How To Stop Procrastination

Procrastination is the tendency you may have to delay until tomorrow what can be done today. However you realize that you become more productive and a higher performer when you carry out NOW what needs to be done today because, in any case, other tasks will add on and your 'to do' list will most likely get bigger and bigger.

How could you stop procrastination?

In this blog article I will share with you what you need to have in place as well as ways you can stop procrastination.

1. be clear about your goal

If you are confused it is because you are wasting time trying to figure out where to start and what you should start with. However, once you are clear about what you want by eliminating all other options you have a clear path or course to follow.

One way you can use procrastination to your advantage is to put some time aside to gain greater clarity and think about the best strategy you can follow to achieve your goal. As you begin with the end in mind; what you actually want to achieve, this will motivate you to accomplish your goals.

2. Set your goal in writing and schedule it in your diary

Take some time to identify what your goals are and schedule in your diary the tasks you are to accomplish on a particular day and set a time for each task as well. For example, you could set a 90 day goal achievement plan and identify how you could accomplish your goal or make significant progress within this 3-month period.

3. Share your goal with a friend or set up a mastermind group

Mastermind groups appeared in Napoleon Hill's Book Think & Grow Rich. He  studied more than 500 wealthy personalities and their principles for success.

A mastermind group consists of a small group of people between 2 to 5 who get together once a week or twice a month to share their progress in relation to their goal achievement plan and what resources they might need to move forward.

Dr. Gail Matthews a professor in Dominican's Department of Psychology carried out a study on goal achievement and she found that more than 70 percent of the participants who sent weekly updates to a friend reported successful goal achievement (they either completely accomplished their goal or they were more than half way there), compared to 35 percent of those who kept their goals to themselves, without writing them down.

Share, share, share the goals you wish to achieve with a friend or set up a mastermind group.

4. Prioritize your activities

a. Focus your activities on the achievement of your goals

Are your daily activities goal achieving activities? In other words, do they move you towards or away from your goals?

To this end you could introduce the 'Rule of 5' whereby you carry out 5 activities a day towards the achievement of your goal. 

This is the strategy that Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen implemented for the success of the Chicken Soup For the Soul Series they co-authored, which has sold millions of copies worldwide.

b. Do the most difficult thing first

You might have the tendency to leave the most boring or difficult thing until last in your daily schedule and it never gets done! However when you start first with the most difficult thing you get it out of the way and you can then get on with what you enjoy doing.

c. Chunk down your activities into manageable tasks

Should the task at hand be too daunting, you can make it more manageable by dividing it into multiple tasks and/or steps. As a consequence it is easier to accomplish your goals and more motivating.

5. Measure your progress

You do not know how well you are doing until you measure your progress.

  • Are you on course or off course?
  • Have you made any progress?
  • How close are you to accomplishing your goal?

In his book The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy who is the Publisher and Founding Editor of SUCCESS Magazine, highlights the importance of tracking at least one behaviour in one area of your life.

Question: what is your behaviour with regard to the achievement of your goals?

In order to measure your progress, you could at the end of each day assess whether your activities:

a. Were goal achieving activities and

b. Giving you a sense of progress and accomplishment.

With clarity you can stop procrastination and my question to you is the following:

Question to accelerate your success:

  • What activity could you carry out today to stop procrastination?

FREE resource:

If you want to feel more confident in your ability to overcome change, download here our FREE video series: 10 Days to Life Change Success challenge and get started now.

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