If you are putting things off until the last minute you’re not alone. Procrastination is so common. But how do you stop procrastinating? Today I’m sharing 4 simple tips to help.
Procrastination can be one of the hardest things to overcome. We don’t want to procrastinate, it just happens. Today I want to share 4 simple tips to help you with procrastination.
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How to stop procrastinating
One of the biggest problems is knowing where to start. If there is a big project with a lot of moving pieces this might cause you to freeze causing you to procrastinate.
Another problem people face is thinking the task, project, or item that they need to do will take a lot longer or a lot more energy for them to complete. This causes them to put it off (or procrastinate).
I used to be a cereal procrastinator and I follow these tips to help me stop procrastinating.
Tip #1 Knowing where to start
I touched on this in the beginning. When you are overwhelmed with where to start you may find yourself procrastinating. If you’re overwhelmed with a project, housework, or something else the solution is the same.
Pick an area or a section to start it and commit. Most of the time when you start it can be easy to finish.
Break tasks up into smaller “jobs”. If you still are looking at the project as a whole instead of pieces it’s important to break them up. Make each task small and manageable.
Tip #2 Trying to be perfect
Another way to stop procrastinating is to stop expecting everything to be perfect. This is something I struggle with constantly.
If you have high expectations for yourself this might be hard to let go of. Think about the project/task as complete, not perfect. If it’s complete, you can always go back and tweak it if necessary.
Tip #3 Work on one thing at a time
If you find yourself working on multiple things at a time you might be burning yourself out. Try working on one thing at a time.
If you have multiple tasks that need to be completed all at about the same time then try to schedule a little bit of time for each task so it will get your full attention.
When giving your full attention to your tasks you’ll make fewer mistakes and it won’t take as long as you might think it will.
Tip #4 Create a to do list
This by far has helped me the most with my procrastination problem. I set a daily to do list for me and work through that each day. I’ve created a free one you can download and use.
For tips and tricks to help you get the most out of a to-do list I wrote a post that you can check out – To-do list tips and tricks
Bonus tip: How to stop procrastinating with a planner
Setting a schedule and using a planner can really help with procrastinating. If you feel overwhelmed and over-scheduled it can lead to not doing anything at all.
By creating a schedule this will help you organize your time better and allow you to say no to things you don’t have time for.
Organizing your time, breaking down those large tasks, and following a schedule, should help you to stop procrastinating. These are the tips I use in my daily life to help me stay organized.
