10 Effective Ways To Stop Procrastinating And Get Stuff Done
10 Effective Ways To Stop Procrastinating And Get Stuff Done. Procrastination has killed a lot of dreams. It’s high time we squash and kill it for good. The following tips will help you beat it and get things done.
1. Recognize That You’re Procrastinating
You might be putting off a task because you’ve had to re-prioritize your workload. However, if you start to put things off indefinitely, or switch focus because you want to avoid doing something, then you probably are procrastinating.
2. Understand Why You’re Procrastinating
Notice your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and the situation when you feel like procrastinating. Write these down. Often perfectionism, which we may experience as anxiety, underlies the tendency to postpone action. Once you understand your pattern, you can hold yourself accountable in a positive and self-compassionate way.
3. Wake Up Early
The earliest bird catches the first worm, so the saying goes. Waking up early can help you concentrate on a few big tasks as soon as possible. This will motivate you to get a bunch of work done that would have taken many more hours during the bustle of the day.
4. Set Up Reminders
Setup a daily or hourly reminder that you should be working on something or at least not wasting your time. Reminders will help you to commit. You can also set up reminders that give you motivational quotes.
5. Give Yourself A Deadline
The best way to overcome a natural tendency to procrastinate is to create a hard deadline for yourself and then put it on the calendar. Having a scheduled deadline that you commit to will make it easier to get tasks completed.
6. Focus On One Task
We often give ourselves too many things to do and become overwhelmed. Start by choosing just ONE thing that you’ve been procrastinating and make a commitment to complete that task in the next week.
7. Get An Accountability Partner
To be accountable to another person helps us personally and professionally. Many of us know we need to accomplish something and are putting it off and won’t ask someone to help. Ask for help and let that person know you will do the same for them.
8. Make It Fun
Another way to motivate yourself to complete a task is to create a reward that you will give yourself once it’s been completed. What can you treat yourself to once you’ve finished this task? The human brain responds to reward stimulus and this can be a good way to create habits.
9. Destroy Social Networks
Social media is the reason why many people don’t get things done. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, take a lot of our time during the day. Turn them off completely to beat procrastination. Focus on the task at hand.
10. Give Yourself A Break
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you are having a tough time beating procrastination. Remember, you are human and we love to sit and stew in our own uncompleted mess of work sometimes. Just work hard to get out of it.
