Procrastination is the thief of time – Edward Young
Overcoming procrastination is one of the topics I get asked about most frequently. Many people have told me that they want to reduce the amount of time they procrastinate and put off things they want/need to do until later. In my experience, procrastinating does not feel good, nor is it productive. So here I am going to share some of the tips I have picked up along the way from various courses, books and from my own battles with time.
1. Change your mind-set
Time is a commodity like money or food. We talk about ‘spending time ‘ and ‘wasting time’ – Think to yourself… what am I currently doing? Am I choosing to spend my time on something I enjoy or something I need to do to make my life run more smoothly? Or am I ‘wasting time’? (It is only a waste if you think it is a waste!) Which would I rather be doing?
2. Imagine the completed task – Starting with the end in mind
Instead of beating yourself up about not doing whatever it is you want/need to do, think… what will I gain once I have done it? Imagine the scenario as if you have already completed the task (or steps in the task). Ask yourself – What will I see, how will I feel, what will I hear? If your brain is focussing on the end product/scenario, it makes it feel much more achievable and it will know more clearly what it is aiming for.
3. Make a List!
Now make a list of the things you want to do…
4. Scrutinise
Step 5 is prioritising – but often that is easier said than done – so scrutinising comes first. It can be helpful to think about why you have been procrastinating over something – is it so big that it is overwhelming? Maybe you don’t know where to start or how to do something, or maybe you don’t really want to do something and it is being imposed on you? Ask yourself ‘What’s stopping me from achieving this?’ Are there things on my list I don’t actually need to do? Could I get someone else to do it, or could I actually do it later?
4. Prioritise
Go back to your list and edit it. Now circle the top three most pressing tasks – if they are all pressing, which has the greatest time pressure or is going to give you the most benefit? (N.B. Sometimes I try to do the one I like most first; but in fact, it might have limited benefit!) Now pick the task which will yield the highest amount of satisfaction yield when it’s done.
5. Get started
Now just go ahead and make a start! This is often the hardest part. I find giving myself a chunk of time, like 15 minutes to get started on something really helps me at this stage.
6. Allocate time slots
If you can’t do it all in one go, devote time over the next day(s)/week(s) when you will do that task, and just that task. Sometimes I have a mini research project to which I devote 15 minutes a day. I try to do that research first thing in the morning before I start my working day. It gives me a huge boost of satisfaction to know I am working at it, one bite at a time. You can’t eat an apple all in one go!
This might seem like a long process, but over time some of these steps have become more automatic for me. So much so, that I had to really think about what I do to share it with you!