Procrastination is one of the largest killer of productivity. We have all procrastinated on something before. There are many reasons someone procrastinates. More often than not it is because we avoid doing something we don’t want to be doing. There are many reasons we want to procrastinate. Regardless of the reasons, there are several ways to remedy our procrastination. Here are five ways to help us avoid procrastination a bit better.
- Take a break. Sometimes we are procrastinating to do something and we really don’t feel like doing it because it’s just that. We don’t feel like doing it at the moment and that is when it is good to switch to something else and then return later. The only time we don’t have this luxury is when we up against the deadline.
- Find the best time of day to do the task you are trying to accomplish. Not all times of the day are the best for everything. Determine when you are generally best at what you are trying to accomplish and focus on it then. You will generally procrastinate the least when you are doing the right thing at the right time
- Limit Distractions. Distractions will take you away from doing what you are supposed to be doing anyway and make it easier to procrastinate, whether you like the task you are doing or not. Do your best to avoid distractions as much possible
- Spice up the task you are doing. Whatever you need to get done and you are procrastinating on is probably not the most fun task. There are ways to make a task more fun, even if it is not something you enjoy. A personal example I have is I keep a target for amount of time to complete or personal bests if it is something I do regularly. In a team, you can add some humor to the mix to make something mundane at least something we can laugh about. You ask to have something done in a funny way and still seriously get the point across.
- Quit doing what you are doing. While this will rarely be the case that you can quit what you are doing immediately. However, if you find yourself constantly procrastinating to do something and especially when it is happening over a long period of time marks an indication that this is something you probably should not be doing. The best thing is to take whatever steps necessary to do something else.
Procrastination happens to the best of us. Everyone faces it sometimes or maybe almost all the time. These were some strategies that I use that work well, but there are definitely more. What strategies work best for you. Feel free to leave a comment in the comments section.