How To Stop Procrastinating Right Now And Get Things Done
How To Stop Procrastinating And Get Things Done
If you are looking for a unique way on how to stop procrastinating right now and get things done then you just landed on an article that will help you increase your productivity, manage your time and give you strategies to finally enable you to overcome this procrastination monster.
We all know procrastination as this unwanted visitor that has been scrambling our to-do lists and afflicting our minds since time passed and gets more free space than any dancing monkey. Procrastination has evolved into a binge of aimless scrolling every day, glorifying the lives of other people on social media while you eat burgers on your couch and do nothing about this great idea you’ve had for a while. But this isn’t what you bargained for so in this blog post let’s look at 10 ways you can put a nail in the coffin of procrastination and suit up for action, whether you’re wanting to take a hike through the Grand Canyon or develop a life-changing app that will detect cancer or just hand in your assignment. These 10 ways will help give you a kick in the butts and change up your life for the better so you can stop procrastinating right now and get things done. Do you wish to know who was one of the greatest procrastinators of all time? Just stick with me for the big reveal. And with that said, let’s not procrastinate any further and get started on the 10 ways on how to stop procrastinating.
1. Tell A Friend About Your Goal
Telling someone you trust about your grand plan or goal can be the biggest single spark to get you started once you’ve already told them about your objectives. You’re more likely to feel a good magnitude of pressure to see it through to the end, also you have someone on your side who will keep you accountable to your goals, having knowledge of the fact that you’ll be seeing them in a week or month time will keep you committed to your goal because they’re sure going to ask you how your plans are going. if your aim is to get fit, lose a couple of pounds or eat healthier than before then joining a group of people on the same mission will help against procrastination. we’re more likely to turn up if we know we have people waiting for us and tend to stick to goals better if our actions are directly responsible for inspiring someone else. It’s also been proven that some little amount of competition always helps us to stick with our goals. If you have a goal you want to see to fruition, then this free e-book will help you in formulating a plan, giving you an in-depth step-by-step guide to help you defeat procrastination and achieve the said goal.
2. Your Performance Isn’t A Sign Of Your Self-Worth
A lot of us are innately scared of failing. So scared that it paralyzes us thereby preventing us from acting, but when we realize that we are who we are even if we achieve a goal or not will enable us to have a healthy distance between failing at a particular endeavor and feeling like a complete failure. For example, Serena Williams, who is the number one female tennis player in the world and also a self-proclaimed perfectionist, sees failure as not an option but when you see her fearless attitude and her skill then you realize that she has a very different relationship with failure. Failure doesn’t define her as a woman and as a tennis player, her loss isn’t a death sentence for her but a Clarion call to keep on moving forward. she knows who she is. She knows she’s world number one female tennis player, an inspirational woman, and a beloved mother. She doesn’t see herself as a loser when she loses a match as much as swimming in an ocean doesn’t make one a fish. She’s still Serena Williams and you’re still you, a unique individual in the world. No amount of failure can take away your worth in the world around you. Adjust your mode of thinking around achieving your goals which is an outer achievement that doesn’t affect how lovable and successful you are as a human and how worthy you are to be here.
3. Declutter Your Mind Before You Start
Most times, we don’t know how much we have spinning around our minds, using up thoughts space, and energy. Everything from switching off the lights after use, to don’t forget to keep the toilet lid closed at all times, to find out how to remove those oil stains from the carpet to I haven’t filled this paperwork yet. This list of crazy things to do is distracting you and bringing about high-level stress more than you realize. When you miss the whole story, your partner was telling you about because your mind was racing through what needed to be done on your way back from work, you’re missing out on the gift of being present. and the present is the only place where living, not existing actually happens. So, stop and sit down with a paper or jotter in front of you and write down every single thing on your mind that is taking up precious space from clothes you need to get ironed to Valentine gift for that special person in your life to the emails you need to your clients to the work colleague that has been a pain in your ass, or needing to ask for a salary raise or time off to cool down. Write all of them down, including the chores you have to do, the repairman you have to call, birthday gifts you’ll send late, canceling your Netflix subscription, or whatever it is as it goes on and on. now you have to rewrite everything in two categories and list them in an order of importance. Do immediately any task that takes less than one minute which could be canceling your subscription or sending a quick email to your client or booking an appointment online, then with whatever that’s left, you give yourself a week or a weekend to clear the entire list. Plus, don’t forget to reward yourself whenever you complete a task on your list as there’s nothing more rewarding than ticking an item off. Once it’s done, your mind will be cleared and free to focus on your real goal at hand plus you’ll feel more motivated to get the most important stuff done in your life.
4. Understand What Kind of Procrastinator You Are.
Not every procrastinator is born equal, some perform well under pressure while others are really easily distracted by little things but you can learn about both and figure out where in the spectrum you fall into. A passive procrastinator is the type of person prone to easy distraction a sudden urge to arrange the bedsheet or memorize all of Ed Sheeran’s song lyrics will always take preeminence over getting down and doing some productive work. Passive procrastination is always at the drawback of our productivity, if this is you, then you need to do away with every distraction, but more on that later. The second type of procrastination is called active procrastination, this can tend to be useful because some of us are just more hardwired to be productive under pressure, the adrenaline rush of a deadline enhances focus and vigor in our work. Scientific studies have shown that this doesn’t always lead to poor results due to the fact that for some people, high-intensity all-nighter work tends to bring out the best in them. Just ensure you know which type of procrastinator you are and then work out a way to beat this lifestyle and don’t overbook yourself. This FREE e-book will show how to do it with a step-by-step method. Click here to get it.
5. Remove the Distractions and Increase Your Productivity
This might seem like a no-brainer, but the best way to stop procrastinating right now and get things done is to avoid distractions. You wouldn’t stuff your room and kitchen closet with snacks and junk foods if you want to start eating healthy meals in the same way you need you wouldn’t want to fill your phone with social media and gaming apps if you really want to stop procrastinating. In other words, delete that gaming app, keep your phone on silent during productive hours and gym sessions, turn off every social media notification and focus on what you want to achieve with your life. Always remember that a small sacrifice in the present will reap big rewards in the future when you crave to play that video game or scroll through social media.
6. Break Down Your Big Goal into Smaller Actions and Tasks
Does your big goal look like a Big Elephant that seems nearly impossible to finish in an eating contest? This might be what holding you back from doing the work and being productive. It’s time to sit down and divide the elephant into little chunks of meat and eat them one chunk at a time. (LOL… Forgive me for using the elephant analogy, it’s what I can think of while writing this article) Ask yourself, what do I need to do to make my goals a reality? What things do I need to make my goals a reality? Write down what you need to achieve your goal and break it down into smaller items and also break down those tasks into simpler actionable tasks. Writing down a business plan can be broken down into a doing a market survey for the price of the products, knowing the price of the products can be further broken down into looking the price up on google or going to the department store or your local market to get the price of the product.
7. Give Your Goal A Deadline
Now is the time when you take those actionable tasks and give yourself a realistic time frame for you to achieve them. if you don’t give yourself a deadline for achieving the said goals, you’ll find it difficult to achieve them. once you’ve turned your big idea into tasks then into actionable items, next thing is to create a color code or order for them so you can see how you’re progressing. now set a date for each of these tasks and set it out in a monthly planner so you can how you’re progressing. Always ensure you give yourself a reward whenever you achieve a goal even if it’s just crossing it off with a black pen.
8. Make Your Work Place Organized
Set yourself up for success by assigning yourself an area to work from or getting the equipment you need to see your goal realize if it’s meal planning make sure you have containers you need to pack your meals and eliminate the temptation of having the wrong kind of food in your home if you’re starting a business create an organized distraction-free area that allows you to focus and get the most out of your time at the grind this will also boost your confidence and help you take yourself more seriously.
9. Build Up Daily Habits That Will Make You Proud
Every time you follow through on a small given task, it gives you the boost and morale you need to undertake another task on your list. Give yourself some small easy wins initially to inculcate the habit of sitting down and sticking to your plan. Don’t start by telling yourself that you’re going to sit down and finish your business plan in one go. Rather give yourself a task of spending one hour every night, to map out the idea of your business plan and once you’ve spent up to seven days in a row on your task, it’s going to feel a lot easier to sit down after dinner and go about with your tasks. If you want to work out at the gym every day, don’t give yourself an unachievable goal of spending two hours every day working out, start by setting a goal of 15 minutes a day for 7 days in a row. It might seem a little silly to you to work out for 15 minutes a day but trust me, it will encourage you to show up every day, and before you know it, going to the gym every day after work will feel like a normal part of your daily life and as you go on, you can start increasing the time you spend in working out every day. It doesn’t matter how long you spend at the gym, but at the end of the day you’re still the person who shows up at the gym every day, and that in and of itself is a good morale boost.
10. Always Do the Hard Stuff First
If there is something you’re always procrastinating on doing but you also know it’s the main factor in achieving your goals then put all things way and tackle it head-on like a football player. Go about it the same way you’ll go about your goals; break it down into smaller tasks and then break it further into actionable items and set a deadline to get it done. Most of the time, our inability to do the work is a result of fear but generally, once we get the ball rolling or confront something that we’ve been afraid of, we realize that it’s not such a big deal. After all, like the saying goes “the only way to eat an elephant, is one bite at a time.”
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of how to stop procrastinating, but before you go, let me let you know that having the habit of procrastinating doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person or a lost cause. One of the most intelligent minds of all time, Leonardo da Vinci was a terrific procrastinator to the extent the people who paid him for his work would threaten him with bankruptcy or jail time to incentivize him to complete their art project. Do you think that’s the worst? The virgin on the rock’s art, took over 13 years to finish and his greatest masterpiece of all time “The Mona Lisa” took him over 16 years to complete. He also left tons and tons of unfinished projects in his wake when he passed away. So, if you ever feel bad about not losing that pound of weight before summer to get your beach body just think of old da Vinci and give yourself a break, but just a small one because otherwise, you’d be procrastinating except if you’re a master procrastinator then you need to be alarmed!
