Productivity Tips Newsletter
For Better Results, Goals & Success

How to overcome procrastination

• Accept that there is no magic wand: you will have to do the task!
• The words that we use to ourselves in thinking or talking about the task matter! They have feelings attached to them, which color our anticipation and experience of the work. Try changing the words "have to" and "can't" to "choose to" and "choose not to" - this won't always be true, but it will probably be more honest most of the time. After all, you don't have to do this work - you probably chose to come and do this job, and you could choose to leave it! 
• Take account of the sort of person you are, of your values and your expectations. Assess whether these "fit" with the way in which you are trying to tackle the task - do you need a new approach with which you will be more comfortable? Patterns of working vary from one person to another, and so do the desired outcomes.
• Recognize self-defeating behavior and its associated thinking. Try to work out why you procrastinate: what do you gain from it? Find out how to overcome such behavior. You might choose to sort it out yourself, to refer to a self-help book or leaflet, or to consult the appropriate person, such as your colleagues or managers
• Identify goals and make realistic decisions about how to do the tasks, and prioritize.
• Ensure that you have the right equipment, information etc. to help in tackling the task. Some time spent in preparation and planning is vital - but not to the extent that no real work gets done. So set a time limit for the planning stage(s). Plan a (small) section and then work on it.
• Spending time planning is very useful, here's a word of warning to those who make very detailed plans which go wrong within an hour and are then ripped up in disgust - plans need to be flexible!Don't plan all the hours in the day; leave plenty of unplanned times and spaces - to allow for things taking longer than expected, and for you to have extra time for relaxation when they don't!
• Break down tasks into manageable bits. Set yourself small goals – to answer 10 emails; to write 1 page; to work for 45 minutes, take a 10 minute break and then do another 45 minutes work.
• Boost your motivation. Dwell on your strengths, on tasks you have accomplished and feel good about, in order to remind yourself that you can be successful.
• Give yourself rewards when you accomplish something.
• When you are getting stuck, rather than just stopping work, try a different strategy - take a pencil and an old, half-used piece of paper out of the bin, and scribble unplanned and unstructured notes and ideas to yourself for the task in hand. Or start on a different section of the piece (you don't have to work from the beginning to the end), picking the least demanding in thought or creativity.

Quite often procrastination is connected to anxieties about the quality of the work you hope (or fear) you will produce! At times like this, it is worth remembering that it's better to produce something rather than nothing!