I procrastinate about things I don’t like doing, like housework, and things I love doing, like hobbies, travelling, watching a movie at the cinema and more… always thinking I’ll have more time later. But in reality, there generally is no magical time in the future when we will suddenly have much more time and feel like doing all these things we’ve been putting off.
Here are my tips for dealing with the procrastination beast:
- Spend time doing things you enjoy (guilt-free play)
- Get rid of as many things from your to-do list that you don’t want to do as possible (outsource it, put it on someone else’s list, admit you’re never going to do it and just cross it off..)
- Pick one thing from that list, and break it down into underwhelming steps that will get it done
- Tackle a tiny, underwhelming step each day until that thing is done
Here are some thing that have helped me with understanding and minimising procrastination:
- Book: The Slight Edge
- Trello.com: Using it as a tool to track the progress on the things I really want to work on
- Understanding this naughty monkey: http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html
- Talking with my good friend who always seems to be getting things done, and keeping her as an inspiring reminder