4 Strategies for Beating Procrastination

Use these tips to stay motivated and cross those to-dos off your list!

There are always going to be some tasks that we just don’t want to do, don’t like to do, or don’t feel like we need to do at a given time. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not important. Here are four strategies for getting over the procrastination hump.

1. Keep the goal of the task in mind. Rather than focusing on the task itself, which you may not be so excited to do, focus instead on what the result could bring you. For instance, will doing the task help bring you closer to generating additional revenue? Will it help you land an important client? Will it bring you more enjoyment, pleasure, or more professional development? Thinking about the end result rather than the task itself can be a powerful motivator.

1. Give yourself a reward for finishing a task you don’t like to do. The reward could be as big or as small as you would like it to be. For instance, finishing a task that you don’t want to do means that you will get a reward of calling a friend, going out to lunch, or reading something online that is completely unrelated to work.

1. Give yourself a deadline for finishing a task. Even a false deadline like setting a kitchen timer can be an effective motivator. For some reason, many people tend to work better when the clock is ticking down. Put a kitchen timer on your desk and set an amount of time for finishing a given task. If you’re not motivated by the task itself, maybe trying to beat the clock will help you stay focused.

1. Group together all the things you don’t like doing. Take all the tasks that you regularly procrastinate about and schedule them into one giant time block. Knowing that you have a designated start and end time for these tasks will keep you focused just long enough to get the jobs finished and off your plate.