Syed Balkhi — January 18, 2019 — January 18, 2019
Did you know that the bad habit of procrastination is on the rise? It’s true, more of us are procrastinators today than ever before. According to some researchers, procrastination has more than quadrupled in the last thirty years. That’s a ton of people not getting their work done or putting off their goals for another day.
So, how do overcome procrastination and stop saying “Oh, I’ll wait until tomorrow”? If you’ve ever tried to curb your procrastination, you know it’s difficult. Luckily, there are some tactics you can use to turn your procrastination into perseverance.
Stop putting off your most important tasks, here’s 3 tips for how to avoid procrastination.
1. Make a 1-3-5 to-do list.
One of the most talked about ways to avoid procrastination is to make a to-do list each day of the tasks you need to complete. But if any old to-do list really worked would you still be procrastinating? So, instead of writing a standard to-do list, make a to-do list using the 1-3-5 rule. The concept was created by Alex Cavoulacos, co-founder and COO of The Muse, and works great to easily prioritize your day and stop procrastinating.
The 1-3-5 list works like this: Each day, assume you can only accomplish one big thing, three medium things, and five small things, and narrow down your to-do list to those nine tasks. Building your to-do list in this way will help you stop avoiding your most important tasks and make completing your tasks much easier by breaking them down into manageable sections. A good tip is to always focus on your big tasks first to get them out of the way, then by comparison, your smaller tasks will be a piece of cake to conquer.
Image Source: https://135list.com/
There’s even a free 1-3-5 List tool you can use so you don’t have to write your own list. The tool also makes your to-do list easily accessible at all times from your browser, your mobile phone, or tablet to keep you organized and on track.
2. Eliminate distractions.
Distractions are one of the biggests causes of procrastination. We’ve all been there: you’re working on an important project and you just can’t focus so you tell yourself you’ll check out Instagram for five minutes and then get to work. Next thing you know you’re checking Twitter and Facebook too and you’ve watched three videos on Youtube. For procrastinators this bad habit usually repeats itself numerous times throughout the day. So if you want to avoid procrastination, you need to eliminate distractions.
The first steps to eliminating distractions are to turn off notifications on your phone. If you want to get more done, do you really think getting a notification everytime someone “likes” the photo of your dog you posted this morning? No. So, get rid of those pesky notifications. And if you work on a computer most of the day, make sure to close all of the tabs you don’t need for your tasks; close your email tab, close the messaging apps, etc. If you don’t need them for the task you’re currently focusing on, make them disappear so they won’t be a temptation. You could even take it a step further for laser-like concentration by using a tool like HeyFocus.
HeyFocus is a tool for Mac users that can block out specific websites, pages and even the entire internet so that you can stop procrastinating and be more productive. They even replace the sites you’ve blocked with motivational quotes, so even if you try to peek at Facebook, the empowering message can help put your mind back in productivity mode.
3. Use the “2-Minute Rule”.
Another great tip to help you stop procrastinating is to start using the “2-Minute Rule”. James Clear, the author of the New York Times bestselling book Atomic Habits, has been using the 2-Minute Rule to help himself break the bad habit of procrastination and he claims that not only does it work but it’s also incredibly easy to implement and use.
The 2-Minute Rule states “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.” Whether you want to stop procrastinating and start organizing your closet, read more books, learn a new skill, etc., you can use the 2-Minute Rule to give you the push you need to start. Any task can be broken down in 2 minutes, for example, if you want to stop procrastinating and fold that pile of laundry, fold one pair of socks. Want to start reading? Read one page. The 2-Minute Rule makes it super easy to start the task you want to accomplish and works as a gateway that naturally leads you down a more productive path.
Before you can overcome procrastination, you actually have to start the action, which the 2-Minute Rule will help you do. Then after making the 2-Minute rule part of your daily ritual, the easier it will become to focus and finish the entire task.
Procrastination can be hard to beat but now that you have these tips in your back pocket, you’ll be able to crush your to-do list and beyond. And don’t forget, you can pass on these tips to a coworker or two and turn your entire office into a productivity powerhouse.
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