TLDR:
- It all comes down to how you prioritize your time from the moment you’re awake till you fall asleep
- Setting miniature rewards of 5-10 minute breaks for each task completed helps in rewiring your brain by building resistance to relapse knowing that you’ll get the reward after completion
- If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, work on it immediately
- Categorize your tasks based on four quadrants of urgency and importance. That way, you won’t be as prone to procrastinating on high-priority tasks
- Prioritize your self-care and well-being. If you’re not getting enough sleep and burn yourself out every time you work, no wonder you’re procrastinating a lot.
- Work on something you really want to do. You’ll notice the differences without even realizing it instantly.
Building your resistance to give into switching tabs and scrolling through your phone
There’s no denying it: procrastination is the Achilles heel of everyone. Almost anyone you talk to will say their biggest deterrent when it comes to being productive is giving into the temptation of switching tabs and scrolling through your phone, and before you know it, you’ve just spent 30 minutes straight doing that.
For many, it ends up being a New Year’s resolution to end it once and for all, but it doesn’t last longer than a week (if we’re lucky enough). It’s no better than saying we’ll get to it but never do so.
In the event you indeed want to work on it, here’s a one-stop guide to begin traversing this journey.
1. Structuring your time
The most important thing to recognize is that it all boils down to how you prioritize your time from the moment you’re awake till you fall asleep.
Setting up your time can look like planning your week or day out on your phone’s calendar app.
It’ll make tasks seem easier to complete and not make you feel as overwhelmed.
2. Miniature Rewards
Irrespective of the task’s duration, reward yourself with a 5-10 minute break for each task completed.
This way, you’ll wire your brain into staying fully concentrated on every task you’re working on, building your resistance to relapse knowing that after completion, you can take a bit of a breather before working on the next task.
3. Two-Minute Rule
Coined by productivity expert David Allen, if a task takes less than 2 minutes to complete, get it over with immediately.
By promptly addressing them, you’ll prevent them from accumulating and ultimately overwhelm you by how much you’ve ended up stockpiling.
4. Eisenhower Matrix
Named after American President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the concept is categorizing your tasks into four quadrants based on their urgency and importance. Implementing this technique can help you focus on high-priority items and help diminish the likelihood of procrastinating on critical activities.
5. Prioritizing Self-Care and Well-Being
The biggest thing after structuring your time is ensuring the gap between the moment you fall asleep and the moment you wake up is adequate for you to get enough good quality sleep.
On top of that, you should not be burning yourself out while you're awake. A combination of this and lack of sleep increases your susceptibility to procrastination, as you’d not only be more irritable as a result, but you’ll also not have as much of a drive to get productive work done.
However, if you want to guarantee significantly reducing your procrastination, try working on something you’re truly passionate about. The results will speak for themselves.