Whatever your reasons are, putting off work for later is bad. Well, you don’t need us to tell you that since people who often procrastinate already know that they’re doing things wrong.
No worry, though. We’re not here to scold or judge you. We’re here to help you stop procrastinating and get things done right now.
How? Read on!
How to Put an End to Procrastinating
Follow the 2-Minute Rule
Do a task in 2 minutes and take a break. That’s it. For that 2 minutes just focus on the simple task at hand and let nothing else get in your way. Set a timer if you want to so you’ll know when you’re allowed to stop.
“What kind of task can be done in two minutes?”
Plenty of them.
Turning on your laptop, checking one or two emails, reading the first couple of paragraphs of a book, checking Google’s first search result page, folding a couple sheets of laundry, wiping that smudge off your computer monitor, and so much more.
Keep applying this method for a month and you’ll find yourself using the 10-minute rule instead. This method really works.
Play some ambient sound
Music is the go-to solution for many people when they’re stuck doing nothing. It helps a lot.
There’s a trick to it if you really want to break out of procrastination. Find good music without lyrics. Why? Because lyrics are distracting your brain.
Whenever you’re listening to a song, your brain automatically tries to comprehend the lyrics. More so if it’s a song you like. For that reason, listening to ambient sound is the preferred method to beat procrastination
Having just enough ambient noise can help you focus much more compared to having complete silence.
Now pick one, ten, or a hundred from the ever-growing library of ambient sounds at ambient-mixer.com. Grab the ones you like and put them in your phone or music player. That way you can eliminate procrastination whether you’re at work or at home during the weekends
Stop juggling!
No, we’re not talking about juggling balls or sticks on fire. Stop juggling between tasks!
If you have a hundred things on your to-do list. Focus on the one on top and forget the other 99 until you get that one finished.
Not everyone fits to multitask. Most people can only do one thing at a time and that’s alright.
Dedicate all your time and focus to solve one problem before you move on to the next. It saves up plenty of room in your mind when you’re not worrying about all the other tasks waiting in line.
Break down a complex task into simpler ones
Need to complete an essay this week? Guess what? You don’t have to write a complete essay. You just need to write the opening paragraph, take a break, write one to three body paragraphs, take another break, and write a concluding paragraph. That’s it.
What’s that? Writing an opening paragraph is too hard? Then just write one sentence to start then grab some coffee. If an idea pops up, jolt that down immediately and take another break. It’s simple. Do the same thing with the body and concluding paragraph. You’ll have a complete essay in no time.
Don’t Punish Yourself
It takes time to change anything. So if in the next few weeks you still find yourself putting things off for later, don’t beat yourself. Setting things aside for an hour instead of a day is still progress. Keep doing what you must be doing and you’ll be fine.
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OK, that’s all for our short guide on how to stop procrastinating. We sure hope these methods can help you stay focused and improve your productivity
