Procrastinating is an easy trap to fall into, whether it’s for a work task, school assignment, or home project. It can affect different people in different ways, so it’s really important to know yours
elf when you’re trying to stop procrastinating. Here are a few strategies to consider to stop avoiding something you know you have to do.
Take a Minute to Examine What’s Making you Feel Anxious
I’ve found that a lot of the time that I procrastinate, it’s because I feel anxious about something, whether that’s because the deadline is looming, I haven’t figured out how I’m going to do
the task, or I’m worried that I’m not going to do it well enough. Sit down with a scrap of paper or call a trusted friend and process what the biggest barrier to accomplishing your goal is. This should help you clarify what needs to be done and give yourself an opportunity to combat some lies that you might be telling yourself, like ‘I’m not smart enough to do this,’ or ‘I’ll never be a good enough [fill in the blank] to complete this task.’
Map out the Steps
You might find from the previous step that what is making you anxious is that you don’t know how to start. This often trips me up. One of the tricks I’ve learned from Lara Casey is to write down how to start in the smallest steps possible. If it will take more than two minutes, it needs to be broken up into more steps. For example, your micro-steps for a report or article might look like this:
- Pray for inspiration
- Get clarification on requirements
- Write a rough outline
- Read through the draft to elaborate
- Add links or citations
- Take a break
- Proofread
- Ask a friend to proofread
Each of those steps on their own is much more manageable and doable than “Write a two-three page report.”
Estimate the Time Commitment
Oftentimes people will procrastinate because they underestimate the amount of time that goes into a task or assignment. To the best of your ability, estimate how much time a task will take. This is easier after you’ve already mapped out the steps. Once you have your estimate, plan for time and a half. People are more likely to underestimate how long a task will take than overestimate, and sometimes hidden obstacles pop up, causing the task to take much longer than you anticipated. If you finish something well within the time you estimated, you won yourself some free time! If you didn’t, well that’s okay, you’ve planned for it.
Know Yourself
In Better than Before, Gretchen Rubin talks about the difference between Sprinters, Marathoners, and Procrastinators. A lot of people are Marathoners. They prefer to divide up the work evenly over long periods of time and work for little chunks at a time. Other people are Sprinters. They like to intentionally wait until the deadline is near and accomplish the task in one big burst of energy, using the looming deadline as motivation. The third category is procrastinators. Those are Marathoners who don’t do their work in small chunks but wish they did. You can tell if you’re a Procrastinator instead of a Sprinter if the idea of pushing the task to the last minute makes you feel anxious and incredibly stressed.
My husband is a classic Marathoner. In school, he would start writing a paper as soon as it was assigned, doing small chunks of work on it almost daily until it was finished–usually well before the deadline. I’m a classic Sprinter. My husband’s strategy gives me the cold sweats. I feel like I work better under pressure, so I’ll wait until the deadline is much closer and then do it all in one or two big bursts of energy. One of the reasons I do this is because I know I’m way too much of a perfectionist. If I started as soon as something was assigned, I would tweak and edit it for hours–much past the point of being useful. If I wait to start until closer to the deadline, certain assignments can’t eat up all my time.
They key here is to know yourself. My strategy gives my husband anxiety, and his strategy gives me anxiety. Know what works for you and intentionally employ that strategy.
Start with the Easiest Thing
If you know that closing that book or turning off the tv is going to result in an unpleasant task, whether it’s important or not, you might not want to start at all. Sometimes starting with the easiest task can be a small win that motivates you to keep going. Scratch off all the easy things on your list first, then you’ll feel like you have a lot less on your plate.
Start with the Hardest Thing
Conflicting advice, I know. But some people work differently. Sometimes people are more motivated by getting the hardest task off their to-do list first. They can tackle it while they’re most energized and motivated and know that it’s just smooth sailing from there. Think about which way you are, and plan accordingly. Starting with the hardest or easiest task might depend on the type of task or day, too, so it’s good to always keep this in mind when you’re considering what needs to be done.
Ask for Accountability
If you have a good relationship with your boss/teacher/person you’re doing the thing for, ask them to give you a deadline. Sometimes it’s easier to feel motivated if you know that someone else is going to be waiting for whatever it is you’re going to give. If you have a limitless amount of time to do something, the amount of time you can put it off can stretch and stretch. You don’t have to say, “Oh hey, Manager. I’m afraid I’m not going to get this done ever if you don’t give me a deadline.” Just a, “When would you like this accomplished?” will do.
Consider the Results
Sometimes it can be hard to be motivated to do something if you haven’t visualized what it’ll be like if you stopped procrastinating. How will you feel? Like a huge weight was taken off your shoulders? Will the people who live or work with you be overjoyed because they open a closet and things don’t fall down onto their heads? Will you go to bed feeling accomplished? Will you have put yourself in the running for a raise at work?
It’s also important to consider the consequences of not finishing a task. How will you feel if you don’t do it? Will you be letting other people down? Will you be letting yourself down? Will you get a demotion if you can’t perform the job tasks? Will you feel like you shortchanged yourself because you did stuff for everyone else and didn’t do the one thing that would have made you feel better?
Or, will there be no consequences at all? If you ask yourself what the consequences of not doing something are and you realize that there are none, it might be a good sign that it’s not something you really need to do it all. That’s a win-win! Cross it off your list and move on to the next thing!
Ways I’m Still Procrastinating
I wrote this post partially as a reminder to myself on how to get to the nagging tasks I’ve been avoiding. I’m still procrastinating in the following areas:
- Writing and sending thank you notes
- Setting up an investment account
- Selling things from + organizing our spare room
- Mailing a book to a friend
- Hanging pictures
Procrastinating can be quite the bear. I’ve gotten a lot more skilled at wrestling with the monster over the years. Even so, I still have room for growth. Remember, even if progress seems small, it’s still progress.
Leave a comment and let me know what you’re currently procrastinating.
