4 Ways to Stop Procrastinating Now
Procrastination is one of the most common bad habits that people acquire. It’s a habit that’s super easy to fall into and extremely hard to get out off. After all, isn’t it normal to want to do fun or relaxing stuff instead of boring or difficult tasks?
Unfortunately, procrastinating won’t really get you out of your responsibilities; it will only delay them. Eventually, you’ll have to do that task that your client asked you to do or face that chore that you’ve been putting off for weeks.
If you make money from home providing virtual assistant services or any other type of online work, it’s even easier to fall into this trap. Without your client or a supervisor looking over your shoulder, you might be tempted to put off your work until the day of the deadline. At some point, all these tasks that you’ve been putting off will pile up. Soon enough, you will get stressed and end up rushing to get things done only to end up doing a sloppy job. Pretty good way to get rid of your clients and lose your job right?
So, yes, you’ve established that procrastination is a horrible habit. But how can you get rid of it? Here are 5 tried-and-tested ways to stop procrastinating right NOW.
Make a clearly defined schedule complete with goals and timeframes.
The first step to combatting procrastination is to list down what your tasks and goals are and to plan your days or weeks way ahead. Having a clearly defined schedule with tasks that you can tick off can motivate you to work harder and work faster. It will also help you avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of your tasks. By dividing your tasks across different time blocks, they will be much easier to conquer.
Get an efficiency buddy.
Sometimes, you really can’t do it all by yourself. It would help if you can get someone at home to check in on you and your tasks every now and then and remind you to get going. Having someone to motivate you to work can help you overcome your natural tendency to put things off. You can even schedule your work times to coincide so you don’t feel like you’re working alone.
Work outside.
If working at home with all the distractions inside it puts you off, you can always take your work outside. It’s best to do it alone too. Take your laptop to a cafe and do your work from there. Without anyone to talk to, it will be much easier for you to focus on your work. When doing this, try to put your phone on silent mode or have it notify you only in case of emergencies and keep it in your bag. This will further lessen the distractions you have to face.
Review your day.
Take a few minutes everyday to review what you have accomplished. Were you able to stick to your schedule? It’s okay if you did not manage to complete everything on the first day, but you should have been able to tick off at least half. Then, you can start working on improving your pace and focus for the succeeding days
Battling procrastination doesn’t happen overnight, but if you want to get rid of it eventually, then you have to start NOW.
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