We’ve all encountered Procrastination at a point in our lives, we’ll plan to do something and keep pushing it without tangible reasons, we could delay our work tasks, or skip our household chores.
Some of us even put off our personal goals.
So often than not we’ve been left feeling really frustrated and unproductive due to Procrastination.
The good news? Well it is very possible to beat Procrastination, this is me speaking from a place of experience, all you need is some easy to follow productivity hacks and you could see yourself fighting off Procrastination.
In this blog post, we’ve put together well researched strategies that you can use to get things done as soon as possible. If you follow our Strategies here, we’re sure you can take control of your time and bid farewell to Procrastination.
1. Break Tasks into Smaller Steps
One of the reasons why most people procrastinate is because of the weight of tasks we’re planning to carry out, the truth is most big tasks can be really intimidating which most times forces us to procrastinate.
To fight effectively, all you need to do is to break down your tasks into smaller tasks that you can manage very simply. For example, instead of you thinking, “I need to write a report,” you can start with, “I’ll outline the main points.
If you start completing the little tasks, you can build serious momentum and before you know it, you are completing the bigger tasks too.
2. Set Specific Goals
You should be specific with what you want, there’s no need beating around the bush, try to set a specific goal and work towards it, vague goals like “i will get the work done”. are not concise and therefore Very hard to work on.
Instead you can set very clear and specific goals, for example something like”I will finish the first draft of the presentation by 3pm”. This is a clear target that has a clear direction. you will be motivated with a sense of purpose to work towards it and get the work done.
3. Use the Two-Minute Rule
This is something you should always have at the back of your mind, if something will take you less than two minutes to do it, do it immediately.
This simple rule has helped a lot of people free themselves from the shackles of Procrastination. with this simple rule, you can simply respond to tasks like checking your emails, getting the files organized or even doing dishes.
If you are able to take care of simple tasks right away instead of later, you simply prevent them from piling up.
4. Prioritize Tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix is actually a great tool for those who know how to make use of it and maximize its potential.
What this does is that it helps you to decide what to focus more on by categorizing your tasks into for main parts.
- Urgent and important: Do these tasks immediately.
- Important but not urgent: You can schedule these for later.
- Urgent but not important: You can delegate these tasks to someone else if possible.
- Not urgent and not important: You can totally decide to eliminate these tasks. You’ll however have to Focus on what truly matters and prevent you from wasting time on unimportant activities.
5. Try Time Blocking
Time blocking is actually a very important tool for fighting against procrastination. Time blocking has been in use for so many years for those fighting Procrastination.
It is a technique where you decide to schedule a specific block of time for each of your daily tasks. For example, you can decide to dedicate 9–10 AM to answering emails and 10–11 AM to working on a project.
Once you assign a time slot to each of your tasks, you are creating a huge sense of accountability, and these will definitely help you to reduce the temptation to procrastinate.
6. Limit Distractions
It’s a fact that distractions are a major cause of procrastination. If you remain distracted, it will be difficult to get things done. To stay focused:
- Make sure your phone is silent or in another room.
- You can make use of apps like Focus@Will or Freedom to block distracting websites.
- Try to create a well dedicated workspace that is free of clutter, if you manage to Eliminate distractions, it will go a long way in helping you concentrate on the things that really matters.
7. Reward Yourself
Fighting and defeating procrastination is no easy feat, when you manage to fight off distractions and complete tasks, you definitely need to reward yourself, if others didn’t reward you, you should do it yourself, it’s not easy fighting Procrastination and getting things done.
Try setting up small rewards for completing tasks, for instance, you can treat yourself to a coffee or your favorite drink after completing a task, you can even decide to see an episode of your favorite shows after studying for like an hour.
One thing with rewards is that it creates a positive reinforcement and when you remember there’s a reward for the work you’ve done, it will only encourage you to get more work done.
8. Practice Self-Compassion
Most people tend to blame themselves or even beat themselves up for Procrastinating, the truth is, beating yourself up for Procrastinating will only make things to get even worse, instead of that, you should rather be kind to yourself and pay more attention to your progress and not your perfection, you are not perfect, and no one is, always remind yourself that it’s okay to make mistakes or even take breaks, what really matters is that you keep moving.
Final Thoughts
Stopping procrastination is not really easy, many have tried but seem not to be making headway, however a lot of people have really fought and defeated Procrastination, you should draw inspiration from those who have conquered procrastination.
There’s no reason why you cannot do it. These 8 productivity hacks to overcome procrastination should be a guide for you.