How to Stop Procrastinating - Seven Steps to Success
By Maddie Ruud
One of the most valuable skills in life, work, and school is the ability to meet deadlines and accomplish tasks in a timely manner. Winning the battle against procrastination may seem a daunting, even unachievable goal, but anyone can do it. Systematically apply these seven steps, based on researched behavior modification techniques, and watch your grades go up, impress your boss, and find a lot more time for family and fun!
This plan itself is structured in such a way as to make it approachable for even the worst of procrastinators. Take it step by step, day by day, and you, too, can manage your time efficiently and effectively to accomplish anything.
Step 1: Take Note
This is a period of observation, where you simply bring awareness to the patterns in your life that keep you procrastinating. What are the activities you use to distract yourself from getting started on the task? You will probably find that you waste a large portion of your time on meaningless activities, for the sole purpose of procrastinating, instead of getting the task done, and having more time to do something you'd really enjoy.
Jot down any environmental cues that might interfere with your work-anything from hunger pangs to the phone ringing. Next to each item you've listed, brainstorm how this cue can be avoided. For example, turning off the ringer on your phone, or beginning a task after, rather than prior, to a meal.
Step 2: Look Ahead
Visualize the consequences for procrastinating your given task. If you don't study, you might fail a test. If you don't prepare for your presentation, imagine how uncomfortable you'll be with all eyes on you and nothing to say. Then, visualize the positive outcome you can create by getting your work done: a good grade, a promotion, the sense of a job well done. Focus on how good you'll feel after having accomplished your task, rather than on how much you don't want to do it.
Step 3: Make A Date
Schedule your study or work time as you would a date. Write it into your planner. Add it to your Palm Pilot. Make it definite, set it in stone, and be as faithful in keeping to it as you would a dinner date with your significant other! Schedule an activity you particularly enjoy just afterwards, but be sure not to move on to that activity until you've devoted the allotted time to study or work.
Step 4: Be Prepared
Be sure to have everything you need to accomplish the task before you sit down to do it. Preparation time should not cut into the time you actually spend on the work itself. Too often, procrastinators find themselves over-preparing simply to avoid the meat of the matter: getting it done.
Step 5: Dig In
This is the hardest of the steps: just getting started. Give yourself an extra reward for starting on time, and perhaps a penalty for starting late. For example, say you've scheduled study time from 1-4 pm. If you start right at 1, maybe you "get off" fifteen minutes early, at 3:45 pm. However, for every minute you procrastinate after 1 o'clock, you have to study an extra 2, or even 5! The prospect of having to work an extra half hour for being 6 minutes late will certainly motivate you to be on time!
Break the task down into achievable smaller goals, and give yourself a mental pat on the back every time you accomplish one. Research indicates that procrastination often stems from a lack of confidence in one's ability to meet expectations, but taking note of the reality that you are, in fact, making progress, gives you the boost of self-confidence you need to continue working.
 | Amazon Price: $2.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $6.93 List Price: $16.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $0.99 |
Step 6: Buckle Down
Beware of distractions! Having brain stormed ways to avoid the cues you noted in Step 1, put those tactics into effect! One of the most common ways procrastinators sabotage themselves is by jumping to another task whenever their work becomes difficult. Avoid the temptation to "take a break" when the going gets tough. Instead, return to the visualizations from Step 2 to help motivate you to muscle through. Keep your schedule in mind, and, if necessary, institute a further penalty for distractions within the allotted time. 1 minute playing Tetris instead of typing your paper equals 5 extra minutes tacked onto your time.
Step 7: Soak It Up
Once you have implemented these steps, don't forget to take account of the positive outcome. Don't be too quick to move on to the next thing you "have to get done." Enjoy the rewards you have set out for yourself, but also remember to take note of the good feelings you get from having the task out of the way, from the fruit of your labor. When you score highly on your test, be sure to link this success in your mind to the studying you did earlier. Connecting the dots in your mind will reinforce the behavior, and make the work slightly less unattractive the next time you need to do it.
If you're a procrastinator, you have so much to gain by using these tips to change your habits. Apply what you've read here, step by step, and see the results; not only will you use your time more efficiently and reap the rewards of meeting deadlines and achieving goals-your self esteem will dramatically increase, with the knowledge that you can, indeed, succeed.
|
Time Management for Dummies by Jeffrey J. Mayer (199...
Current Bid: $5.98
|
|
Time Management: Get Organized and Accomplish More in Less Time by Leslie...
Current Bid: $3.50
|
|
Time Management: Introduction to Franklin Systems by Richard Winwood (1990)
Current Bid: $2.99
|
|
Time Management for Dummies, Second Edition Jeffrey J. Mayer
Current Bid: $4.99
|
Other Hubs You Might Enjoy
- How to Break Bad Habits and Effect Positive Life Change
- The Science Behind Self-Affirmations: Proof of Their Power
- Seven Simple Steps to a Healthier You
- Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs
- Where to Get Good Advice Online
- A Practical Guide to Improving Your Body Image
- Inspirational and Amusing Quotes on Women
- What Does a Healthy Diet Look Like?
- Proper Pillow Placement for Any Sleeping Position
Comments
Dig in and avoid distractions are definitely the most difficult steps to do! Having used all of the tricks possible to push past procrastination, the best advice I received was "just do it". Good steps!
Thanks Maddie for this nice writeup.
I hope I become a normal person from present a chronic procastinator.
Regards Rajesh @ New Delhi
i hope it may help
Perfect for me..!!! I procrastinate a lot (its a wonder I still get things done !!!). Hope this helps me to get over it...
Loved the article, but those steps seem so hard. Maybe I'll try this some day.
LoL reading this is apart of my procrastination.
Though it has helped me and I'm doing my work now.
Except I just wanted to share that thought above.
Great hub! thanks for sharing....i will do the step by step method you have..
Great step by step guide. It definately takes planning.
funny...I wrote a similar hub which also includes 7 steps. guessing great minds think alike.
I am procrastinating right now, by reading your hub! Sounds like good advice, though.
great Hubs.Thanks for the clear advise.
Great points. I guess most of us procratinate at different stage of life. I definite drag my feet to make dental appointment.
I am a horrible procrastinator with a self-defeating streak. Good tips here, thanks!
I'm going to read this - later :))
Thanks for this, I'm at my last year at school and have a drama performance in 3 weeks which is a monologue (Not I) and have literally 5 pages of lines to learn. I'm very bad at learning lines as I tend to procrastinate and still have 4 wholes pages to have down by the 17th August so I hope this will help.
Step 2 is used by all successful people. Even Dr Stephen R. Covey mentioned that in his bestseller.
Thanks for the info.
I enjoyed this
Hi Maddie,
I have only recently joined HubPages and came across this article. Great advice for a serial procrastinator like myself! Avoiding distractions is a big problem for me and it is a always a struggle to remain focussed on (important) tasks which I don't particularly like doing!
Thanks for sharing,
Louis
Nice read Maddie and some really great words to adhere too
perhaps I should print this off and paste it to my forehead... eh, maybe later.
Nice hub! Good sound advice on eliminating procrastination. My favorite strategy is to "chunk" projects that I am procrastinating on. Starting a project with a small chunk of time (5-20 min) almost always leads to more time working on it and more motivation and momentum for finishing it. As a long-time personal development enthusiast, it's always great to run into good quality information like this. Thanks!
Ed
procrastination is my weakness. thanks for your advice.
Great advice! Procrastination has always been one of my trouble areas. I try to justify it by saying I work welll under pressure or I am multi-tasking. I always find reasons why I can do something later-but I am taking steps to get better!
Bruce:
Yes, it's just a link capsule to which I add hubs I think visitors to this one might like to read.
Good advice, Maddie. Thanks. But how do you make the list of other "hubs you might like". Is that a capsule? Or just at the bottom of the text? I like it!
Great comments. I use a lot of these and once I began to make them a part of my life, i began to get more done.
wow this information is incredibly useful im a lazy person and do things to the last moments. il follow ur advice and hopefully achieve thnx.
As usual Maddie, you are spot on. As I mentioned in one of my hubs, I am a chronic procrastinator. My problem is usually just getting started. Once I'm into something, I'm heads down until it is done. But your tip about scheduling things "like a date" is definitely an action item that I can take from this hub. In the hub I referenced above, I wrote about an author and motivational speaker named Sam Silverstein that I recently came across. His motto is "No More Excuses" and I am trying to take steps to eliminate excuses and procrastination from my daily routine. Once you do it, it truly is amazing how much you can accomplish!
Thanks for the hub. Truly great advice for someone who needs it! ;-)
It is important to get our important tasks done. Otherwise, we get this feeling that they are always weighing on our minds. Get them done and move on!!
Nice points.
I always find it hard to alwasy get work done during busy times. But we all seem to get through in the ends.
You just have to never ever give up.
Even if it's at a very slow pace.
Tom
I needed this info years ago...better late than never, I suppose.
Hi Maddie, its really great to see your article. Though its something everyone of us know, it still reminded for those who have gotten really busy(bizzy). I myself am an idiot who procrastinates to no limit, like i was planning to launch a new site but haven't done yet.... At this point of time your hub appeared really sweet to me. Thank you so much
lots of love
Shiva
Great advice, Maddie! I'm passing it along to my son. Getting started is always his biggest hurdle, as it is for many who have ADHD.
good blog good points well done !
Maddie Ruud 2 months ago
nifwlseirff,
You're right, in the end it really comes down to just getting started. Thanks for dropping by!