I am a student of Time Management (or why would I have gotten into to Time Management Software business) and a big part of time management is solving procrastination. We all procrastinate -even those of us who pride ourselves on our time management skills.
From my studies, I like these 7 proven ways to beat procrastination.
1. Do the worst thing first thing: This is known as swallowing the frog first thing and the rest of the day looks good. It gets me through lots of “procrastination” issues.
2. Break it down: Often there are small parts of the task that can be done. Often the reason that we procrastinate is because the task ahead of us is too big. How do you walk 100 miles? One step at a time.
3. Get help. I wasn’t actually referring to delegation (but of course that is good too), I was referring to having someone help you start the task. Often it is the act of starting a task that is enough to get the task done.
4. Do the pleasant part of the task: Often many distasteful and large jobs have some parts to it that are not particular distasteful. Do them so at least you are moving forward on your most important items.
5. 20 minutes: Just spend 20 minutes on a task. I have the attitude that I can spend 20 minutes doing anything. Often by spending the 20 minutes on a task is enough to get the momentum rolling to get it done.
6. Track it: The simple act of tracking process on a goal is often enough to keep the goal moving forward. I like Time Tracking Software for this of course.
7. Reward or punish: The reason we do something is because it is more painful than not doing something, so if we can make a task more rewarding or more painful, then we tend to move forward faster.
Remember that even successful people occasionally procrastinate. And it is solvable.
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