6 Habits To Help You Stop Procrastinating
Hey, everyone! How’s life going?
I’ve been blogging and juggling my full-time job.
But, I’ve been dealing with a pretty big problem.
I just don’t know what it is.
Whenever I have a lot on my plate, I just shut down. And when I shut down, I don’t get anything done.
I just push all of my tasks over to the next day.
Procrastination is such a motivation-killer. I
t’s a dream-killer, too.
Procrastinating makes you feel better at that moment, but it really hurts you in the end.
It wasn’t until my family noticed a negative change in me when I decided to make a change in my daily habits.
If you’ve realized that you have a problem with procrastinating, then keep reading.
Here are 6 new habits I developed that helped me beat procrastination for good.
This post may contain affiliate links. You can find my affiliate disclosure here or at the bottom of the page.
1 – I started holding myself accountable
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Whatever you plan on doing with your future, just know procrastinating puts you further away from your goals.
At some point, you have to enforce self-discipline and tackle the work sitting in front of you. Plain and simple.
2 – Put the phone away
There have been times where I will actually start working on my tasks but the moment I pick my phone up, all work comes to a halt. Sometimes, I never start back working; I just tell myself I’ll finish it tomorrow.
Once I realized that having my phone close to me was a major distraction, I started leaving my phone in the other room. I have a MacBook, so I don’t really need my phone right beside me at all when I’m working.
3 – I had to block distractions
Whenever I’m working on my computer, I tend to wander over to social media websites like Facebook and Reddit. To stop this, I blocked those websites on my web browser.
Another distraction that I blocked was my TV.
In the past, I would turn my TV on and let it play as background noise, but I would end up focusing on the tv more than my work.
Now, I don’t turn the tv on at all when I work. Silence is key.
4 – I started to break big tasks down into small tasks
Big projects give me anxiety.
Any time I had a big project or assignment to complete, I would push it off until later. Then, I would be stuck trying to cram everything in at the last minute which would result in more anxiety.
Rather than trying to tackle one big task in one day, I break the task up into smaller tasks and work one small task a day.
As long as I’m doing some kind of work to accomplish the task every day; it doesn’t matter how little I get done.
5 – I stopped focusing on how long it will take to complete the task
Do you ever get discouraged about starting a project when you know it will take a long time to complete?
Honestly, when I know that I’m going to be stuck at my desk for a few hours, I get discouraged and dread getting started on my assignment. But, I’ve found a new way of thinking that helps me get motivated.
First, I stopped thinking about how long it’s going to take to complete my task.
Then, I started working in 30-minute segments. I work for 30 minutes and break for 5 minutes.
Rinse and repeat until my task is done.
Sometimes, I’ll get so focused on what I’m doing that I will forget to take my 5-minute break.
6 – I reward myself when I complete a task or assignment
What do you give to a child if they complete all of their chores? You give them a reward.
From time to time, you have to reward yourself for completing a task. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
After getting my work done for the day, I will treat myself to something sweet or watch a documentary on Netflix.
Don’t be ashamed if you procrastinate from time to time, because we all do it. But, sometimes we can do it too much. If you’ve come to the realization that procrastination is a problem, then you’re ready for change. You can beat procrastination and I encourage you to use the techniques I listed above to get started. Tell me what you think about them in the comment section below.
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