Crush Procrastination with these 5 Steps and You’ll Feel Accomplished
By: Rebecca Shepard
Tags: Women, Procrastination, Life Hacking, Problem Solving, To Do List

#1 Keep a strategic running daily to-do list

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

A productive and manageable to-do list includes simple, achievable tasks, not overgeneralized, lofty wishlists.

To-do lists are ridiculously over-hacked; mastering the latest time management guru’s color-coding, box-ticking methodology is itself an overwhelming task. Please do yourself a favor and throw it all away.

Do this: Get a pad of paper — 8.5" x 11" — write “TO DO” and the date on top.

Then this: Write your tasks in order of probability that you’ll finish them. Don’t list ambiguous, dull projects (“look for freelance writing gigs,” “write three stories for Medium”) at the top. They’re derailing. To beat procrastination, you have to gain early momentum.

List your tasks in order of 1) how long they’ll take to finish (quickest first), and 2) how easily you can finish them. If a task requires tools that you don’t have on hand (steam clean carpets, hang pictures), you should scrap it and make the task to get the tools you’ll need (buy a hammer, rent a steam cleaner).

Also, lump tasks by location: whatever you have to do inside your home is listed together; bundle out-of-the-home errands. If you bounce around (1. deep clean shower, 2. buy holiday cards, 3. empty dishwasher), you’ll miss something.

A productive and manageable to-do list includes simple, achievable tasks in a logical order, not overgeneralized, lofty wishlists, or haphazard timelines.

Carryover any unfinished tasks to the next day. Every week, notice if there are patterns. Are the same tasks (or the same types of tasks) rolling over? If so, you’ll need to work on your plan. More on that later.

My hack: I write my to-do list at night. It’s nice to wake up with a plan, and I sleep better after getting all the clutter out of my head.

#2 Eliminate distractions and incentivize boring tasks x10

Procrastination feeds on distraction and boredom. If you’re in a chronic procrastination cycle, massive disruption is how you will break it. To heighten focus and persistence, eliminate some sensory distractions, and 10x others.

For mind work, like job-related projects or writing, consider your environment. What is impacting your senses positively? Negatively?

Do this: Pay attention to what’s distracting you and eliminate it. Pay attention to what’s triggering your focus and add it. Cancel noisy distractions by listening to binaural beats. Hide the remote, silence your phone, and create a workspace where you can’t see the dirty laundry pile or unopened mail. Light a stimulating scented candle (try citrus or peppermint).

Do you multitask? Are you getting up every 10 minutes to perform small household tasks?

Then this: Stick to your list and complete one task at a time. You may get less done, but what you do finish gets done right. If you’ve laid out your list correctly, tasks should flow into one another, not bounce around. Mind work together, physical tasks together, etc.

My hack: When I’m cleaning or walking the dogs, I listen to an entertaining podcast (I skip the self-help experts and opt for storytellers). I don’t allow myself to listen at any other time, except when I’m performing physical tasks. I end up looking forward to tasks that are otherwise boring and tedious.

#2 Put on your forensic investigation hat

If you still feel aimless or if tasks are regularly carrying over, it’s time for some deep forensic work. My guess is there are patterns — certain tasks, or categories of tasks, continue to go unfinished. Finding these patterns is the key to understanding your procrastination issue.

I tend to procrastinate when I don’t understand the task, or it feels daunting. I’m also more likely to give up if I hit a roadblock that demands patience. Another problem is when I don’t have the tools necessary to get it done. Frustration replaces motivation, and I quickly give up. List clarity and logical task order help with this, but it’s almost a guarantee that unanticipated barriers will throw you off, no matter how well you plan.

Here’s a great example: I’m working on my Upwork profile, and everything’s moving along smoothly when the system randomly rejects my ID. Seriously? It’s a New Hampshire driver’s license! It took me a week to finally focus on getting this done, and an algorithm trips me up? This was my fork in the road. Path #1: walk away. Path #2: push through, visit the help center, read the community posts, work on the problem. I chose #2, and it ended up taking an extra hour, but now it’s done.

Do this: Allow extra time for more complex tasks. Breathe through your knee-jerk response to any discomfort or inconvenience that arises. Stick with it. If you hit a true dead-end that requires more steps, rewrite your to-do list, so those steps are defined as individual tasks.

The best part of seeing it through? The hardest tasks are the most rewarding to complete. Find your procrastination patterns and face them. Once you see the common denominator (fear, lack of skill, boredom, etc.), you can apply tactics that set you up for success.

Then this: If a task carries over for days, consider that you might not ever want to do it. Some patterns reveal what you don’t want to do — or hate doing — and facing these realities is a big part of eliminating procrastination. Know that task avoidance sometimes hints at bigger issues (still haven’t gotten that marriage license? hmmmmmm).

My hack: Frustration is my cue to slow down and focus more deeply. I don’t try to rush through or work around the problem. I don’t abandon the task. Instead, I stick with it until I reach a point where I can’t do it anymore without help (or waiting for help) or until it’s finished. I add the detour tasks to my list (follow up, find the document I need, do the password reset).

#4 Follow your rhythms and don’t covet someone else’s

When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. ~Ernest Hemingway

Whether you’re a morning person or you’re wide awake at 3 AM, observing your natural rhythm gives you feedback on your most potentially productive times of the day and helps eliminate procrastination. Hemingway wrote at sunrise, so you should too, right? Not so fast.

We tend to mirror behavior that works for other people without considering whether it works for us. It’s great to find motivation from people we admire, but we risk setting unrealistic standards before we even get started. Hemingway is Hemingway. You’re you.

Do this: Pay attention to your range of focus. Do you prefer working in smaller time blocks, or are you a crammer? Parkinson’s Law applies here, so be careful not to confuse finding your ideal work rhythm with inadvertently scheduling time to procrastinate.

Some thought starters:

What time do you wake up every morning?

How long can you focus on deep work (like writing) before you get restless?

When are you most alert?

Then this: Read this post by Thomas Oppong:

My hack: I am a total morning person. I wake up before 6 AM every day without fail, so my ideal deep focus time window is 5 AM — 9 AM. Here’s the rub: if even one thing distracts me that isn’t deep work-related (a text exchange, the dog, email notifications), I’m screwed. I’ve learned to eliminate distractions — silence the phone, ignore the hunger pangs, remind friends and family that I’m not available during this time — and take advantage of this window to get as much done as possible before I fatigue.

#5 Start slow and gain momentum

Photo by Ryan Johnston on Unsplash

Quick fix life hacks won’t fix the problem.

The worst part about procrastination is we think abolishing it is an all-or-nothing proposition. At the risk of sounding circular, nothing is an all-or-nothing proposition. A better approach is to strive for small wins.

Writing a comprehensive, succinct, and orderly to-do list is a huge first step. It took a while to convince me that list-making was the missing link, but my days became more productive once I embraced the practice. Completing tasks is the next hurdle, but writing them down helps remind us they’re not as daunting as we think. To-do lists belong on paper, not in our minds.

To conquer procrastination, we must address long-embedded habits and recognize that productivity can only come after a deep dive into our own specific tendencies. Quick fix life hacks won’t fix the problem. Procrastination is a symptom. What’s the disease? Fear of failure, maybe, or a knowledge gap. Whatever the root cause, we can’t solve it until we face it.

Do this: Write your first to-do list. Keep it small (less than 10 things). Include low-hanging fruit: tasks that are easy but nagging at you.

Then this: If you stumble over an item, you’ve probably ordered it too high on your list. Remember to break down multi-step tasks, especially bigger projects. “Go Christmas shopping” isn’t clear enough. Instead, try listing specific gifts to get and the stores and sites you’ll have to visit to buy them.

My hack: I physically cross off each task as you complete it. This is incredibly affirming. I rarely complete a to-do list, but knocking out tasks is rewarding anyway.

Remember: seek out small wins. Establish a list-making habit and keep your daily tasks short and simple at first. Over time, as you build self-trust and string together more productive days, you can add more complex tasks. Don’t fall into the trap of going from zero-to-100 item lists. Instead, give yourself time and space to ease into a plan that’s tailor-made for you.

I will hit ‘publish’ now, and scratch off “submit procrastination article to The Virago” from my list. What can you get done today?