In this new article you’ll learn how to beat procrastination.

If you have ever found yourself wondering why you haven’t reached the success that you want for yourself, or why your life isn’t how you have imagined it, the problem just might lie in procrastination and putting things off.

In fact, if you are reading this post, the odds are pretty good that’s the case.

Procrastination, distractions and putting off important tasks are at the root of most people’s lack of success.

At first, when you have made a habit of procrastination, it can seem like reaching goals and quitting your procrastinating ways is almost impossible, but the truth is, people overcome it every single day, and you and I are no different than they are.

What you need most is some inspiration and a plan of action – these tips are designed to help you eliminate procrastination from your life once and for all.

How To Beat Procrastination:

1. Always Start Your Day With A Few Minutes Of Work

This is particularly important if you are self-employed or work from home. You should always start your day by doing work for at least 30 minutes.

Do not fall into the trap of saying “I’ll just be checking my e-mail, social media accounts, and blog for just 10 minutes” because the next thing you know you’ve already wasted 2 hours of your morning just checking e-mails and going through social media and the rest of your day will go down the drain.

If 30 minutes seems a long time try starting with just 10 minutes which is usually enough to get you started and to get the ball rolling and have you focused.

Then gradually increase it to one hour or more.

2. Avoid all Distractions

Distractions are the procrastinator’s best friend. It’s the key to a person getting even less done

Did you know that your will power is a very limited resource? If you start your day resisting temptation you are less likely to resist them throughout the day since you’ve already exhausted your will power.

Avoiding distractions to begin with is the best way to go about beating procrastination.

Let others know that you do not wish to be disturbed for at least the first hour of your working day.

3. Make Deadlines A Productive Tool

The most common notion about deadlines is that they tend to be stressful and tiresome.

On one hand, this is half true. On the other hand, deadlines can also be harnessed in such a way that it could be used as a tool for enhancing productivity.

It’s easier to fall prey to procrastination without a deadline.

Why? Most people would say I’ll do it later, however they usually end up going beyond their schedule or if not, compromising the quality of work.

However, when all the anxiety is not focused on the deadline itself, more time and creativity will be poured into the start and completion of the tasks.

4. Break Tasks into Smaller More Manageable Pieces

There’s nothing more daunting than taking on a huge task. However, it really doesn’t matter how big or complex the task is.

The critical aspect is actually the way it is presented. It is quite evident and as a matter of fact, research has shown that the manner of task presentation has critical impacts on the brain and on how a person becomes motivated to take on a task.

Breaking down tasks into more manageable pieces makes it easier for us to finish tasks thus keeping clear of procrastination.

SEE ALSO: How To Improve Self Control And Discipline: 15 Awesome Psychology Tips

5. Make a List of Consequences

Consequences are among the few things that procrastinators hate. It’s the thought of having negative results that make procrastinating less pleasant.

If you’re seeing that you are already procrastinating, immediately turn your attention to the consequences of your delayed actions. This will often stir up pressure.

Although pressure can sometimes break you down but this kind of pressure will help you eliminate the urge to procrastinate.

Just think what happens if you keep delaying that important task – you just finish up going nowhere.

Like the story Alice in Wonderland when asking the way and getting the answer if you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there.

6. Seek Support from Your Friends and Family

Most of the time, getting over procrastination takes extra effort and a lot of helping hands. You’ll need all the help you can get.

Ask your friends and family to monitor your tasks and check if you’re doing them on time. This may be a little annoying at times but when someone is checking in on you, you’re more likely to be productive.

Remember there is no shame in asking for help, there are no foolish questions only perhaps some silly answers.

7. Get Yourself Motivated!

There’s nothing that can substitute the driving force of motivation. With the right kind and amount of motivation, even the most logically bent procrastinator can’t resist.

Motivation is the key to achieving any type of goal. This applies to everyone no matter how big or how small your goal may be. Motivate yourself with the things that make you happy (1).

Think of the better life that you could live if only you would expedite rather than procrastinate. Although it’s all easier said than done, it is not impossible.

Motivation is sometimes the missing puzzle piece in our lives, it completes us.

8. Learn to Manage Your Time

As we all know Time waits for no one. It makes sense therefore to take time out to make a To-Do list.

Then train yourself to go down your to do list without skipping the difficult items. Concentrate on one thing at a time. Stop nonproductive activities as soon as possible.

Put up signs reminding you of your goals. Let others around you know not to disturb you for at least an hour while you are working. Remember Time Flies so don’t waste it!

9. Set some Goals

Your first task in reaching your goal is to set one. That makes sense, right? But it isn’t as simple as writing something down on a piece of paper.

You need to make sure that you have a specific goal, one that has benchmarks and can actually be measured.

You may lack motivation because you do not have a specific Goal to work towards, if that’s the case you will easily become discouraged.

Make sure that your Goal(s) are broken down to smaller ones and then set yourself the task of meeting them so you can see some progress.

If you want to accomplish anything you need to ask yourself whether or not the Goals you have are realistic, then once they are all you need to do is focus on them one at a time.

Remember that anything worthwhile is never accomplished overnight just be patient.

10. Make a Plan

A plan is simply a way for you to get from point A to point B. You wouldn’t think of traveling across an unfamiliar part of the country without a map, would you?

A plan is your map to reaching your destination – the goal that you have set for yourself and likely the bigger that the goal is, the more detailed that your plan will have to be.

Plans can be as simple as a goal and an instruction for achieving it, or as complex as a whole list of instructions and times to perform them, but the type of plan that you want to make is one that gives you a path and set of milestones on the way to your plan.

You already have your end benchmarks, which means that you’ll know when you actually arrive at your destination, but just like road signs when traveling along the road, you’ll want milestones along the way that tell you that you are on your way to achieving your goals, and that you are on track with whatever time frame that you have set.

11. Create some New Habits

We are all creatures of Habit not necessarily all good ones.

It is said it takes at least twenty-one days for a new habit to become natural and sub-conscious so that we do not need to keep using just will-power.

12. List down all that You need to do

Take going to the supermarket for example. If you don’t have the list of items to buy it would be difficult to know which items are more important and should be bought.

However, given a list, it is easier to purchase items without the struggle.

Concentrate on one thing at a time

Start with the most profitable parts of the project and cut down on the rest if possible. Put up signs reminding you of your goals

Remember to 80/20 rule and maximize the 20% items and work on ways to minimize the 80% items.

Fill out and print a To Do List for each day. At the end of the day, compare this list to see what you actually did during the day.

13. Be Responsible

Definition:-The state of being responsible, accountable, or answerable, as for a trust, debt, or obligation.

Choose somebody who will serve as your success partner. The individual should not criticize you if you do not succeed. By doing this, you are well on your way to overcoming procrastination.

SEE ALSO: How To Be More Confident In Yourself: 21 Hacks To Boost Confidence

14. Check out Your Environment

Take a minute to ask yourself if you really comfortable with your office chair and your lighting.

Again, something that might seem trivial like these two things can have a huge impact on your productivity. It makes a difference in how you think, feel, and perform.

You might have been uncomfortable for so long that you don’t even realize it. You owe it to yourself to be as comfortable as possible.

Your environment can be one of the reasons why you procrastinate so to prevent this habit from taking over your life; you need to fix your environment .

As it can have a direct impact on your productivity. It is therefore necessary to look around your environment and working space to determine whether it inspires you or not.

Assess if your surrounding promotes positive or negative feelings and mood.

There are several ways to do this such as getting of clutter and mess on your table or desk, replacing light bulbs with brighter ones and spraying therapeutic and aromatic air until your senses are fully awaken.

15. Get Inspired

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds;

Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world.

Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

16. List down some positive words to stay Motivated

Regardless of what the purpose may be, the right words should always be chosen and get spoken.

If you are faced with tons of responsibilities and things that you need to accomplish, you probably feel of delaying things and putting them up for tomorrow.

This is the habit of procrastination and this stops people from being more productive and directed towards their goals.

There are several ways on how to overcome this and get things done and thinking about positive words to get you motivated is one excellent way to beat procrastination.

Think about positive words that trigger you to keep moving on. This does not to be taken in just a snap. You need to deal with your tasks one by one.

It really takes lots of small steps before you can completely accomplish things. Remember that thinking about positive words yields to positive thinking and excellent results.

Positive words can actually change what you think (2) about and these can influence your mood as well as your decision making.

These can also fuel your enthusiasm and makes you believe that you can do or achieve anything as long as you have real determination and you are willing to put an effort in whatever it is that you need to do.

17. Reward Yourself – Create some Incentives

Whenever you accomplish things and reach your goal, you have to reward yourself for your effort of getting things done.

Many individuals are caught up working continuously and they forget to relax and reward themselves.

If you keep on working on long hours, you might also end up exhausted and wear out and this can trigger procrastination, but if you take even a short time break, you end up more energized and productive.

Every time you accomplish things and come up with small milestones, you need to go ahead and give yourself rewards. You do not really have to choose the most expensive reward

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article about how to beat procrastination. I sincerely hope its contents have been a good help to you.