Week 8: 8 Tips to Stop Procrastinating

Week 8: 8 Tips to Stop Procrastinating

After a lot of thought, I decided this topic would be fitting for the last week of the series.  We all know that when you wait to the last minute to get things done, that's the time when you feel the most unorganized.  

1. Make a List

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I've talked about this before, but making a to do list and putting the hardest task at the top is ideal.

2. Imagine the Outcome

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Having that big project done feels amazing and gives you more time to enjoy yourself.  Imagine that feeling of accomplishment and freedom you get when you're done.  Just don't imagine for too long...

3. Stop thinking about it, and start the process

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So guilty!  Talk about extra worry in your day. The more you think about your task, the more daunting it becomes. All that time you've spent thinking about what needs to be done, your task would have been done.  A two page paper starts to sound like a 40 page paper after a few hours of thinking about it.

4. Set the timer

Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it's some of the best advice I've heard.  If you find there is NOTHING motivating you to get started, set the timer for a mere 10 minutes and tell yourself you'll only work for those 10 minutes.  You'll find that after 10 minutes, you're already so engrossed in with what you're doing that you end up working for much longer.

5. Stop multi-tasking & focus

{from article in Real Simple, author of article: A.J. Jacobs}

I recently did a presentation on multi-tasking and spent hours researching why it's beyond harmful, but it's also surprisingly a form of procrastination.  If you sit down to do a project and you're responding to email, answering phone calls, etc. {while you should be doing your project}, your subconsciously procrastinating. Try to respond to emails and phone calls after you're done with your task. 

6. Take away the fun

{love this image from decor 8 }

If you're already procrastinating, the last thing you need is distracting things around you!  Fun things are defined by everyone differently, but as a student, I find just being at my house can be too distracting. It's a lot harder to procrastinate when I'm sitting in a blank cubicle in the school library.

7. Don't let fear stop you from success

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There are times in life when incredible opportunities come up, and because of fear {of either failure or success}, we pass on them and procrastinate taking the next steps towards our goals.  A lot people say that fear is the number one thing stopping them from moving forward towards accomplishing their goals. Fear of failure can be scary, but try to face your fear and make that next step. 

8. Reward yourself for completing your task

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Sometimes a promise of a reward at the end can give you a bit of an incentive to get going.  This could be something as small as sitting down to read a book, going to a yoga class or maybe purchasing a new pair of shoes {if it's a really big task}.

Wow!  I can't believe it's been 8 weeks since I've started the series and May is approaching us! I've had a lot of fun with the series and have felt motivated to get more organized because of it.  

Here is a recap of the past 8 weeks:

Planning Time {including planning time for health}
Walking away from bargains {including using your bargains}
Purging & Donating {specifically books}
Foresee and Avoid Problems 
Organizing the Office {specifically Function & Files} &
5 Tips to a Streamlined Morning

I really hope that some of you have been inspired, and thanks for sticking it out through these long posts!

p.s. Today I'm over at coco + kelley talking organization too!