, aim to have it completed one or two days in advance. That way, if something unexpected happens, you still have extra time to complete it.

5. Get rid of distractions

It’s important to rid yourself of all potential disruptions before you begin working so you don’t get needlessly sidetracked halfway through your task. If you tend to spend too much time on Snapchat or Instagram when you should be studying, then shut your phone off (all the way off). Distractions could also be external sources, like annoying siblings. Try listening to classical music or white noise to drown out their constant chatter. Alternatively, you could change study environments all together and head down to the local library or coffee shop, where you can clear your mind and study distraction-free.

6. Time yourself

When loaded with assignments, it's easy to overwork yourself. Plus, our brains can really only handle so much information and focus at a time! So...how long should you study for? Everyone is different, but most experts agree on a range of 50 to 90 minutes. Set a timer for a block of focused studying or work to prevent yourself from burning out. [...]

7. Take a break

It's important to take mental breathers from school work every now and then. When your timer goes off, take a 10–30-minute break. Listen to music, take a walk, do some laundry, or scream into a pillow—anything that takes your mind off of work and allows you to relax.

8. Use incentives

Everyone loves being rewarded. It’s important to give yourself incentives, no matter how small. It could be something as simple as, "If I work on this assignment for an hour, I'll watch an episode of my favorite TV show tonight." Or it could be a bigger goal like, "If I get an A in math this semester, I'll go to my favorite restaurant.” It’s easier to pay attention when something is at stake.

9. Get the hard stuff done first

This may make you want to push everything back farther. It's hard to do something that you don't want to do. But guess what? Once you do it, it's over! It is best to complete your most challenging assignments first. That way everything after it seems easier and takes a shorter amount of time. If you keep pushing that English essay back, you’re never going to get it done. It’s best to buckle down and just do it.

10. Tell someone about your goal

It’s easy to forget about assignments or put them off if you’re the only person holding yourself accountable. If you really want to get something done, tell a friend or family member. Now there is someone holding you responsible for your goals. You can't back out or slough it off. As an added bonus, you also have someone to celebrate your victories with, no matter how small. Whether it’s getting an A on that physics test or just finishing a project a few days in advance, your friend will be there to support you.

11 Ways to Finally
Stop Procrastinating

by Kylee Ross on mindful.org

1. Focus on Long-Term Happiness

Dan Ariely, a Psychology and Behavioral Economics professor at Duke University, says we often choose to do things that will offer momentary happiness before working on a more long-term goal—a goal that is difficult or complex to achieve. Once we shift our focus on those long-term achievements, we can start the meaningful process of working toward them.

It’s like running a marathon, Ariely says. While you’re running, you may be in pain and look miserable but when you’re finished, you get to reap the benefits of feeling accomplished and successful.

2. Give Yourself Mini Assignments

When a music artist is stuck on writing lyrics or producing a melody, music producer Rick Rubin asks them to come up with one line by the next day, Ferriss says.Very small homework assignments can seem more manageable than an overwhelming task like writing an entire hit song in a day. Ferriss says that when we put too much pressure on ourselves to produce, we give ourselves a kind of performanceIf we can focus on small, achievable tasks, we’re more likely to avoid procrastination.

3. Differentiate Inspiration and Motivation

Fitness trainer Jillian Michaels suggests that the desire to complete something has to come from within. That’s where motivation comes into play. Motivation is the “why” that comes from you. It’s the meaning behind your work that will help you stay on course. Inspiration, on the other hand, is an external source or catalyst for change, Michaels says. Inspiration often appears in the form of a person or an endeavor that you admire, and it can jumpstart your efforts but won’t sustain your progress on a project.

4. Try the Pomodoro Technique

The key to productivity may be sprints of full focus and effort, interspersed with moments of rewarding time to relax. Barbara Oakley, a professor of Engineering at Oakland University,suggests turning off all distractions (including messages and emails on your computer), setting a timer for 25 minutes, and focusing as intently as you can on the task in front of you. At the end of the timer, give yourself a reward for your work—a break. Then, repeat the cycle again.

5. Build in Time for Procrastination

Sometimes, no amount of work-related success will compare to the bittersweet feeling of procrastinating. If you’ve tried everything else, don’t fight the feeling. Instead, build set times into your schedule to procrastinate. If that means giving yourself five minutes to scroll through your social media feeds, author Charles Duhigg says, you have to give yourself that time. “If you allow yourself five minutes every hour, it won’t explode into 45 minutes because you’ve been trying to suppress it.” Duhigg says.

6. Recognize When You Fall into
Patterns of Structured Procrastination

Structured procrastination is giving yourself the sense that you’re making progress without actually making any progress, Ariely says. This may be, for example, diving into a full email inbox when you have a bigger task to work on. Checking off the tiny boxes in your inbox gives you momentary feelings of accomplishment, when in reality you’ve still put off a larger task.

7. Set Fixed Amounts of Time for Important Tasks

It’s very easy to spend an entire day responding to emails or performing menial tasks that add up in hours, Ariely says. But it’s crucial to make sure that we set time for ourselves to work toward goals that will give us a sense of accomplishment in a month, six months, and a year. Ariely does this with writing. He sets aside allotted amounts of time every day to write. Not all of his sessions are useful, but by consistently writing, he says he can track his progress over longer periods.

8. Hold Yourself Accountable

We are more likely to deliver when there is someone waiting for us to give them something, Ferriss says. That’s why it can be useful to set incentives or consequences for met or unmet goals. These can include check-ins with a friend or even monetary bets. We can hold ourselfs accountable with powerful performance drivers like having our accomplishment recognized, aversion to letting someone down, or even friendly competition.

9. Keep Distraction Out

Duhigg encourages us to start our days by envisioning what the day will look like. If you commute in the morning, use that time to run through the series of events you plan for yourself. By doing this we can prioritize more easily. For example, if your boss poses a question that you were not prepared for, you’re less likely to drop everything and find the answer if you already have a set list of tasks on your plate. You can acknowledge that the question was not anticipated and that you will need to schedule time for research to answer it properly.

10. Reflect on the Root Causes of Procrastination

The easiest causes of procrastination to identify are physical distractions in your workspace. Try removing these distractions from your environment. Know that you won’t be able to stifle all distractions (like the internet, for example) so start small. Michaels also encourages us to look for outside help when needed—whether it be through your own research or counseling.

11. Make an Appointment with Yourself

While trying to write a screenplay, comedian Mike Birbiglia found that when he had a standing meeting with someone, he was never late. In fact, he was early. But when he set deadlines for himself, he would blow past them without a second thought. So, he started scheduling meetings with himself, Ferriss says. This method worked for him. With a set date, time, and place to prepare for, Birbiglia was able to keep himself on track.These are just a few ways that may help us reframe procrastination. How do you deal with the urge to put things off?