3 Tips for Beating Procrastination

*** This is a collaborative post ***

Have you ever known that you should really be doing something – whether working on a particular project, or heading to the gym – only to end up being overwhelmed by the tendency to procrastinate?

If you answered “no” to that question then congratulations, you are a very rare individual. For most of us, procrastination is a major issue that arises on a fairly regular basis, and that can get in the way of everything from reaching out to a contractor to have upvc windows installed at home, to buying a birthday gift for a loved one.

Procrastination is pretty difficult to beat in many cases, not least of all because there can be all sorts of different reasons why you might procrastinate.

Although everyone will need to come up with their own specific approaches and techniques for beating procrastination, here are a few procrastination–busting tips that are likely to be helpful.

Just do it

So, as much as it’s a cliche catchphrase – “just do it” is one of the best tips for beating procrastination.

Yes, yes, it’s certainly easier said than done – but there are specific benefits to simply getting started and taking action on a given task or project as quickly as possible. First and foremost, procrastination tends to be driven by overthinking and listening to the little voice in your mind that tells you that the task you need to do is really boring or difficult, that you should just spent a few extra minutes in bed, and so on, and so on.

Often, trying to reason your way into being motivated just doesn’t work. But getting started quickly can help to put you in motion before the voice of procrastination manages to get a foothold.

Get better sleep and stay on top of your nutrition

Your likelihood of procrastinating is naturally going to be higher when you are exhausted, hungry, and otherwise physically run down in one way or another.

According to various notable experts on sleep and circadian rhythm, chronic sleep deprivation is shockingly prevalent around the world today, with all sorts of factors contributing to it – ranging from chronic stress, to electric lighting and digital devices, to different working schedules.

Getting better sleep each night, and eating nourishing meals during the day, may help you to feel your best consistently, and may help to make you feel more energetic and balanced, and less prone to procrastination.

Find external sources of motivation such as a habit tracker or a commitment contract

Procrastination can often be driven or exacerbated by not having enough external sources of motivation and accountability in your life to keep you on track – and this is a reason why many individuals report procrastinating more when they work from home.

By getting yourself a visually appealing and motivating habit tracker app, or signing a “commitment contract,” perhaps through a service such as StickK that involves you putting your money on the line, you may find that that’s enough to tip the balance and to cause you to feel significantly more invested in getting the task in question done promptly.

On the other hand, it may be that what you really need is the support of others to help to keep you on the right track – in which case bringing friends and relatives on board for things such as a fitness routine that you’re trying to pick up, may be very powerful.