Procrastination is something that virtually everyone will suffer from at some point in their life. In its simplest of forms, it is putting off a less pleasurable task in preference to completing a more interesting one. The problem is that when it comes to achieving your targets and goals, you cannot afford to pick and choose the tasks that need to be done.

Some of the tasks that you are looking forward to may be dependent on the tasks you are trying to avoid. Furthermore, all of the tasks need to be completed at some point, so by trying to avoid them you are simply delaying the situation, and magnifying the problem.

Whether you are self-employed, employed by a company, or are trying to achieve certain goals in your personal life, procrastination has to be tackled head on and dealt with. There are many strategies to assist with this and below we will discuss some of them with the intention of assisting you to overcome procrastination. Once you have adequate strategies in place to push through your procrastination, you will become more successful and productive both at work and in your personal life.

 

Use Your Fun Tasks As A Reward  

There will always be certain jobs that you enjoy doing, and others that you continually delay. You don’t ever procrastinate over the fun tasks because you enjoy doing them. This creates a couple of problems, firstly the jobs you want to avoid start to gain a life of their own. The more you avoid them, the bigger the challenge they present inside your mind. Subsequently whenever you do get to do them, you just want to get them over and done with. This means that they are less likely to be completed to your normal high standards, which further perpetuates the problem. By forcing yourself to complete the more challenging chore, and rewarding yourself afterwards with the fun task, you give yourself an incentive to get both tasks completed.

 

Create A List Of Your Tasks 

Writing your tasks down on a sheet of paper is an excellent method to assess your outstanding jobs. Human beings derive a feeling of accomplishment from completing a job, so as you finish each task, cross it off on your list. As you start to gather some momentum and make real progress, you will naturally feel more positive and will be encouraged to maintain that progress.

 

Dealing With Distractions

The modern world of smartphones, email, social media, and texting has become a huge distraction for all of us. If your aim is to be highly productive and eliminate procrastination, you need to shut yourself off from all of those distractions. Turn your mobile phone off, shut down your email program, and divert all of your calls to voicemail. You will be surprised at how much more efficient you become.

 

Break Your More Challenging Tasks Into Smaller Steps

One of the key factors behind procrastination is the feeling of being overwhelmed with the task at hand. Perhaps it seems too difficult, too challenging, or quite frankly impossible. A great method to solve this problem is to break down the chore into smaller, more manageable parts. You might be shocked to discover that each of those smaller parts is so simple and quick to achieve, that you decide to go ahead and complete it. Before you know it, the overall task is completed and you have achieved your aim.

 

Surround Yourself With Dynamic And Positive People

The people who you spend most time with will end up having a huge effect on your life, your thoughts, and your productivity. If you are trying to eat healthy, but all of your friends go out for lunch every day to get greasy food, it is easy to become sucked into their cycle, regardless of your intentions. If your friends at work are always looking for excuses not to complete a task, then over time you too will fall into those bad habits. Although it may not always be possible to surround yourself with positive role models in real life, there are hundreds of positive and motivational websites that you can access. By surrounding yourself with inspirational people, you are feeding your brain the best information possible. Over time your determination to succeed will overcome your procrastination and you will be on the path to success.

 

There are literally thousands of ways to overcome procrastination, you simply have to find the most appropriate methods for your personal mindset. The key to overcoming procrastination is to remember the goals you are trying to achieve, and use that passion and determination to drive you forward. You can achieve anything you want in life; don’t let procrastination prevent you from achieving your dreams.

Here at Level, we are a forward thinking company that is always looking for new ways to help motivate you and increase your productivity with exciting and innovative ideas. Come back regularly to our blog posts for new ideas and strategies for both your business and personal life.