cubicleless

Stop Procrastination Tip #1: Get quality sleep

Quality sleep leads to focused attention. When you get a good night of uninterrupted sleep, you’ll find daily tasks the following day much easier to get done. Personally, I think you can avoid many bad habits with a good night of quality sleep.

Stop Procrastination Tip #2: Make a list

Make a list of everything you have to get done personally and professionally. Rate each item on the list using a 1 – 10 scale. Each number that you go up represents 10 minutes of work that needs to be done. If you have items on your list that exceeds 30 to 40 minutes, you may need to break that item down into smaller portions. Here’s an example from my own life.

Change the oil: 6 – Wow, better break that one down.

• Buy oil and filter: 1
• Change oil: 4
• Dispose of oil: 1

When you break items down like this you realize that your task isn’t as daunting as you might have originally thought and it makes it easier for you to build up momentum towards the next task on the list.

Stop Procrastination Tip #3 Avoid distractions

Our lives are FULL of distractions. Make sure you have a nice quiet area where you can do your work. I recently move my operations from a hot, upstairs office downstairs into the cool basement. I’ve been much more productive and have had fewer reasons to procrastinate since. The hot inferno of an office was a definite distraction for me.

Many of us have been caught up into the time sucker of social media. Facebook, Twitter, etc. has made it sooo easy to waste time. If you HAVE to get on these websites, limit yourself to 10-15 minutes during a lunch break or after your work is complete.

Other huge distractions are email and the cell phone. How can you possibly get any work done if the cell phone is constantly buzzing from Facebook updates or texts or if your new email message indicator is dinging every minute or two.

Stop Procrastination Tip #4 Challenge yourself

Challenging myself has been the biggest help for me in trying to stop procrastination. When I set a goal like “lose 10 pounds”, I go into a mode that forces me to realize how I am going to achieve that goal. This begins a routine that will eventually turn into a habit if I keep it going. I believe that routines help you build momentum. Routines create positive energy and will help you in other areas of your life. It’s like you psyche yourself up to do better for yourself.

Follow these four tips and you will be on your way to stop procrastination in its tracks!