I’ve got a big weekend of study ahead, with an exam in just over a week. My last exam ever (well, I guess I should never say never – but for the short term anyway!) so I really need to knuckle down and study!
How is it then I seem to find a million things to do rather than pick up a text book – cleaning the house, brushing my cat, watching way too much Big Brother (yes, I am one of the few who does), writing this blog – everything except what I should be doing? That’s because I’m procrastinating! I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – it could be about a number of things, such as going to the gym, making that phone call – I bet some of you are even procrastinating about booking your first Active Spirit event. Well procrastinate no more!
I want to have a productive weekend of study so I thought I’d put together some tips to stop my procrastination in its tracks. Here's my list of tips:
1. Break the task into bite sized, achievable goals.
2. Set a schedule. By writing it down, you have something visual to keep you on track, and it is very satisfying to strike it off the schedule when you complete a task.
3. Do the small tasks first – but make sure they are relevant to achieving your goals. It will give a mental boost by marking off the “little” tasks first and you will feel a sense of achievement and progress.
4. Do the unpleasant tasks first and get them out of the way.
5. Work in small blocks of time.
6. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to get it done. If you don’t leave yourself enough time you will end up just feeling stressed, and it could mean you procrastinate more as you feel overwhelmed by the deadline.
7. Set yourself rewards as you finish certain steps. Better still, put a visual reminder of your reward in front of you of as you do your task, which will help re-motivate if you feel procrastination creeping in.
8. Look at the bigger picture. Remind yourself why you are doing the task in the first place – there is usually a really good reason and by looking to the long term will give you that extra motivation to start. For example, I’m studying to finish my MBA, or if you are procrastinating about going to the gym, remind yourself about the marathon you want to run in 6 months time.
9. Eliminate Distractions. I know, it’s easier said than done (especially on these cold, wintery nights when it’s easy to sit on the couch in front of the TV and heater) but by removing distractions it will help you remain focused.
10. Eliminate all but the essential and focus only on what matters. This will reduce our “To Do” list, and make it all feel more achievable.
11. Do it with a friend. By tackling the task with a buddy it will motivate you to take action. Or an alternative is to create public accountability and ‘report’ your progress to someone else. By adding this responsibility of knowing you have to report progress to someone else, it will help keep you on track.
12. Recognise your achievements. Even if you only get a little bit done, recognise you are still a step closer to your goal and pat yourself on the back.
13. Just do it! The sooner you tackle it the sooner you will get it done and can move onto something else.
Do you have any other tips for beating procrastination? If so, I'd love to hear them! And in the meantime, I’d better get stuck into the study……
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