I sometimes refer to procrastination as the silent killer of life. Not because it’s bad for our health, but because it stops us from living the life of our dreams and becoming who we are destined to be.
As we bury ourselves deeper into the world of technology, surrounding ourselves with virtual and augmented realities, an increasing amount of social networks, multiplayer mobile phones games, etc., procrastination, strangely, is becoming more and more of a serious issue for the modern human being… as if we don’t already have so many problems to deal with.
In this blog post, I would like to share with you my 10 tips on how to overcome procrastination right now. But before that, I want to let you know that this week, I was incredibly fortunate to be a guest of Linda Yoonjin and Gabi Petrylaite on their YouTube channel – Brain Education TV, to discuss this very topic of procrastination.
On the episode, we talk about what it is and where it comes from, but I also share my story of procrastination, how it’s impacted my life and what I have done to improve it. Many of those tips you will find also below in the post. Nevertheless, I am sure you will find the episode very useful, so be sure to check it out!
How to avoid procrastination
1. Setting goals
The first tip on how to overcome procrastination is about setting goals.
When it comes to getting things done quickly, goal setting has probably been the most effective for me. For some strange reason, when we create meaningful daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly goals, we are more likely to make progress. It’s about having a destination in life, which is what each one of your goals ultimately becomes.
By creating major, monthly and yearly goals, you get to see the bigger picture of where you are heading and what you want from life. This is important for success. However, the problem with this is that by looking at the point where you currently are at – point “A”, and the place where you want to be – point “Z”, you realize that there is a heck of a lot of work that needs to be done. This will, unfortunately, create worry and make you want to procrastinate even more. This is exactly the reason why we create minor, daily and weekly, goals.
By breaking up your large goals into a list of smaller ones (points B, C, D, E, etc.), you make the process of moving forward easier and much more enjoyable. Instead of having to think about the 1000 different tasks that you need to do in 12-months time, you focus only on what needs to be done today or tomorrow. One step at a time.
Procrastination is the result of what happens when we have no way to measure success. For example, we say to ourselves that we will start a business within a year, but when exactly and what do we mean by “starting” one. This is where daily and weekly goals come into play.
By not accomplishing today’s goal, you know that you are behind schedule. Without that goal, there would be no way to know this. You’d simply say, “no problem, I’ll get it done next week.” And that is how people procrastinate on a daily basis, year after year. Don’t be that person. Take your dreams seriously and start setting goals right now!
Click To TweetDo the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
– Lao Tzu
2. Do the hardest things first
Ever read the book by Brian Tracy called “Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time”? If you haven’t, then I highly recommend it!
Brian Tracy often talks about getting the most challenging tasks out of the way first. Usually, we do it the other way around – we do what is hard last. As a result, by the time we reach the hardest task, we are exhausted and just want to relax.
A tired mind will make the already complicated task even more difficult. Why would you want to do this to yourself? My advice to you, eat that frog as quickly as possible while your mind is fresh and the energy is there. This will make your life much easier (and sweeter).
Click To TweetEat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. – Mark Twain
3. Turn off your mobile phone
The third tip on how to overcome procrastination is simple – shut off your phone! No, seriously, shut it off.
It’s amazing how much good and bad this little device can bring into our life. In the case of procrastination, mobile phones play a very big role.
Constant notifications from the internet, text messages and calls. We put away our device, just to pick it up a minute later, hoping that something “exciting” has happened in the last 60 seconds. Mobile technology is a miracle of our time, but also a curse and a disease, causing procrastination to spread faster than ever.
Make it a habit to shut off your phone every time you are about to work. You will save yourself thousands of hours and create plenty of accomplishments.
4. No social networks
This tip on how to overcome procrastination is very similar to the previous one.
I am not going to lie. I know how much a mobile phone can distract me, so I usually put it away. However, what I don’t always do, is that I don’t close the social networks. Heck, I have a Facebook tab open right now… guilty!
Turn off your phone or put it away, and then make sure that your computer is clean as well. Don’t have the social network tabs open. Don’t let them push you further into procrastination.
The thing is that when we manage to get ourselves into the zone, a mental state also known as the “flow”, our performance is at its peak. We are fully immersed in what we are doing, the creative mind is wide awake, and our work is bringing outstanding results.
But you know what? As soon as we are distracted by an image of our friend’s kitten, that flow state is immediately lost. This is very unfortunate, especially because the flow state is not something you can return to in 5 minutes. Some say it takes at least another 30 minutes of work to get to.
5. Pomodoro technique
The fifth tip on how to overcome procrastination is called the “Pomodoro technique”.
Pomodoro comes from Italian and means “tomato”. In this case, Pomodoro is the cooking timer that you see often in kitchens, one looking like a tomato that you can twist to set a timer.
The philosophy behind this technique is that if you don’t work for a specific amount of time, you will work forever… more like never! Hence the procrastination.
To apply this technique, simply set a timer for 25 minutes, work, and then have a short break, usually the 3 to 5 minutes long. It’s really as simple as that! By creating a time limit, we tend to focus more and work harder for the given amount of time.
Also, you don’t need to work for 25 minutes at a time. If you prefer, you can make it a longer time interval. I use this online resource to set the timer: http://www.marinaratimer.com
6. Find an accountability partner
You know what’s a really good way to get $*!t done? Ask your friends to watch you do it while you watch them! Hold each other accountable!
Accountability is something that has been known to help people overcome procrastination for a very long time. Holding a person accountable is what life coaches do to their clients, as well as what ambitious people do to each other in mastermind groups.
If procrastination by now has become a sort of an addiction that you cannot overcome on your own, find someone with similar goals to yours and do the work together, making sure that neither of you is left behind. Finding motivation as a team is much easier than finding it on your own.
7. Reward yourself
The seventh tip on how to overcome procrastination concerns you rewarding yourself for the tasks that you accomplish.
As a kid, I was never rewarded for the good grades I got in school or for the chores that I did around the house. I did them simply because my parents told me to. As a result, physical and mental work in my mind were never linked to anything positive. Because I lacked the connection of work to pleasure, subconsciously, I grew up hating work in every shape or form.
If you are a parent, I would recommend that every once in a while you reward your child for the tasks that they do well. It helps them understands the benefits of working hard. But if you are like me, already all grown up and wise (lol), but having received hardly any praise as a child, then I recommend you start rewarding yourself right this second. It’s not too late.
If you have a task that you don’t want to do, simply offer yourself a small reward for it. For example, as soon as it’s done, go to the movies or buy something nice to eat. You will feel the benefits of scary or boring tasks by linking them to pleasure. This approach works really well.
8. Start early
We all have that time of the day when we feel more productive. Some have it in the morning, some in the evening, and some have it even at night! In my case, I found it to be early in the morning.
Not always, but often I wake up at 4 am to get as many things done as fast as possible. I love going to the gym early in the morning when no one is there yet, or doing all of my personal work while others haven’t even woken up yet to go to their job. I really do love it, especially because I am so productive at that time!
You don’t need to wake up at 4 am like I do. For most people, that’s a bit too much. However, had I never tried waking up so early, I would have never known how productive I can be. So I suggest that you experiment and see what time of the day works for you best. When does procrastination least affect you?
As a side note, I called this tip on how to overcome procrastination as “Start early”, simply because our mind is fresh in the morning. You’ve probably noticed that if you go to bed late and sleep until noon, you may feel tired. This is because we have an internal clock in the body, which prefers us to get up very early rather than late. You can research this question further if you like.
9. Group tasks
Sometimes at the end of the day, I reflect on what I did throughout it. At first glance, it seems like I did a lot of work, but once I dissect it into pieces, I realize that I spent half of the day answering emails, messages on Facebook and Twitter, browsing other people’s blogs, etc. Unfortunately, this is what work has become for many modern people, and it’s in no way working “smart”.
If you are anything like me, I suggest you begin grouping tasks together.
For example, you allow yourself to spend only one hour a day to go through emails. You also spend only one hour a day to answer messages on social networks, etc. This way, you get a few extra hours freed up to work efficiently. Remember, doing irrelevant work to make yourself look busy is also a form of procrastination.
10. Remind yourself of the purpose
Last but not least tip on how to stop procrastination is to remind yourself of the purpose. Why do you do the things that you do?
For example, I may hate bookkeeping, but I know it’s just something that I have to do in order to have my business running. I hate it, but I understand its importance, so I am ok with it. At the end of every month, I spend a couple of hours on it. It’s on my list of monthly goals, so I don’t need to worry that I will procrastinate and forget about it altogether.
If you think about the basic duties in life, such as taking out the trash or brushing teeth, you may wonder, who cares if I procrastinate with it? It’s no big deal.. not the end of the world. While I may agree with you that it’s not the end of the world, I would like to point something out…
In life, there are many little duties that we constantly have to do that are mundane and plain boring. But that’s life. Life is not a series of big and meaningful events only. It’s built from small, unexciting things also, such as taking out the trash, vacuuming the house, brushing teeth, etc. And if you stop caring about those small things, and start procrastinating whenever possible, it will inevitably pass on to the more meaningful, more complicated areas of your life, too.
So, instead of caring less about the boring stuff, learn to care more about it! Go deeper and see the real purpose of taking out the trash.
Start by overcoming procrastination where it’s easiest. If you are able to take out the trash without procrastinating a single bit, trust me, you’ll see more success with life’s bigger things, too.
Thank you for stopping by and good luck!
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