Everyone wants to take action on task and goals that are important for their self-development and satisfaction in life. Sometimes this ability feels stifled by procrastination; you may find yourself continually putting your to-do list off until later. It causes much distress in people’s lives and can be avoided in nearly every situation.
Stop dramatizing
Most people procrastinate because they make things seem more dramatic and serious than they really are. Tasks can be taken care of without the extra psychological burden of thinking about them in a way that portrays them as utterly hard or boring. Once you actually get started on something, you’ll find it’s easier to complete.
Ask yourself “why”
Procrastinators are often people who are nearsighted when it comes to their plans and goals. To overcome procrastination, you need to ask yourself why you need to complete specific tasks and what you’re working toward. The positive aspects of why something must be done will place a new vision of moving towards the desired future through the fulfillment of certain actions.
Use a calendar
If you find it difficult to find time to work on specific tasks, get yourself a planner and calendar and start scheduling your entire day. Specifically, block out time when you can focus on getting your to-do list done instead of simply telling yourself you’ll get to it later.
Realism
When setting schedules for tasks, there has to be a certain amount of realism about what can be achieved in the given time. One should be realistic about the amount of effort and time they can provide for a certain task and not overwork themselves. If you expect to get too much done in a short period of time, you’ll feel discouraged when you can’t get it all done.
Chunk tasks
Chunking your tasks is particularly effective for big projects that require a lot of time. To make things easier, the project can be taken one section at a time. Focusing on only a single part of the project at a given time gives multiple markers of accomplishments on the way to completing the whole thing and can help provide motivation to keep working.
Partner up
To avoid procrastination, find a person to hold you accountable for completing a project. This person can be someone who expects the work to be done at a certain time or a coach that helps you complete work on time.
Environment
Your environment affects your productivity. Messengers and social media should be cut down to a minimum when tasks need to be finished because the alerts when something new has come up can greatly distract someone trying to focus on a project. During work, it is best to close down all web pages that have nothing to do with your work.
Reward yourself
Rewards should be set aside when a project is completely finished and at certain milestones to working on completing it. This incentive gives the extra boost and enthusiasm about finishing something important.