How to Stop Procrastinating In Three Simple Steps
We all go through periods of productivity and periods of procrastination. If you’re like me, then chances are there are prolonged periods of procrastination that you’d rather avoid.
This article is as much for me as it is for you. I am currently riding a wave of momentum, and I’m writing this article to explain the three things that I have done to get myself into this productive state.
Step One: Make A Project That’s Actually Fun Or Profitable
We all have trouble trying to get ourselves in the mood to work when the work we’re doing is boring. The easiest and most obvious way, therefore, to avoid procrastination is to make whatever it is you want to do more fun than procrastinating.
When you think that procrastinating is literally doing nothing, it shouldn’t be too hard to find something that is more fun than the aforementioned nothing. You could try doing a visualisation exercise answering a “the secret” type question such as, “What would you be doing if you could do anything right now?” But realistically that’s not all that helpful. Just find some aspect of what is it is you have to do that could be quite amusing or entertaining.
A second alternative is finding something that is profitable. Boring stuff tends to be done a lot quicker if it stands to make you a lot of money, so if you can’t find something you enjoy to do, then maybe you should find something that will make you stack loads of money. You probably won’t have a problem with procrastination then!
Step Two: Gamify Your Work
I know that I have written about gamification before. Essentially what you do when you gamify work is to turn whatever task it is you have to do into an entertaining game. Whilst it sounds a bit stupid, it really does work. For instance, writing an article about some financial topic is probably going to be dull unless you’re into finance. However, it can be made interesting by simply adding a time limit to it or by trying to subtly put in some random word every so often. Your imagination is the only real limit here so have fun.
Some items to try could be:
- how quickly can the project done?
- How quickly can you get to a specific word count?
- What’s the biggest work count you can get?
- Can you be finished by a particular time?
- What is the most interesting thing you can find out about this topic? Can you include it in your work?
- Can you spend a whole hour working on this project without taking a break?
- Give yourself a reward if you complete the project on time without distraction.
Step Three: Set The Challenge Accordingly.
I have made the mistake of making something too difficult, or setting standards too high, many many times. I will expect to be an expert at something even if I’m only trying it for the first time. For instance, yesterday I started using a visual editor to try and create my own beautiful sales pages. They were terrible even after a day of practice.
Often, I will take up something, not be very good at it, and then quit out of rage and frustration. The problem in these instances is that I am setting the challenge at too difficult a level for myself to realistically be able to do it.
When you do this regularly, you’ll find that you quit a lot more things than you stick at. This isn’t very helpful. It’s really not very helpful if you have a mammoth task that you can’t bring yourself to start working on. That’s even more true if said thing is something you don’t have a choice about doing, such as working for a boss or a client.
The answer to this quandary is to spit something up into simple challenges. You might not be able to write a five thousand word sales letter in a single sitting, but you can write a call to action, or you can write just a headline in one go.
Most things can be broken down into minuscule challenges which are achievable. Each time you achieve minuscule goal, the larger goal not only gets closer, but it looks more attainable as you gather up momentum and confidence.
Of course a final flip-side to this part is that you can also procrastinate when you have a variety of very easy, mind-numbingly boring exercises to do. Again, a simple way to overcome having to do too many menial tasks is to turn them into a game. For instance, if you have to put stamps on a hundred envelopes, that is really boring and time-consuming. You have to make it more challenging. A simple once might be to see how many envelopes you can stamp in one hour. It might be how quickly you can get all the stamps on envelopes.
Final Thoughts
Trying to fight against procrastination is one of those lifelong challenges. I’m not an expert by any means, so drop your procrastination busting tips in the comments. Hopefully, my ideas above will help some of you overcome a little procrastination.