How to stop procrastination

 

At some point, we have all felt unproductive, that we don't work much or we don't have enough time to get things done. 

It's not that we do not have enough time or that we are not productive; in most cases, what we do is procrastinate or leave for later the tasks or activities to be done.

Why do we do that?

Most of the time, we do it without realizing it; we get easily distracted by other things; other times, we tend to leave the more tedious tasks or the ones we don't want to do; for later. 

There are days when we don't feel motivated to do specific tasks, so we decide to do them another day.

How can I avoid procrastinating and be more productive?

There is no magic method that can work for everyone, but here is a list of tips that can help you if you put them into practice.

Establish goals: 

Setting goals helps you to motivate and organize yourself better to help you accomplish the tasks at hand. You can establish small goals weekly or monthly. 

Whatever works best for you; so you don't feel overwhelmed.

Make a to-do list: 

Having a list of the activities or tasks to do helps you to have a notion of the "pending", to be able to organize yourself better and you will know which tasks to give priority or greater importance.

Divide the task into small tasks: 

The tasks that are bigger or that you like to do less, divide them into small tasks, so you won't have to do them so much and you will be able to finish them soon.

Use block scheduling for work: 

Set schedules to work on some tasks, it works well with the ones you divide into small tasks and tasks or activities that are bigger or that you dislike. It will help you make progress on them without being so overwhelmed.

Prioritize: 

From the list of tasks to be done, take out the ones that are a priority either because they are due first, or they are more important to you. 

This way you will have a better idea of which tasks to do first.

Established deadlines: 

Setting a specific date to have your activities or tasks ready will help you not to leave them for another day. 

Even if you don't really have to deliver it in a specific time, it can be very useful to manage your time.

Eliminate distractions: 

The great enemy of productivity are distractions, try to be in a place where you can work calmly, and remove from your desk all those things that can distract you, for example the cell phone, although it is a work tool, it is the main distractor.

Remove the "I have to do it" from your head: 

When we say I have to do, automatically in our head we assume it to be an obligation and we associate it with something not so positive, that often eliminates the motivation to do things. 

Even if they are tasks that you do not like, try to change the approach you give them so that they are as enjoyable as possible.

Get motivated with rewards: Not all the time we are motivated to do all the activities we need to do, you can establish some rewards when you finish complex or extensive tasks, such as watching social networks for a while or maybe playing some music, a 5 min break, etc.