How To Stop Procrastinating

They say “Procrastination is the thief of time”, and we all know that our time might just be the most precious resource we have in our life (you can’t get that shit back!). So when you procrastinate, you are literally wasting your life

Procrastination is a habit, and all habits can be removed given the right tools. So here are five tips that you can use to remove procrastination from your life. By the way, feel free to check out this animated video I made that covers these tips here:

1. Motivate yourself to start for 5 minutes

Often when we procrastinate, it is just because of the inertia of starting. Our brain, having created negative associations with the task, will do anything to stop us from starting. The brain loves to take the path of least resistance, so you need to trick it by convincing yourself to start for 5 minutes. Once started, it is much easier to keep going. This tip will fix 50% of people’s issues with procrastination. You will start working and realize that you blew the situation out of proportion. Sometimes you will even start to enjoy the work!

 2. Chunk it down

We often make the task huge and daunting in our minds. Chunk that shit down; make it small and manageable. The smaller the task, the more manageable it is for the brain. Small tasks are easy for us to comply with. For example:

•If you need to write a report, start by working on just the introduction

•If you need to do your math homework, just focus on doing the first question

•If you are editing a YouTube video, just focus on recording the audio first

Small is manageable, and what’s manageable gets done.

3. Check your thoughts

Change your thoughts from thinking about the negatives of the task to the positives of its completion. We often procrastinate because of the mental dialogue in our heads “I don’t wanna”, or “This shit’s so boring.” Change your thoughts to focusing on the potential results of your success. Focus on the upside, which might be

•Getting one step closer to your goals

•Possible job promotion if you do it right

•YouTube video could go viral

•High Distinction for doing all your work

Your thoughts are often what impedes action, so change them to propel your action.

4. Change your environment

Make everything you need to do the work available for you. If you need to do some work, get your laptop on the desk, and clear the room of distractions. If you need to read a book, get the book within eye shot. If you need to go for a run, have the running shoes next to your bed. Make it stupidly easy for you to do the work by changing your environment.

5. Reward yourself

Have a reward ready for yourself that you will enjoy only after completing the task. Human beings are influenced by incentives, so what are yours? This will keep you motivated whilst doing the work to complete it. If you use these five tips, I doubt that you will have procrastination as a habit