The following are 10 ways to stop procrastination and kick the procrastination habit!
I’d recently read about a survey in which it was concluded that, those people who relish challenge are likely to live up to 10 years longer than those that spend their lives inhibited by timidity.
Taking action towards realizing our ambitions is preferable, to not having the courage or motivation to take risks. Not creating any resolutions because we are afraid that we’ll break them is defeatist, before we have even begun.
Procrastination so easily turns into an insidious habit that stops us from leading fulfilling lives.
1. Engage in self-improvement
Take the time to learn what you genuinely want in life, what your personal values are. Do you want more time, a lot more money, improved wellness, higher self esteem and confidence, fulfilling relationships, a career, your own business?
When we procrastinate it is typically because what we are planning to do is not aligned with what we truly want. We could be scared of our abilities (or perceived lack of) or we fear potential ridicule from other people.
2. Make well-being and high energy levels, a priority
Without good health we are much less likely to have the energy and dynamism needed to make positive changes in our life and it makes it more likely that we procrastinate. So manage for yourself a nourishing diet plan, quality sleep and rest breaks, daily exercise and meditation routines. Incidentally, it is believed that meditation also helps delay the worst effects of the aging process.
3. Visualize a life without procrastination
See and feel the benefits in your life if you were to never procrastinate at all, ever! What might you do and accomplish? Begin to “act as if” you are an action taker, someone who always gets things done and is super organized. Write down, draw, envision your life as a film. Use affirmations to assist you too.
4. Banish those “gremlins”
We all have that little voice which runs on auto-pilot in our minds, saying things like “I am not in the mood”, “I do not have time”, “I cannot do this”. Quit running on auto, replace any “should”, “ought” and “have to” with, “want to” and “desire”. You honestly do have a choice. Acknowledge those thoughts that are simply “passing through”, then banish those gremlins. Using affirmations can help you in replacing the “gremlins” with positive alternatives.
5. Avoid over-commitment
Saying “yes” to every thing can leave you feeling tired and without the energy to focus on what is most essential to you. This leads to procrastination, as intended projects and tasks are dropped through your day. Identify what is most critical to you and only focus on those areas which will make the greatest difference to your life. It is going to enhance your focus and motivation.
6. Set specific objectives
It is difficult to motivate yourself when you do not have a good idea of what you would like to accomplish. So when setting objectives think about what you would like to achieve in the short term and long term.
There are many available techniques for doing that, for example the Smart Goals technique – Specific, Measurable, Action, Realistic, Time-based. Perhaps, use goal setting software to help you with your goal planning and setting, there are so many tools available online and free, find the right one for you.
7. Prioritize Your Projects and Tasks
Develop a strategy and schedule to assist you in reaching your objectives. You will begin to identify the elements that will need to be included, emphasized or dropped entirely. Keep flexibility in your schedule, revisit your goals regularly and modify them, as appropriate. Simply because an objective is written down does not mean that it is set in stone!
8. Divide and conquer
As soon as you have prioritized your objectives, divide them into smaller chunks. Often we procrastinate due to a project seeming so large that the scale of it overwhelms us and puts us into temporary “paralysis”. You don’t know where to begin, so you do not start at all! Approach each project, especially big ones, in a step by step manner.
You don't know where to begin so you don't start at all! Share on X9. Reward yourself and celebrate wins
When you complete tasks, jobs and projects, it is vital to remember to reward yourself by giving yourself some thing that you like. For example, if planning to seeing a movie, hold off a little longer and go to see that movie after your win over procrastination, make it a reward and celebration for you.
10. Get started
No excuses. Do not wait until you’re “in the mood”, the “mood” might never arrive! It is only another clever camouflage for delaying tactic. What you resist persists.
Start off with what is the smallest chunk in your project so that you experience immediate success. That initial success will provide you with the fuel and motivation to continue and to take on the remainder of your projects.
Do any of the above listed and you’ll be on your way towards kicking the procrastination habit. It is after all, only a habit. It can be replaced by new and better habits.
Remember that life itself has, built into it, the biggest deadline of all!
What Is Your Procrastination Pattern?
8 questions. Discover what may be getting between you and taking that next forward step.
Small-Step Simplifier
Your procrastination may be connected with the size or complexity of the task. When there is too much to think about at once, getting started can feel harder than the actual work.
Your strength is your willingness to make things manageable. Instead of asking yourself how you will complete the entire task, try asking what one small action would move it forward. You don't need to see the whole staircase before taking the next step.
If one manageable step at a time appeals to you, you may enjoy the 365 Forward Steps Notes — a daily Forward Steps Note naturally reinforces the idea of taking one manageable step at a time.
Progress Over Perfection
Your procrastination may sometimes be connected with wanting to get things right. When your expectations are very high, beginning can feel risky because the finished result may not match the standard you have in mind.
Your strength is caring about the quality of what you do. The useful adjustment may be to distinguish between work that genuinely needs to be excellent and work that simply needs to be done. Progress gives you something to improve. Waiting for perfection can keep you standing still.
If you'd like a daily reminder that small actions can keep you moving forward, take a look at the 365 Forward Steps Notes — each Note gives you another simple idea to consider and potentially put into action.
Focus Protector
Your procrastination may be less about unwillingness and more about where your attention goes. Messages, notifications, emails and other interruptions can make it remarkably easy for an important task to keep being postponed.
Your strength is your awareness that attention is valuable. Creating a short protected period for one important task can be enough to get momentum going. You don't have to eliminate every distraction from your life. You simply need to give something important a fair share of your attention.
If you'd like another small idea to put into practice each day, have a look at the 365 Forward Steps Notes — a daily Forward Steps Note naturally reinforces the habit of taking one manageable step at a time.
Ready-Enough Starter
Your procrastination may sometimes come from waiting until you feel ready, motivated or in exactly the right frame of mind. Unfortunately, that ideal moment can be surprisingly good at hiding from us.
Your strength is recognising that action can change how you feel. You don't necessarily need motivation before you begin. Sometimes beginning creates the motivation that helps you continue. Give yourself permission to take a small first step without demanding that you feel completely prepared.
If you'd like a gentle source of fresh encouragement for taking your next step, visit the 365 Forward Steps Notes — one daily Forward Steps Note can provide another small nudge towards action.
Explore This Idea Further
Optional prompts to help you make the ideas your own.
I use AI as a thinking companion, not as a replacement for my own thinking. These prompts are simply another way to explore the ideas in this article and see how they might apply to your own life.
You don’t have to use AI to benefit from them. You can copy a prompt into a notebook, write about it in your journal, talk it through with someone you trust or simply sit with the question and see what comes up for you. If you do use ChatGPT or another AI tool, treat its responses as a starting point for your own thinking.
You remain the person who decides what is useful and right for your life.
How to use these prompts: Choose the one that appeals to you, copy the complete prompt and paste it into ChatGPT or another AI tool. You can answer its questions and continue the conversation as you go.
1. Apply This To My Life
Use this prompt when you want to connect the article’s ideas about procrastination with something you are putting off in your own life.
I’ve just read the Forward Steps article “10 Ways To Stop Procrastination Habits.” Use that article as your primary source and help me identify why I may be procrastinating on something that matters to me and which of the article’s ten approaches could be most useful in my situation.
Ask me a few relevant questions about what I am delaying, why it matters to me, what I have been telling myself about it and what may be making it difficult to begin. Then help me connect my answers with ideas from the article such as clarifying what I genuinely want, avoiding over-commitment, setting specific objectives, prioritising tasks, replacing unhelpful “gremlins” and breaking large projects into smaller chunks.
Keep your guidance practical and grounded in the article. Don’t replace its message with generic advice about procrastination. Build on my answers as we continue rather than giving me one large response and stopping.
2. Reflect More Deeply
Use this prompt when you want to understand what your procrastination habits may be revealing about the way you approach goals and action.
I’ve just read the Forward Steps article “10 Ways To Stop Procrastination Habits.” Use that article as your primary source and help me discover what my procrastination habits may be revealing about the way I approach goals, choices, commitments and action.
Guide me through a thoughtful conversation about whether I am delaying things because they are not truly aligned with what I want, because I have taken on too much, because a task feels overwhelming, because I am waiting to feel motivated or because of the thoughts I tell myself when I am faced with taking action. Help me consider how my priorities, objectives and daily energy may influence my tendency to put things off.
Ask one or two useful questions at a time and respond thoughtfully to my answers. Help me notice patterns and assumptions without becoming overly psychological or clinical. Keep the reflection grounded in the specific ideas from the Forward Steps article rather than turning it into a generic exercise about procrastination.
3. Turn It Into Action
Use this prompt when you want to turn one delayed task or objective into a simple action plan.
I’ve just read the Forward Steps article “10 Ways To Stop Procrastination Habits.” Use that article as your primary source and help me stop putting off one thing that matters to me by turning it into a simple action plan.
First help me choose one task, project or objective that I have been delaying and identify which of the article’s approaches could help most. If necessary, ask me a few questions about what I want to accomplish, what has been stopping me and how large or complicated the task feels.
Then help me clarify the objective, prioritise it, divide it into smaller chunks and identify the smallest useful action I can take now. Where appropriate, help me consider how I can replace an unhelpful “gremlin”, avoid over-commitment, build in a realistic schedule or reward myself for progress.
Keep the plan simple and achievable rather than giving me a long list of tasks. Build on my answers as we go and help me finish with one clear first step I can take without waiting until I am “in the mood.”
Tip: You don’t have to use all three. Start with the one that feels most useful to you right now.
Hi, I'm Thea Westra at Forward Steps (forwardstepsblog.com)
CLICK HERE To Trigger More Of Those Forward Steps 'Aha' Light Bulb Moments!