5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Just Do It! & The 15 Procrastination Beating Solutions
– Mason Cooley
We received this exact question from the Entrepreneurial Meetup Groups we run here in Queensland, Australia.
Now we’ve been putting off answering this question… Just joking 😉
Here is a short video Dave has done on over coming procrastination…
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Just Do It!
Humans normally only act (do something) out of the emotions of Inspiration or Desperation.
As many as 1 in 5 adults may be chronic procrastinators.
When you put something off (procrastinate) you are signalling the universe that your a quitter and you not serious about being the successful.
Success requires you to take action. Stop the stress caused by not getting things done, try these simple, scientifically-backed solutions.
Try These 15 Procrastination Beating Solutions…
1. Know Yourself
How: Understand how procrastination affects your life. Think about the habits that often cause it.
Why It Helps: Insight helps you understand the causes of procrastination and prevents you from feeling inadequate.
2. Practise Effective Time Management
How: Create time blocks in your schedule for completing assisgnment and then compare accuracy of the estimates.
Why It Helps: Simplifies working pattern with effective planning. It improves your quality of work and avoids stress.
3. Change Your Perspective
How: Think of what attracted you to your tasks/ assignments. Look beyond what you have achieved to what interests you.
Why It Helps: Identifying personal goals which improves engagement. By reassessing an task masks it less intimidating.
4. Commit to Tasks / Assignments
How: List the tasks that you’re confident you will complete within a certain time frame. Make a point of crossing each task off when completed.
Why It Helps: Rebuilds faith in your own abilities. Makes you commit to keeping your promises.
5. Work in Productive Environments
How: Choose where you work and with who, wisely. Remember to have no distractions e.g. TV.
Why It Helps: Helps focus on the immediate task and removes obstacles to your tasks and studying.
6. Be Realistic
How: Set reasonable targets to measure achievement. Be patient, change won’t come overnight.
Why It Helps: Avoids self-sabotage from having unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic goals feed procrastination, so why try the impossible.
7. Self-Talk Positively
How: Notice how you talk to yourself when procrastinating. Replace the negative talk with positive.
Why It Help: Steps negative thinking and encourages you towards achieving goals.
8. Un – Schedule
How: Develop a flexible schedule that only includes important taks and events. Have plenty of room for extracurricular activities for fitness, and time with family and friends.
Why It Help: As rigid schedules can leave you feeling overwhelmed. You will feel greater happiness when work is done.
9. Have Swiss-Cheese Tasks
How: Devote small chunks of time to a big task. Achieve as much as possible, without pressure.
Why It Help: Tasks seemsmaller with holes punched in them. It builds momentum and reduces obstacles.
10. Don’t Indulge Fantasies
How: Devise practical steps to achieve results – stop fantasizing about it.
Why It Helps: Imagination is the enemy of motivation. Viewing outcomes objectively improves working energy.
11. Plan For Obstacles
How:List possible obstacles for completing assignments and plan countermeasures.
Why It Helps: Mentally prepares you in advance.
12. Improve Learning Behavior
How: Focus less on gratification in the present and more on learning for the future.
Why It Helps: Develops corrects behaviors is assessing mistakes and improves behavior in combating procrastination.
13. Help Yourself
How: Ask your friends and family not to indulge in your habit. If you mess up, deal with the consequences alone.
Why It Helps: As people who expect help constantly procrastinate more. Also teaches self-sufficiency and independence.
14. Reward Progress
How: Create a reward system to celebrate successful tasks. Similarly, give yourself small punishments for your failures.
Why It Helps: Positively reinforces effort and progress. Also provides incentive and drive to keep achiving.
15. Learn To Forgive Yourself
How: If you slip up, don’t be hard on yourself. You need to understand that there is no quick-fix solution. It’s a habitat that needs to develop.
Why It Helps: Procrastination is often rooted in your psychology. Forgiveness can often improve your future results.
If you never start, you’ll never have a chance to fail. But you’ll never have a chance to succeed, either.
So stop pretending you haven’t failed by not trying. Stop procrastinating and go for it.
If you need a hand or you need to bounce an idea off someone. Please reach out to us we are happy to help.
For more Entrepreneurial ideas, business development tips and tools Check out our Tips and Tool page.
Talk Soon,
Nicky and Dave
P.S. We recommend you read the book by Mel Robbins ‘The 5 Second Rule’ or the book summary that Nicky did- Read Here
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