I’m a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it? I could be changing the world, but instead I’m putting in the bare minimum and no matter what trick or method I try I can’t seem to beat it.

Sound familiar? You know what needs to be done, but put it off…

I always have a fear of finishing something and it’s a bit of a problem for me. I can’t ever finish anything, because then what??

And if it’s not work to do, there’s always something else you could check… check your email, check the news, check the weather, check your social media updates. Or you could make a tea / coffee, grab a snack or see what’s going on outside….

Endless distractions and procrastination to avoid actually doing the work. Before you know it half the day has gone and then the whole day and it’s time to stop working.

How do you bring your focus back?

A timer by your desk is a great way to approach this at work, personally I find 15-20 mins of work and 5 mins of procrastinating is a good balance.

If you haven’t heard of it before this is called the Pomodoro Technique!

Pick a task to do Set a timer to work on the task (25 mins) When the time is up, stop and take a break doing something else for a set period of time (3-5 mins) Repeat the above until your task(s) are complete! After four iterations of the above, take a longer break, you’ve actually earned it!

Much like breaking a complex programming problem up into smaller chunks to fix, breaking time up into defined short periods (Pomodoros) helps you concentrate and stop procrastinating for at least 25 minutes to actually get some work done.

Depending on your work place an actual physical timer on your desk may be a good solution. Otherwise there are a choice of websites, apps and chrome extensions to time your Pomodoros for you.

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