My goal today is to be simple. Simple tends to get things done, I think. Procrastination operates by making things more complicated:
- Instead of dealing with just our present-moment tasks, we have to deal with the ones we are behind on too.
- Our minds become ultra-cluttered with self-shaming thoughts, like, “Why didn't I start earlier?”
- We become confused and preoccupied with how our lateness is going to appear to the people who are waiting for us to turn something in.
So let's reverse engineer this game and consciously decide to tackle our Procrastination by making things more simple.
Here are “20” simple strategies to stop your Procrastination:
1. Think of three problems that Procrastination causes you. Take a look at the biggest problem of the three and strategize how to get rid of the original reason you Procrastinated there.
2. Make an agreement with a person or a group to begin a task you've been stalled on.
3. Talk to someone who doesn't know you have been Procrastinating and let them in on your struggle.
4. Listen to an inspirational podcast on your commute to work and use the information from that podcast to get moving.
5. Get away from your to-do list and make room for getting something done that is more important to you than your average to-do list item.
6. Cancel something relatively unimportant in your schedule to get yourself some breathing room and actually get things done.
7. Change your environment. Improve your attitude by moving your furnishings around or getting the clutter out before you set down to work.
8. Change the tools you use. Don't consider your smartphone your best tool of choice, as it can be such a source of distraction. Try using the world's best tools, pen and paper, to rework how you work, at least for a few hours.
9. Take care of something personal first, before embarking on your work. For instance, schedule your next visit to your doctor, then use that momentum to make some work-related calls.
10. Decide that your Procrastination is the only thing getting in your way of making progress. Then dismantle your Procrastination piece by piece until you clear your path to working smoothly.
11. Review your self-talk and refuse to take “no” for answer. In other words, think about how to do your work, not all the reasons why you can't.
12. Develop a routine. You can make one up on the spot to ease the start-up anxiety you have before doing something new or daunting.
13. Do your task at a regular time each day or each week. There will never be a good time to do laundry. Laundry is the definition of argh. But it can be handled sanely and quickly if you schedule it in.
14. Make sure you insert something enjoyable in every day. When we get caught up in Procrastination, we tend to crowd out enjoyment in favor of suffering. Put the enjoyment back in your schedule and don't feel guilty about doing so.
15. Make sure you start off on a positive note. So often we approach to-do tasks with a feeling of dread instead of gratitude or acceptance. Try working with gratitude and acceptance to smooth out your ride.
16. Break down the project you are Procrastinating on into individual sections and start addressing the smallest one. Continue on until each section is completed.
17. Avoid saying the following: “I have no time,” “I've wasted so much time,” “I'll never get finished in time,” “I can't believe I didn't use my time better.” Save yourself gobs of time in the process. Enjoy being #gobsmacked.
18. Make a new commitment to yourself that you will not harm yourself any longer through your Procrastination. Proceed accordingly.
19. Stop early in order to save yourself time for something else. I'm stopping at Strategy #19 to demonstrate how cutting things short can save you a minute or two here and there. It's okay. Everyone is going to survive.
Your BONUS for making it through the list — a free worksheet!
Here's a WORKSHEET to help you plan and get started
Now the rest is simple. Take the strategy that seemed to fit you the best today and run with it. You will survive. Let me know how things turned out when you're through.
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