Top 10 Ways To Fight Procrastination

Today is Fight Procrastination Day. I wanted to help you celebrate by giving you my top 10 ways of fighting procrastination.

1. Just do it NOW! There is no time like the present. The sooner you start the sooner you get it over with.
   
2. Don’t over think the task. Most people procrastinate because they want to perform the task perfectly. All that matters is doing the best you can.
3. Break it down. Break down the overwhelming task into smaller steps. It might not seem as overwhelming if you do this.
4. Set a timer. Use your kitchen timer for 15 minutes to solely focus on the task at hand.
5. Don’t multitask and don’t over-schedule yourself. When you multitask you actually are not doing the best you can on the task at hand because your attention is diverted.
6. Visualize you finishing the task and how good that feels. Starting out with the end in mind is a great way to stay motivated to complete the task.
7. Set a deadline days before the actual deadline. This is a great way to trick yourself into thinking you are procrastinating and feeling that rush without the consequences of actually missing your deadline.
8. Don’t beat yourself up. If you need to move something to another day that’s okay. We all need that sometime. Just don’t make a habit of putting things off.
9. Reward yourself at the end. Set up rewards that you will give yourself for completing a project as a way to motivate you and keep you excited about starting and finishing.
10. Say NO! It’s a beautiful thing. Saying no to things will actually free up your time and not have you “under” the gun so much.

Bonus tip: Evaluate what you keep putting off. Ask yourself does it align with my goals? Maybe you shouldn’t have committed to it in the first place.

I hope these tips will help you fight off procrastination.

Also published on Medium.