The following list is far from comprehensive, but here are ten ways to start procrastinating less:
Give yourself a schedule. I know it’s easy to veer off schedule even with the best intentions, but it’s easy to procrastinate when you have no idea what to do each day and no plan for your time. Schedule your unpleasant tasks along with your regular tasks, and try to stick to the schedule you’ve set.
Related: Schedule more time than you think you will need. One type of procrastination can be connected to time management: putting things off until right before a deadline. Some of this may be a motivation problem, but it also stems from underestimating the amount of time something will take. When a deadline seems far in the future, it’s easy to tell yourself that you have plenty of time -- right up to the point that you’re pulling an all-nighter. If you think that your hated task will take four hours to do, schedule six hours instead -- and schedule those hours in multiple, smaller sessions.
Be sure to break tasks into their smallest possible pieces. If ten pages feel overwhelming, aim for two pages. If an hour is too long to contemplate, try ten minutes. I used to resist this, as it made my to-do list look endless, but I often find that tasks that look “too big” get pushed off until later. Breaking down complex projects into very small tasks helps me stay on track.
Take a longer-term view. You’re trying to avoid a negative emotion in the present, but looking farther into the future can help you see how doing your unpleasant task will benefit you later. Imagine your future self feeling grateful to your present self for finishing that awful thing!
Use an accountability buddy. Ask someone who also needs to stick to something to pair up for mutual check-ins. Sometimes, just that extra bit of outside accountability makes sticking with an unpleasant task more palatable. Not all social pressures are helpful, but the mutual support of a fellow procrastinator can be a tiny push in the right direction.
Remove friction in your physical surroundings. Set up your environment to encourage action and reduce distractions. Arrange your home to make it easier to do what you intend to do -- and harder to do the activities you use to procrastinate.
Use “temptation bundling” as a motivator. Temptation bundling combines something you enjoy to serve as an incentive to do a task you tend to avoid. For instance, you can listen to your favorite podcast while you work out or dance music while you clean. Temptation bundling is only appropriate in specific, limited circumstances, as most tasks require more concentration -- but it can work.
Use meditation or mindfulness to stop worrying about how bad a task will feel. Keeping yourself firmly in the moment can help you understand that you’re simply doing the task, not regretting that you didn’t start sooner or worrying about how unpleasant it is.
Set a timer. Most of us can stand to do even things we hate for a few minutes, so take advantage of that. Set a timer for five to thirty minutes, clear away distractions, and simply power through. You may discover that you can keep going when your timer beeps (the dread of a task is often worse than the task itself), but even if you really can’t stand another minute, you’re already closer to finishing than you were. Using a timer is the anti-procrastination technique that works best for me. Sometimes I can only do the five minutes on my timer, but five minutes is better than nothing -- and I usually can keep going if I’ve finally gotten myself started.
Decide whether something has to be done at all. There are plenty of things that feel like obligations that aren’t really required. Yes, you need to make that dentist appointment you’ve been putting off. But if you have a pile of stuff you’ve been meaning to sell on eBay that you’re avoiding because you can’t stand the thought of taking photos and writing listings? Just donate those items and stop feeling guilty that you kept procrastinating on them. Most of the things we avoid are necessary, so this is a rare solution -- but how freeing it is to let an unnecessary task go!
Challenge:
This week, I encourage you to pick one of these methods and try it out. Feel free to try something that isn’t on this list, too! We all procrastinate a little differently, so it makes sense that there are many solutions to try. Be sure to practice self-compassion this week and be kind to yourself regardless of whether you succeed in tackling an unpleasant task. If one method doesn’t work, try another next time. Persistence will always beat procrastination (eventually).