10 ways to stop procrastinating once and for all

Procrastinating is a common issue that affects many people, and it can have serious consequences for your personal and professional life.

Do you find yourself constantly putting off tasks until the last minute? Do you struggle with getting started on projects, even when you know they are important?

If so, you are not alone.

There are many reasons why we procrastinate. For some, it may be a lack of motivation or interest in the task they need to do. For others, it may be a fear of failure or perfectionism that prevents them from getting started.

Whatever the reason is, procrastinating can lead to stress, missed deadlines (which lead to stress again), and a sense of overwhelm. Luckily, there are strategies you can use to overcome procrastination and become more productive and efficient in your daily life.

Procrastination is a common problem that affects many people. It’s basically delaying or postponing tasks or actions that need to be completed.

You may find it difficult to get started on tasks or to complete them on time. The first step in overcoming this problem is understanding the root causes of procrastinating.

Psychological roots of procrastinating

Procrastination is often linked to psychological factors such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and perfectionism.

People who struggle with procrastinating may feel overwhelmed by the tasks they need to complete, or they may feel that they are not capable of completing them to a high standard. This can lead to feelings of anxiety and a reluctance to get started.

Low self-esteem can also contribute to procrastinating. If you do not believe in your abilities, you may be more likely to put off tasks that you find challenging.

Perfectionism can also be a factor in procrastination. If you set unrealistic standards for yourself, you may feel that you cannot start a task until you are certain that you can complete it perfectly.

Emotional regulation

Emotional regulation is another factor that can contribute to procrastination. People who struggle with procrastination may have difficulty regulating their emotions, which can lead to avoidance behaviors.

For example, if you are feeling anxious about a task, you may avoid starting it in order to avoid the uncomfortable feelings that come with anxiety.

Learning to regulate your emotions can help you overcome procrastinating. By developing strategies to manage anxiety, low self-esteem, and other negative emotions, you can reduce the likelihood of procrastinating.

Techniques such as mindfulness meditation, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and journaling can be helpful in developing emotional regulation skills.

Identifying procrastination patterns

Self-assessment and reflection

The first step in overcoming procrastinating is identifying your personal procrastination patterns. This requires self-assessment and reflection. Take some time to think about the tasks you tend to put off and the reasons why.

Ask yourself questions such as:

• What tasks do I tend to procrastinate on?
• Why do I procrastinate on these tasks?
• What feelings or thoughts do I experience when I think about these tasks?
• What excuses do I make to justify my procrastinating?

By answering these questions, you can gain insight into your personal procrastination patterns and begin to develop strategies to overcome them.

Common Procrastinating Triggers

There are several common procrastination triggers that you should be aware of. These include:

• Fear of failure: If you are afraid of failing at a task, you may avoid it altogether.
• Lack of motivation: If you are not motivated to do a task, you may put it off until the last minute.
• Perfectionism: If you have a tendency towards perfectionism, you may put off tasks because you feel like you cannot do them perfectly.
• Overwhelm: If you feel overwhelmed by a task, you may avoid it altogether.

By recognizing these common procrastination triggers, you can begin to develop strategies to overcome them.

For example, if you struggle with the fear of failure, you can work on reframing your thoughts around failure and developing a growth mindset. Here are 15 effective ways to build a growth mindset.

If you struggle with a lack of motivation, you can work on finding ways to make the task more enjoyable or rewarding. If you struggle with perfectionism, you can work on setting realistic expectations for yourself and focusing on progress rather than perfection.

Strategies to overcome procrastinating

1. Stop telling yourself I’m a procrastinator

The best advice I ever heard is that if you want to stop doing something, you should stop saying final things such as: ‘I’m a procrastinator.’ If you do that, you tell your brain that this is who you are, and that’s the final say.

Whenever we let our brain that something is final, it stops thinking about possible solutions and changing certain things because that’s who we are and that’s just the way it is.

And believe me, I’ve been there, sometimes I still struggle with procrastinating. But stop saying I’m a procrastinator really helped in stop doing that.

2. Decide on small tasks you’ll do

Another great advice that helped me a lot was to stop procrastinating. I know, sounds sooo easy right and in real life, we all know it’s much easier said than done.

The point of this is that you decide on small tasks you will finish, and for real finish, do them, so you destroy the ‘I’m a procrastinator’ thinking in your mind.

These tasks can really be extremely small, such as showering, washing hair, going on a 5-minute walk, doing a short meditation on YouTube…whatever you want.

What matters is that you finish these tasks, and add new ones – meditation is a great new thing to add since it will help you with calming yourself down, getting clearer in your mind and keeping you present. Plus the only thing that really requires from you is opening YouTube, lying back, relaxing, and doing it).

Meditation helps with relaxing and calming your mind, reduces your stress, enhances your mood, controls anxiety, and much more. Whenever I meditate I feel my mind gets so much clearer and I get a deep sense of relaxation. So if you want, here are a few meditations I like to use:

Build Self-Love and Open Your Heart (13 minutes)

I Am Trusting The Universe (11 minutes)

Manifesting Your Dream Life Begins Today! (10 minutes)

All these channels have great other meditations so if these are not your cup of tea, you can search for other ones.

3. Time management techniques

Another thing that helps is effective time management. Sometimes we keep procrastinating because we see this huge thing we need to do, we get overwhelmed, freeze, and then do nothing.

And by the end of that, we feel even worse because we know we should do things, we didn’t do them, and then we feel shitty and fall back into this neverending circle. Things that can help with that are:

• Break tasks into smaller chunks: Large tasks can be overwhelming, which makes procrastination super easy. If you break your tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks, you can work on one at a time. So when you finish the small task you get a sense of achievement, which helps with breaking your thinking that ‘you’re a procrastinator’.
• Prioritize your tasks: You can start by identifying the most important tasks and work on them first. This will help you stay focused on the important things and you will avoid wasting time on tasks that are not so important. Or if you get overwhelmed with knowing you have 30 small tasks to do, and 2 big tasks to do, you can start with getting rid of the small tasks so the number of tasks you need to do gets shorter.
• Use a timer: Some people like to set a timer for a specific amount of time and work on a task until the timer goes off. You can decide on a task you want to work on, set the timer for 30 minutes (or more, or less), and for that 30 minutes, you focus only on that one task and put all your energy into it.
• Create a schedule: This has helped me a lot, whenever I check something from my list I get a sense of achievement, but for some people might be overwhelming. Try and decide if this is for you. You can plan out your day or week in advance and stick to the schedule as much as possible. This can help you stay on track and the feeling of checking that finished task is really amazing.

4. Set realistic goals

Setting realistic goals can also help you overcome procrastination. Sometimes we focus so much on the big thing we want to achieve, that we freeze either from fear of failure, overwhelmed, or just the feeling ‘omg I can never do all that’. Here are some tips for setting realistic goals:

• Be specific: Set clear, specific goals that are easy to understand and measure. For example, don’t say I want to lose weight. Decide on a goal, say I want to lose 5 kg in 6 months.
• Make them achievable: Set goals that are challenging but achievable. This will help you stay motivated and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Don’t set some crazy, unachievable goals for yourself, so you set yourself up for failure like I’ll lose 10 kg in 1 month.
• Break them down: Break larger goals into smaller, more manageable tasks that you can work on one at a time. Keeping the weight example, let’s say you want to lose 5 kg. Break 5 kg into smaller chunks, and have a goal of losing 1 kg a month for example.
• Celebrate your progress: Celebrate your achievements as you work towards your goals. No matter how small the achievement is, we need to celebrate it. Be proud of yourself and celebrate how far you’ve come and don’t minimize your progress. This will help you stay motivated and avoid procrastination.

Celebrating small victories can also help with your journey of having a growth mindset, which I talked about in my post: 15 ways to a growth mindset.

Procrastination can be a tough habit to break, but having a support system can make the process easier. Building a support system involves seeking out people who can hold you accountable and provide social support.

5. Find accountability partners

This really helps to some people. An accountability partner is someone who can help keep you on track and hold you responsible for meeting your goals. This person can be a family member, a friend, a colleague, or whoever who is also working on their own goals.

You can set up regular check-ins to discuss your progress and hold each other accountable for staying on track, and motivating each other in case you’re struggling.

You can also join a support group or online community focused on achieving your particular goal. Having someone to share your successes and struggles with can help you stay motivated and focused.

6. Create a productive environment

One very important thing is also creating a productive environment. By optimizing your workspace and minimizing distractions, you can increase your focus and productivity. Create a space you’ll be excited to use, that you feel comfortable in and is optimistic and uplifting.

7. Minimize distractions

Distractions are one of the biggest obstacles to productivity. We all know when we for real decide that we’ll work on that thing we’ve been putting off for the past month, and then we get a notification on our phone and the next time we look at the clock we realize we wasted one hour of pointless scrolling through social media.

To minimize distractions try:

• Turn off notifications on your phone and computer.
• Close unnecessary tabs and applications.
• Use noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs to block out noise.
• Set specific times for checking email and social media.

By minimizing distractions, you can train your brain to focus on the task at hand and avoid the temptation to procrastinate.

8. Use productivity apps

One way to overcome procrastination is to use productivity apps. These apps can help you stay on track by organizing your tasks, setting reminders, and even tracking your progress.

Some popular productivity apps include Todoist, Trello, and Asana. These apps can be used on your phone or computer, making it easy to stay organized and productive no matter where you are.

9. Developing self-discipline

When it comes to overcoming procrastination, one of the most important skills is self-discipline. Until you for real decide that it’s time to make a change, you’ll search for excuses and try to avoid thing. It’s important to realize that when we cheat with things like this, we’re only cheating ourselves.

I mean we decide on our goals and things we want to do because we want to be better/do better/look better and improve our life. We can cheat all we want but at the end of the day, it’s our life we’re wasting with neverending scrolling on social media or watching tv for hours.

Self-discipline is very important in every aspect of life. Self-discipline is the ability to control your own behavior and make choices that are in line with your goals, even when you don’t feel like it.

Here are a few strategies that can help you develop self-discipline:

• Set clear goals: Start with clear, specific goals. Without a defined end, you’ll wander aimlessly. Write them down and review them often to stay focused.
• Create a Routine: A daily routine helps instill discipline. It sets clear expectations for your day, making it easier to stay on track. Consistency is key here.
• Eliminate distractions: Identify what distracts you and remove these obstacles. It could be as simple as turning off notifications or creating a dedicated workspace.
• Prioritize tasks: Not all tasks are created equal. Use a priority matrix to tackle the most important tasks first, ensuring you’re making the most of your time.
• Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness keeps you present and improves focus. Daily meditation or mindful breathing can enhance your discipline. If you scroll up I linked a few amazing youtube meditations which can help you get started.
• Reward yourself: Positive reinforcement works wonders. Set up a reward system for completing tasks to keep yourself motivated. This can be simple like making yourself a cup of coffee, or bigger for example if you do everything you wanted in a day you treat yourself to a nice dinner in your favorite restaurant.
• Break tasks into smaller steps: Big tasks can be overwhelming. Break them down into manageable chunks, and tackle them one at a time to maintain momentum.
• Stay accountable: Share your goals with someone you trust. Accountability partners can provide support, encouragement, and keep you on track.
• Embrace failure: Failure is part of the process. Learn from your mistakes and use them as stepping stones to refine your self-discipline skills.
• Consistent review and adjustments: Regularly review your progress. Adjust your strategies if they’re not working. This helps you stay adaptable and effective.

10. The power of habit formation

One of the most effective ways to develop self-discipline is to create good habits. Scientists say it takes around 66 days to form a habit. Habits are automatic behaviors that we perform without even thinking about them.

Another interesting fact is that 43% of our days are driven by habit. When you think about things from this perspective it becomes kind of scary doesn’t it?

So it’s really important to create good habits because that can make it easier to stick to your goals and avoid procrastination.

To create a new habit, start by identifying a specific behavior that you want to change. You need to know where you’re going if you want to change.

Then, make a plan to do that behavior every day at the same time. For example, if you want to start exercising more, you might decide to go for a 30-minute walk every morning at 7 am.

Over time, this behavior will become automatic (remember, 43% of our days are driven by habit), and you’ll find it easier to stick to your exercise routine.

Seek professional help

If you have tried various methods to overcome procrastination but nothing seems to work, for whatever reason, seeking professional help may be the best option for you. Here are two types of professional help that can assist you in overcoming procrastination:

Therapy and coaching

Therapy and coaching can be beneficial for individuals who have underlying emotional or psychological issues that contribute to procrastination. A therapist or coach can help you identify the root cause of your procrastination and develop strategies to overcome it. They can also provide support and guidance as you work through the process.

Procrastination can be beaten with the right mindset and tools. Use these ten methods to change your approach and boost your productivity. Start today and take the first step towards a procrastination-free life. Every action counts.

And don’t forget, you got this and everything will be ok!