How to stop procrastinating
Daily practices to beat procrastination
""1) Fix all emergencies immediately. Ignoring them can lead to catastrophic results, so it's better to address them right away. 2) Do daily review sessions to remind yourself what tasks are important. Spend 5-10 minutes on that. 3) Pick 2-3 of the most important tasks and make a commitment to finish them before the end of the day. Focus on them right away in the morning. 4) Do the most challenging and hardest task first. It gives you fulfillment for the rest of the day. 5) Apply the decision-making strategy called the Eisenhower Matrix. To use it, you need to sort your tasks in four categories based on urgency and importance.""
Make a personal step-by-step plan
""1) Write your commitments for the next year in an app. Identify your core values and goals. Pick 5 main projects out of 25 you could concentrate on this year. Apply the SMART technique to make a 3-month goal for every five projects. 2) Plan your weekly review session. Define your obligations, priority projects and time you can this week. Apply the 80/20 method. Reserve time on your calendar for your tasks, leisure, and other activities. Try days dedicated to a certain theme and concentrate on hard tasks. 3) Group your small habits into one routine and complete it every day at the same time. 4) Challenge your reasons behind procrastination tendencies.
Daily practices to beat procrastination
""10) Master the feeling of uncomfortableness. Sometimes a goal you need to accomplish requires uncomfortable efforts, like doing exercises to be healthy. To master this feeling, you need to train your mental willpower. Start with an easy task and do little by little. Increase your efforts until you start feeling discomfort, then do another extra effort. Get used to the feeling of being out of your comfort zone and smile. 11) Be aware of your procrastination. Tackle it as a task. Here are some techniques that Leo Babauta's article "Building Awareness of the Procrastination Urge" recommends: Make notes around the areas you tend to procrastinate, write tally marks to count the moments you feel like skipping your plan, log in every day to keep track of your awareness habit. 12) Connect actions with rewards. When something unpleasant is coming, connect it with your favorite routine, as James Clear recommends in his article "How to Stop Procrastinating and Boost Your Willpower by Using "Temptation Bundling." 13) Connect your tasks to bigger goals. Sometimes the tasks you don't like can bring you closer to your goal. 14) Make your goal accountable, especially if you tend to relax before getting your things done. You can declare your goal publicly on social media, or use Beeminder app that will charge you money if you fail to achieve your goal. Coach.me is another app to turn your goal into habits and track them.
Daily practices to beat procrastination
""6) Do quick tasks straight away. If it takes only two minutes to do, then better do it than adding to your to-do list. Or if it needs only several simple extra actions, do them immediately. 7) Use the "mini habits" strategy to make hard tasks simpler. Set doable and easy goal, when you feel like the whole task is too difficult to complete. For example, if you want to master writing, your goal should be to write one sentence every day. 8) Make a habit to spend a small amount of time every day on complex and difficult tasks. It can be 15 or 20 minutes, but it's easier to persuade yourself to do it, especially when it comes to unpleasant tasks. 9) Use sprints to work on challenging projects. The Pomodoro Technique developed by Francesco Cirillo is a good time management practice. Once you have your task, concentrate on it for 25 minutes without distraction, then take a 5-minute break and change activity. Repeat it four times and take a longer break for 15-30 minutes. This technique keeps your brain fresh and energetic.""
Identify your core projects
""Once you have your list of goals for the next year, match them with your values to clean it up until you have your five core projects. Then, make an effort to spend your next few months on working only on those core projects."
Learn how to say NO
""Reject all the projects and tasks that don't align perfectly with your core projects. Doing so, you won't feel overwhelmed with massive loads of work, a common cause of procrastination. Remember, whenever you agree on something new, you actually say no to your core projects." "When you align yourself with your goals and consistently say no to anything that doesn't match your current focus, you'll free up a time to focus on the activities that are worth reading about when you reach the end of your life."
Turn your projects into SMART goals
""Set your goals quarterly, not for a whole year. Use the SMART acronym to pick your criteria. Your goal should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. In the end, it forms a goal with details, like who is involved in the project, where it will take place, with a focus on what you really need with specific deadline.""
Plan your week ahead
""Spend a few minutes every week to plan your next week and milestones you'd like to reach. It's best to do it on a weekend. Review your goals and think what deserves your attention this week and how much time realistically you have available to spend on it.""
What is procrastination and why is it dangerous?
""Take half an hour to write down all the tasks you delayed within the past month. Then write honest reasons next to each action you postponed. Compare them to the reasons mentioned
What is...
""You are a perfectionist, meaning you are afraid of making a mistake"" ""Fear of unknown. It's the feeling when you'd prefer not knowing the truth and avoid it at any price."" ""Do it later. Get fit, eat healthy, find a better job and start it all on Monday"" ""Focus on easy tasks. When an easy task is accomplished, it gives you a kick of energy, and a feeling of success."" ""No motivation. It happens when you don't have an interest in the work you need to accomplish."" ""You get distracted."" No clue how to start. The task might be new, too complex, or too difficult. To fix it, try to break your complex project into smaller pieces. Write them down, decide what to do first, organize and review your list, and do one by one ""Not enough time. You can fix it in two ways. Review how you plan your schedule and find extra time.""
Try this
Start by identifying your five main projects and focus exclusively on them. Remove all the clutter, distractions, and don't agree on anything that takes away your time. It not only removes stress and anxiety but frees up time that you can spend on really valuable things. Track your progress with a series of actions and weekly reviews. Stick to your plan even if you have only 5 minutes on your daily routine. Use online apps to keep your ball rolling. Be flexible with your goals if you need it.