“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
Abraham Lincoln
Pushed it off long enough? I get it, and that’s why I put together this list. It includes my top 10 tips for procrastinators to make it less painful to take action – and avoid pushing off the inevitable.
If you are a procrastinator, you’ve probably learned that pushing off things doesn’t help anyone, you included.
It’s just that… for some reason, your procrastination habit is pretty strong!
Maybe you’re a perfectionist, and you’d rather not do it all if you can’t do it the best.
Or, perhaps you’ve got ADHD and just can’t focus on what exactly to start with.
There are lots of reasons why people procrastinate. Maybe you have perfect clarity on that. Not everyone does though, and even if you don’t know why you’re always doing this, you can practice tools to overcome procrastination.
And you can be succesful!
The key to success is to choose 1-2 tips that motivate you and implement them.
It might not be easy, but it’s worth it. I get it that if you are reading this post, you’re are not lazy. But you do have a bad habit that’s hard to break.
So let’s see if this list of tips for procrastination can give you some ideas – that will actually work!
- Break up a large task into smaller actions. When you divide an activity into bite-sized pieces, it becomes less overwhelming.
- Become accountable to someone. Tell a friend to call tomorrow to check in on your progress. Trust me, a couple of minutes before you’re expecting the call you’ll find yourself getting stuff done!
- Choose a reward that you like and promise it to yourself (chocolate, anyone?) and cash in after you’ve completed the task.
- Use your imagination to remind yourself how great you’ll feel when it’s done. Close your eyes and vividly remember the feeling of accomplishment.
- Set yourself up for success by removing typical distractions. Of course that means you need to identify what tends to get in your way, and then, put it aside. This might mean turning off your phone/tablet, etc. Whatever it takes to help you focus.
- Create a deadline for your task and commit to getting it done in time.
- Say to yourself out loud “If I push this off, it will create more work for me later.” That’s often true, you know. If it’s not true, it won’t be a very convincing argument though.
- Drop the perfectionism. Yes, forget about doing it perfectly and let yourself be perfectly satisfied with an okay job. No pun intended!
- Reach out and ask for help. If you are procrastinating because you don’t know how to get the job done by yourself, don’t be ashamed to reach out and get the help you need.
- Do it right now. Yes, stop reading this list and go do what you’ve been pushing off.
Which of these tips can help you with procrastination?
You’ve got to try them out to know.
So, get at it and see what works for you!