procrastination

6 Ways to Beat Procrastination – on Big and Little Tasks

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Ali Luke | CATEGORIES: productivity tips, self improvement

Ask almost anyone what holds them back from reaching their goals, or what bad habit they’d like to overcome, and there’s a good chance they’ll say “procrastination.”

All of us procrastinate, at least a little bit. We put off things that we feel we should do, and even things that we want to do: anything from doing the dishes to writing a book.

Sometimes, a certain level of putting-things-off is a smart move. After all, if you’ve got a bunch of tasks on your list, you’re much better off prioritizing the important ones and letting the others slide for a few days, instead of running yourself into the ground trying to get everything done.

Often, though, procrastination is simply a bad habit. If you constantly procrastinate over little tasks, to the extent that they cause problems, or if you never get round to tackling bigger tasks, even though you’d really love to complete some major projects … then read on.

Big Projects

If you’ve got a big project in mind – perhaps writing a book, taking a new qualification, or changing careers – then you probably feel that there’s never enough time. Maybe you’re waiting until you’re not quite so busy, or until you feel more motivated.

Often, the best way to get motivated is to get moving – and you may have to make time for your goals rather than find it. Here’s how:

#1: Set Yourself a Deadline

Let’s say you’re 30lbs overweight, and you want to get healthier. A sensible goal might be to lose those 30lbs within the next six – nine months. You might want to look for a particular milestone (like a vacation, your next birthday, or Christmas) to help you stay focused.

Goals often remain dreams until they have a firm timescale attached. Once you’ve set that deadline, you can work backwards and pick milestones to help you keep up a good rate of progress with your project.

#2: Make it a Priority in Your Day

Even if you’re not really a morning person, making time for a big project first thing can be very powerful – it gets your day off to the right start. If you wait until all your other tasks are done, you’ll often find that you simply run out of time, or don’t have the energy.

For personal projects, try setting your alarm 20 minutes early, and spending those 20 minutes making progress. That might mean reading a book related to your goal, doing some research, writing, exercising…

#3: Be Accountable to Others

If you find yourself hitting “snooze” on the alarm every day, and if your deadline is getting closer and closer without you taking any action, then you need an extra motivational boost. By making other people aware of your goal, you’re much less likely to procrastinate (even if you still feel like it sometimes!)

You could join a group or club to help you along (offline or online) and get the support of like-minded people. Alternatively, you could simply announce your goal to your friends and family on Facebook: even if they don’t fully understand what you’re trying to achieve, they’ll want to encourage and support you.

Small Tasks

If you find yourself putting off chores and other little tasks, you might think that this isn’t a problem – especially if you’re making good progress towards your goals. But all those incomplete tasks tend to mount up, and can lead to a lot of wasted time. (If you’ve ever lost one vital piece of paper in the chaos that is your workspace, you’ll know what I mean..!)

By finding time to take care of the little things, you’ll feel more relaxed and on top of life. Here’s how:

#4: Batch Similar Tasks Together

When you switch from one task to another, you tend to lose a bit of time – and concentration. For instance, if you answer one email, then file a few pieces of paper, then update your Facebook page, then answer another email, you make it very easy for procrastination to get the better of you.

Batching together similar tasks makes it much easier to stay focused and you work more efficiently. This might mean answering all your emails at once, then closing your inbox, or making several phone calls in a row.

#5: Set a Timer Going

However much you dislike a particular task, it’s on your to-do list for a reason. If you keep putting off the housework, your filing, or some other dreaded chore, try doing it for just 15 minutes. Set a timer going and work on that one task until the time’s up.

You can face just about anything for 15 minutes … and you may well find that, once you get going, it’s really not so bad as you thought.

#6: Create a Schedule

Perhaps you tend to procrastinate on some tasks because you simply forget about them – or remember them at completely the wrong time, like when you’re in the shower or driving to work.

If you have certain tasks that really should be done on a weekly or monthly basis, put them into your calendar. That way, you won’t have to worry about forgetting them – and you’ll have time set aside in order to get them done.

 

Where in your life do you struggle with procrastination – on your big projects or your small tasks? Let us know your experience (and your tips!) in the comments.

Photo credit: ‘Time’s Up‘ by Big Stock

  • http://www.MiracleCatalyst.com/ Imogen Caterer

    Great little post. There are a number of ways to slip past procrastination which is beginning to be a popular topic on my blog (now that I’m more in flow I’m finding more solutions.) The bunching of small tasks into 15 minutes stretches is one of my favorites of the ones listed here.

  • Steve Zakrocki

    I agree with tackling big projects first, but you can also break it down into more manageable portions so that it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.  The sense of accomplishment you get from completing the project, or even a portion of it, can propel you through the rest of your day. Also, reward yourself once you’ve set a goal on a project and reached it.  One thing I am experimenting with now is trying to keep to a rigid schedule (I am self employed and work from home), including time for responding to emails, phone calls, eating, exercising and, yes, big projects.  I hope to defeat procrastination, be more productive, and have more time in the evening and weekends to do the things I really want to do during those times.  

  • Steve Zakrocki

    I agree with tackling big projects first, but you can also break it down into more manageable portions so that it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.  The sense of accomplishment you get from completing the project, or even a portion of it, can propel you through the rest of your day. Also, reward yourself once you’ve set a goal on a project and reached it.  One thing I am experimenting with now is trying to keep to a rigid schedule (I am self employed and work from home), including time for responding to emails, phone calls, eating, exercising and, yes, big projects.  I hope to defeat procrastination, be more productive, and have more time in the evening and weekends to do the things I really want to do during those times.  

  • http://Mazzastick.com/ Justin Mazza

    For me just becoming aware that I am procrastinating has helped me to overcome it. I don’t like getting backed up with things so I have learned to keep my procrastination at a minimum.

  • Sean

    These suggestions are really good. Another one that a friend suggested to me once was to write things down on my “to do list” once I’ve completed them, and you can cross it out or put a check mark so that what you see is what you’ve accomplished rather then staring in dread at the never ending list of things you haven’t accomplished yet. I found that writing out a list made it difficult and overwhelming to know what to do first, and I found success through writing them down after. Another thing I forget too often as many do, is that our diet has everything to do with the way we feel. Most foods sold to us are deprived of any viable nutrients, including conventionally grown hybrid crops that are designed to produce lots of tissue so the plants can’t put focus into the essential nutrients that the plants use to produce and that give us brain food. I think eating healthy is a must for procrastination reduction, we can’t really do much if we feel depressed because we are malnurished while overfed. 

  • http://susangregg.com/ Susan

    Great post Ali.

    I used to be a master procrastinator.  I’d make lists and promise myself I’d get everything done, usually in an unrealistically short period of time. I  love the idea of batching things together and setting a timer.

    I found two things extremely useful when learning how to overcome procrastination. I finally realized I spent more time thinking about doing the small things than it would actually take to do them. What a wake up call that was. Now, when I am tempted to put off a small task I just do it instead. Thanks Nike.

    The biggest help came courtesy of one of my mentors. He told me to make a list of three small things each day. If it was a big project I was to break it into small manageable pieces. Once I put something on my list for the day I HAD to do it. If I wasn’t committed to doing it then I wasn’t to put it on the list. He did check up on me so your idea of being accountable fits right in.

    After I practiced that for a while procrastination became a thing of the past. When it begins to creeps back into my life I make a list of three things and before I know it is once again not a problem.

    Thanks again Ali,
    Susan

  • http://optimizethyself.com/ JohnEPaton

    This is an elaborate list and I have no doubt that it would work if you could implement it for projects that need to get done. 

    I do wonder, however, whether any project that would require these measures would be worth doing in the first place. My feeling is that if you’re procrastinating it’s because the project isn’t enjoyable, and if the project isn’t enjoyable then it probably isn’t worth doing. 

    But then again, I guess that if you’ve just getting started on a project then you’re always going to encounter some initial resistance. And maybe the end products of some goals–like writing a novel– really do justify a bit of pain during the process. 

    Sorry, for the ramble. Now that I’m thinking about it, I really don’t know what to make of this article. Is procrastination an indicator that the project your working on isn’t worth the effort? Perhaps I’m just overgeneralizing from my college math courses.

  • http://optimizethyself.com/ JohnEPaton

    This is an elaborate list and I have no doubt that it would work if you could implement it for projects that need to get done. 

    I do wonder, however, whether any project that would require these measures would be worth doing in the first place. My feeling is that if you’re procrastinating it’s because the project isn’t enjoyable, and if the project isn’t enjoyable then it probably isn’t worth doing. 

    But then again, I guess that if you’ve just getting started on a project then you’re always going to encounter some initial resistance. And maybe the end products of some goals–like writing a novel– really do justify a bit of pain during the process. 

    Sorry, for the ramble. Now that I’m thinking about it, I really don’t know what to make of this article. Is procrastination an indicator that the project your working on isn’t worth the effort? Perhaps I’m just overgeneralizing from my college math courses.

  • http://optimizethyself.com/ JohnEPaton

    This is an elaborate list and I have no doubt that it would work if you could implement it for projects that need to get done. 

    I do wonder, however, whether any project that would require these measures would be worth doing in the first place. My feeling is that if you’re procrastinating it’s because the project isn’t enjoyable, and if the project isn’t enjoyable then it probably isn’t worth doing. 

    But then again, I guess that if you’ve just getting started on a project then you’re always going to encounter some initial resistance. And maybe the end products of some goals–like writing a novel– really do justify a bit of pain during the process. 

    Sorry, for the ramble. Now that I’m thinking about it, I really don’t know what to make of this article. Is procrastination an indicator that the project your working on isn’t worth the effort? Perhaps I’m just overgeneralizing from my college math courses.

  • http://www.thoughtful-self-improvement.com/ Natalie

    Ali,
    Nice article and good tips. The one I use a lot for distasteful tasks is the Timer. That’s how I get my house cleaning chores done. Otherwise they stare at me for days. I set the timer for 15 minutes and race myself to see how much I can get done. I like to improve my performance.

    GTD (Getting Things Done) theory by David Allen says that you should write EVERYTHING down so you don’t clutter up you mind trying to remember it all. To make lists according to context, You don’t want ‘Write sales report’ with ‘Pickup milk’, build deck and  ‘Learn Spanish’ I use software to do keep the lists separate.

  • http://www.thoughtful-self-improvement.com/ Natalie

    Ali,
    Nice article and good tips. The one I use a lot for distasteful tasks is the Timer. That’s how I get my house cleaning chores done. Otherwise they stare at me for days. I set the timer for 15 minutes and race myself to see how much I can get done. I like to improve my performance.

    GTD (Getting Things Done) theory by David Allen says that you should write EVERYTHING down so you don’t clutter up you mind trying to remember it all. To make lists according to context, You don’t want ‘Write sales report’ with ‘Pickup milk’, build deck and  ‘Learn Spanish’ I use software to do keep the lists separate.

  • http://www.thoughtful-self-improvement.com/ Natalie

    Ali,
    Nice article and good tips. The one I use a lot for distasteful tasks is the Timer. That’s how I get my house cleaning chores done. Otherwise they stare at me for days. I set the timer for 15 minutes and race myself to see how much I can get done. I like to improve my performance.

    GTD (Getting Things Done) theory by David Allen says that you should write EVERYTHING down so you don’t clutter up you mind trying to remember it all. To make lists according to context, You don’t want ‘Write sales report’ with ‘Pickup milk’, build deck and  ‘Learn Spanish’ I use software to do keep the lists separate.

  • http://www.thoughtful-self-improvement.com/ Natalie

    Ali,
    Nice article and good tips. The one I use a lot for distasteful tasks is the Timer. That’s how I get my house cleaning chores done. Otherwise they stare at me for days. I set the timer for 15 minutes and race myself to see how much I can get done. I like to improve my performance.

    GTD (Getting Things Done) theory by David Allen says that you should write EVERYTHING down so you don’t clutter up you mind trying to remember it all. To make lists according to context, You don’t want ‘Write sales report’ with ‘Pickup milk’, build deck and  ‘Learn Spanish’ I use software to do keep the lists separate.

  • http://www.thoughtful-self-improvement.com/ Natalie

    Ali,
    Nice article and good tips. The one I use a lot for distasteful tasks is the Timer. That’s how I get my house cleaning chores done. Otherwise they stare at me for days. I set the timer for 15 minutes and race myself to see how much I can get done. I like to improve my performance.

    GTD (Getting Things Done) theory by David Allen says that you should write EVERYTHING down so you don’t clutter up you mind trying to remember it all. To make lists according to context, You don’t want ‘Write sales report’ with ‘Pickup milk’, build deck and  ‘Learn Spanish’ I use software to do keep the lists separate.

  • http://pristineperception.com/ Suzanne

    Setting a limit of 15 minutes is exactly what I do and it works like a charm. I know I will only have that time so I hustle and get it all done, every time!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ruthie-Steele/100000284967293 Ruthie Steele

    Years ago, I co wrote a song with my nephew, Songwriter DAN BARNES. It is hilarious and totally TRUE…as I am a lifelong Procrastinator!!:) 
      Ruthie Barnes Steele (singer/songwriter) “PROCRASTINTION BLUES”

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ruthie-Steele/1362307680 Ruthie Steele

       hey..testing…ruthie me

  • Pingback: 6 Ways to Beat Procrastination – on Big and Little Tasks | Tools For A Great Life

  • http://twitter.com/allanngo Allan Ngo

    Very helpful post, Ali.

    I like the be accountable to others suggestion. We are often our own worst disciplinarian. But social pressure and shame could do the trick. We never want to come off as lazy and unreliable and the possibility of being perceived as such could be motivation enough to stop with the dilly-dallying and actually finish something.

    One more thing I think worth mentioning is giving yourself a reward for accomplishing the task. It could be allowing yourself to go out and watch that new movie or just simply getting to bed early guilt-free. These are cool motivators that extend beyond the task. 

    Who doesn’t want pleasure right? :)

  • http://www.success-daily.com/why-a-personal-blog-can-help-you-get-a-job/ Kelly@SuccessDaily

    I love these tips. A lot of times the reason I procrastinate on things that I want to get done but don’t necessarily are vital, is because I am so busy throughout the day, and once I get some down time all I want to do is relax and just be lazy. But this is really the time to take advantage of and get some stuff done around the house, or work on organizing my things. I find that setting a solid deadline that I voice to others, like my mom or my friends, allows me to make sure I get that task done by that time, or else a bunch of other people will know and I will be embarrassed or seen as lazy. 

  • Bill D

    The game I play with myself to “put off procrastinating”:

    I make a plan to do just the very next task. For instance, pay just one bill. Or edit just one minute of video. Often, that gives me momentum to finish more than I planned. 

    If I have a deadline for a large task, or many tasks, it plays into my self-diagnosed ADD. The adrenaline gets going, so there’s not much of a problem getting started. 

    If I have a soft deadline, where it would be better to do the thing sooner than later, then I impose my own deadline. I convince myself that I need to do it now in case there are complications or revisions that would delay the task to the point where delay would be a real issue.  

  • http://www.successupermarket.com/blog Martyna Bizdra

    this is what changed my attitude toward procrastination:
    two pieces of paper. on one you just write what you want, your dream life, with love, health, passion, and goals achieved, and why you want them, and how wonderful it would be…. and on the other, your current situation.

    The shock and the realization of the way forward, and how much needs to be done… often creates a healthy motion forward..

    of course we are all different, and start from very unique points in our lives, that define what needs to be done first…

    but there is something common to all of us, mentioned by you throughout the entire post:
    simplicity, lack of complexity:

    the less you have to think about, the better for the results.

  • http://www.successupermarket.com/blog Martyna Bizdra

    this is what changed my attitude toward procrastination:
    two pieces of paper. on one you just write what you want, your dream life, with love, health, passion, and goals achieved, and why you want them, and how wonderful it would be…. and on the other, your current situation.

    The shock and the realization of the way forward, and how much needs to be done… often creates a healthy motion forward..

    of course we are all different, and start from very unique points in our lives, that define what needs to be done first…

    but there is something common to all of us, mentioned by you throughout the entire post:
    simplicity, lack of complexity:

    the less you have to think about, the better for the results.

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  • http://www.motivation.net.au/ Motivated

    Great article with excellent ideas! I appreciate your
    post. Thanks so much and let keep on sharing your stuffs.