How to Put an End to Procrastination
Many people try to be productive without addressing one problem that holds them back from being productive in the first place, procrastination. I’m going to dive into the topic of procrastination today to help you curb this habit so that you can move forward with your mission to be more productive in life, work, and relationships.
Below you’ll find some strategies and tactics on how to put an end to procrastination. Implementing each of these tips below will help you end procrastination so that you can become more productive in your everyday life.
This post may contain affiliate links meaning I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Read my disclosure policy here.
Keep It Simple
Even the most disciplined people can fall victim to procrastination. Procrastination is a habit that people develop over time without any known reason. Perhaps you lacked motivation or the project you were supposed to finish didn’t resonate with you so you put it off.
The list of why you started procrastinating could be endless, but they’re somewhat irrelevant in the process of removing this habit.
You’ll want to develop simple plans of action with realistic expectations when attempting to remove the habit of procrastination from your life. Find a way to simplify your tasks so that you’re better able to reduce the risk of procrastination.
For example, if you’re working on a project for a client but part of the project is something that doesn’t fall within your expertise level; you might find that you procrastinate on the project.
Instead of procrastinating, you can first only take on projects that you know you’re good at or learn to delegate portions of a project to someone else who is more equipped to handle the task.
Develop a plan to only accept projects that you’re confident you can complete in the future so that you’re not stuck trying to stress out completing a project at the last minute.
Talk to Yourself
Another step towards putting an end to procrastination is to use positive self-talk. If you’re not sure how to do this, then you can use download positive affirmations from the internet to get you started. Select only the best positive affirmations for your personality so that they will resonate with you during a time when you feel like procrastinating.
Since your mind controls how you act and behave in everyday life, you’ll need to work on your thought process to beat procrastination. Your brain works in two ways, first, you have the subconscious mind that regulates things like breathing, heart beating, and so forth.
Then you have your conscious side of the brain that you’re more aware of, such as thoughts and processes to solve certain things. Your conscious mind is what controls how you behave and act the most, and is something you’re better able to control or change.
Your procrastination habit has become part of your subconscious mind over the years and it’s so hard to change this habit because it’s become the norm for you. This is why you must try to consciously change your habits before you can put an end to procrastination.
As you use positive self-talk to push through a task that you’d otherwise procrastinate on, you’ll find that over time your procrastination habit diminishes and you start being more productive.
This is called mind training and it’s essentially taking control of your subconscious mind with relevant, positive sentences that kick the subconscious from going into procrastination mode and in turn, helps you become more productive. It’s essentially rewriting your thought patterns and is something that will take time to become a new habit, but you can do it!
Just Do It
Another way to get over your procrastination habit is to just get it done. This “just do it in 5 seconds or less” rule is something that Mel Robbins wrote about in The 5-Second Rule book. This rule is often used when referring to food that’s been dropped on the floor but today I’m using it to help you end procrastination.
This strategy for ending procrastination is rather simple. It means you take action to dismantle procrastination by starting the task or project within 5 seconds. This keeps your mind from overthinking and putting you into an auto-drive mode and ensures that you’ll be more productive.
This habit is based on the fact that procrastination comes from taking too long to get started with actionable steps towards doing whatever project or task you’re trying to do.
Your brain is a smart being, but it’s much like a computer, in that it caches previous experiences and then triggers a subconscious reaction based on those cached experiences. For example, if you’ve ever tried to start a daily fitness routine only to find that you slowly stop doing it it’s because you’ve trained your brain to deter you from it. After all, you had those few days where you felt like you didn’t want to do it.
This is essentially how procrastination has become a habit for you! Your brain will put your mind into a fight or flight mode since it’s wired to naturally go towards self-preservation. When your brain hears you thinking that you can’t do this project or don’t want to do this project, it will automatically put you into a mode that allows procrastination to happen. The brain thinks it’s helping you, but as you now know, it’s not helping you at this moment.
Using the “just do it in 5 seconds or less” rule will stop your brain from going into this subconscious mode so that you’re better able to end procrastination for good.
As you continue working on the tactics and strategies listed above, you’ll soon find that your actions have successfully diminished your habit of being a procrastinator and you’re well on your way to becoming a more productive person in work, life, and relationships.
Get your day or week organized with printables from the Resource Library, get access here.
More Ways to Organize Your Life
How to Get Organized and Stay That Way