Setting deadlines for yourself is great, but telling another person will keep you accountable for meeting those deadlines. References. Find your peak time of day. How to Make Your Own Smudge Stick With White Sage. How to Fight Procrastination and Get on Top of Your To-Do List!

GE CMO Beth Comstock uses Venn diagrams to decide where to get started on big projects. Think about your to-do list. Remember to not be hard on yourself.

Start a "done list." However, if you set concrete goals like choosing a topic early on or writing a page or two a week, then the large, intimidating project that you might normally procrastinate on won’t simply exist in the abstract a few months down the road. Sign up for Innovation Inc. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Business Insider But those ones that we are dreading? Home » Lifestyle » Life Hacks » How to Fight Procrastination and Get on Top of Your To-Do List! Have those hard, but true, conversations with yourself. Some days, we may find ourselves more motivated than others to tackle the day, and that’s normal. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Prioritize one thing each day. Read more about it here. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. None of the information was really irrelevant to the topic. Read more about it here. However, there are specific techniques that you can try to fight procrastination and become more focused and productive on work, school, or home projects.

Clear off your desk and close out Facebook and Twitter before starting your work. Life & Career Coach. You can find foam earplugs in any drugstore or convenience store. Finding these "productivity pockets" will help you maximize your time. Make your tasks for the day, week, and month realistic. Why We Procrastinate Understand that failure doesn’t define who you are and don’t let it stop you from trying to obtain your goals. 14 Spring Cleaning Hacks You Need to Try Now! If you feel rude saying this, you can try softening the blow by mentioning that you can chat with then over lunch or dinner later on if they’re free, but right now you have to get your work done. Politely let your chatty roommate or colleague know that you are up against a deadline and have to get some work done. Drink a cup of coffee? Try the "under 1o-minutes rule." Try devoting 10 minutes to do a quick “tidy” of your immediate work space. Keep your chin up, your attitude positive and your mind open and soon you will find what works for you to fight procrastination permanently! Even a few minutes of extra work can help you tackle projects and set the day up right from the very beginning. Don’t try to fool your own mind. Thanks for sharing at #BestoftheWeekend. Take short breaks. How to Plan Your Eco-Friendly Vacations This Year, How To Embrace Sustainable Living In The Kitchen, RELATED READING: 6 FIVE MINUTE SELF-CARE HACKS. You're more likely to give in to distractions and waste valuable time if you're feeling fatigued. Sleeping in or wasting time in the morning can cause you to procrastinate and delay getting things done. These are great tips, I’m going to start using them. Read more about it here. In fact, it could boost your productivity by up to 20%. "What helped me were the variety of things that can help stop procrastination that may be relevant to any person.

I’ve come to understand procrastination better and I’ve learned more about it. Procrastination often stems from people not wanting to fail. Eliminating potential distractions will help you get in the right mindset to concentrate. For example, if you need to repaint your bedroom, all the sanding, taping, trim work, priming and painting can be very overwhelming. If noise is a major distraction for you, then you might want to try foam earplugs or noise canceling headphones. It’s not uncommon for this to happen, and the good news is that there are ways to stop it from happening again in the future. as well as other partner offers and accept our. So, take away those options to allow you to focus on the task at hand. Start every morning with a win! This article has been viewed 51,056 times. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. She draws three circles for what she has to do, what she loves to do, and what she hates to do, then begins with the overlap between what she has to get done and what she loves.

Set goals that are obtainable but also give a feeling of accomplishment. By trying a few of the ways to fight procrastination listed above, you’re bound to keep improving. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Only check your email once an hour. This will give you some breathing room and a small sense of accomplishment which will help you begin your work. Read more about it here. Here Is The Procrastination Doom Loop — And How To Break It. Challenge yourself. Play around with planner/calendar apps to find the one that works best for you and has the best interface. Don’t try to fool your own mind. Have those hard, but true, conversations with yourself. He suggests writing out the tasks that are causing you the most stress and asking, "If this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?" Then come back refreshed! Or, better yet, wake up and immediately jump on tasks and complete everything at the end of the day?

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Read more about it here. For example, if you need to sit down to file your taxes, turn on some music that you like or envision how happy you’ll be once the task is complete and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

Stay warm. Then, before we realize it, it’s the end of the day, and that item that we struggled to get motivated to do, is still sitting on our list, uncompleted.

Spending a few minutes outside will help you return to work more focused. That way, it keeps your mind fresh, your skills sharp and gives you the flexibility to know that for the next 15 minutes, you are concentrating on one aspect of the task before moving on to the other. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 51,056 times. Download an app like Evernote that organizes your notes, or one like Selfcontrol that keeps you from checking social media. But whether you need to remove all distractions, take a walk, or revisit your daily goals, there's bound to be a productivity hack to help you get motivated.

By letting someone else know of your plans, they can then help you by holding you accountable for your actions (or lack thereof!). Instead of jumping on every new email the minute it comes in, give yourself specific times to check your inbox. Read more about it here. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. It's typically a lack of practice when it comes to breaking old habits. I am the worst procrastinator. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/1\/1f\/Fight-Procrastination-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Fight-Procrastination-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/1\/1f\/Fight-Procrastination-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/aid822574-v4-728px-Fight-Procrastination-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"