How To Stop Procrastinating and Start Working
By: Nabeel Nishat
Tags: Productivity, Improvement, Procrastination, Stop Procrastinating, Working

“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill” -Christopher Parker

Procrastination brought you here? Maybe you are procrastinating by reading this. After this, perhaps, you will go to some other site to read a post about how to avoid procrastination. It’s ok, it’s ok, you are not the only one procrastinating while learning how to stop procrastinating. There are a lot of people who do this.

What is procrastination anyways?

Chances are that you already know what procrastination is, but if you don’t, well, let’s learn that first. “The action of delaying or postponing something”, is one of the first results you get when you google ‘What is procrastination?’. And yes, it is that. When you say, “I will do it tomorrow” or “The deadline is a week away, I am not starting now” or something like that, you are perhaps procrastinating. The act of putting off a task for future is procrastination. Maybe it was some school assignment that you are waiting to complete the night before its supposed to be submitted, or maybe it’s a book you want to write but you say, “Ah, tomorrow”. This is procrastination.

The solution

So, now that we know what procrastination is, what can you do about it? How can you stop procrastination? While there are a lot of ways you can do so, I would like to first mention the one which according to me is the most effective.

1. Just Begin the Work

As simple as that, just begin. Procrastination keeps you away from work, so, work. Hey, but wait, if it is that simple, why it’s not so simple to break out from procrastination. Ok, let’s go to the beginning of all this.

Be self-aware

When you are procrastinating, it eventually becomes subconscious. The first thing is to be aware that you are procrastinating. In the midst of procrastinating, there is always a thought which is very unpleasing and that is why doesn’t come into notice, and that thought is, “I am Procrastinating”, (I know this because I have been there). Even if for moments you become aware that you are procrastinating, you can stop it. That moment when you realize this that you are procrastinating, chances are that you will fall into it again. How do you avoid that?

A mind with no thoughts

In the moment when you realize what you were doing, clear your mind. Just clear your mind stop thinking about anything very specific. Then, you slowly think, “Start”. Pick up what is needed for the task and begin.

The flow is addictive

Once you begin, there is this very beautiful thing which you may call ‘flow’ which you will pick up while working. And now, there is this beautiful thing again which is that flow is addictive. You need to be in a non-disturbing environment, and as you keep working, you will just get into what you are doing (It may have happened with you before). Now, if you have not noticed, there is a pattern here. What we refer to as ‘flow’ is basically a chain of continuous thoughts about the work you are doing. Guess what? It is the same with procrastination. It is also a continuous chain of thoughts but those thoughts are about useless or other things that do not matter. All we need to do is to get into the right chain of thought. Wait, there is this one thing: if this ‘flow’ and procrastination are technically the same thing, then as there is this little thought in procrastination which helps us to escape it, there must also be a little thought while we work, “Do it later, you’re tired” or something like this, which may get us into procrastination again. Yes, there is. There is that little thought. But, in procrastination we had brought it up, but while working you let it be where it is (you used to let it be where it was while you were procrastinating, now you have to do so while you work).

It should be understood, that no matter what way you choose, you will go through these few things mentioned above. So, the ‘solutions’ are a trigger to make you reach the point of self-awareness so that you can begin.

2. Note it Down, Stick it Up

It is a well proven way that writing your tasks down and sticking it up where you can see it frequently is a very nice trigger to push you into beginning that work. It is both a reminder and a motivation. Also, when you complete a task form the list and you cut that task out, seeing the strikethrough line will give you a feeling of accomplishment, which will motivate you to continue with rest of the tasks. In case it is something you want to do regularly and build a habit out of it, let’s say waking up early, make the number of boxes equal in number to the days you would take to build a habit, and then stick it where you will see it frequently, and cross out a box a day each. This can be helpful.

3. Maintain a Diary

Trust me, having a place to write ideas and thoughts is a great way to avoid procrastination. Just track your progress in it, write something good, pen down your ideas, or whatever you want to do. It happens so that doing something like this keeps you involved in your chain of thoughts in long term. Basically, if you write an idea everyday or whenever you want to, seeing that diary and seeing that idea in it will really trigger you to start doing it. The thing is that you will be involved in productive works. For example, if you are writing a fictional book, and you stop writing it for a month, you will begin to lose grip over you’re your characters, story line, etc. The more you will be involved in it, the better you will do.

4. Be Clear About What You Want to DO

Having a vague goal will result in endless thinking. It is better to have a clear goal to get it done faster and effectively. So, make up your mind for one thing at a time, and just begin doing it. Doing this will give you the velocity or flow that you need to keep going with that task.

5. Remove Distractions

Obviously, it is beneficial to keep distractions out of the way. Do your work in a quite place, so that you can focus more properly.

A Challenge

And here I have got a good challenge for you. But first, a tip. It is recommended that you listen to instruments or beats while you work, since they help to avoid distraction and make you focus. Audio with human voices is not recommended, since they are distracting. Just put on your headphones, and listen to instruments and beats. Now, the challenge. When you begin, you should take the help of music as recommended above. The challenge is that eventually you can try to play audios with human voices, so as to increase your ability to avoid distraction. We will divide this challenge in to three stages:

1. Beats/Instruments

2. Songs that you like

3. Songs that you don’t like

Just try and let me know in the comments below if you didn’t get distracted by your favourite song (music carries away pretty quickly, so beware).

Getting rid of procrastination is a gradual process, so keep doing your work!

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