Seven Steps to Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination is a common struggle for many people. It’s not just a nuisance you must deal with. It can have serious consequences.

The type of procrastination you experience will depend on what causes it and the severity of the problem.

That said, there are some general patterns that most people can recognize. When you procrastinate, you feel unsure about taking action. Or doing something new.

Or perhaps you feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities and obligations. Procrastination is generally caused by an underlying issue that needs to be addressed. Rather than pushed away or ignored.

It’s natural to want to avoid pain and discomfort. But this isn’t always a good idea—nor is it healthy or productive if we let it overpower us for too long.

This article will explain how to overcome it step by step, so you stop delaying taking action. And start getting things done once and for all.

1) Define Your Life Vision

The first step to destroying procrastination is understanding what your life vision looks like.

What would your ideal life be like?

How do you want to feel when you look back on your life?

How can you make progress towards achieving goals and achieving a life vision?

If you don’t have a clear picture, this step will be difficult. You may think it’s pointless or too hard to set a goal for yourself that has no immediate payoff.

However, if you start defining your life vision, it will help you figure out what your life currently looks like, which will, in turn, help you establish concrete steps towards improving in the future.

2) Have Ultra-Specific Goals

Your goals are the ultimate guiding force for your work. They are the key to turning procrastination around and moving forward with success.

Everyone knows that just getting through the day is a victory in itself. But you’ve got to try harder than that.

You need to strive for something more meaningful. Such as reaching a goal in 30 days or achieving 100% completion on a project by Friday.

These specific goals will help you start and keep the momentum going because they’re not too overwhelming.

3) Have Daily Actions for Each Goal

Whether you want to get more organized, work out, or study more effectively, if you set up daily actions for yourself, it will help you stay on track and get things done.

You can take the time you would have spent procrastinating. And use it to get the tasks that need completing done.

Make a list of goals A step often overlooked is creating a list of goals. Many people think they don’t have goals because they haven’t thought about what they want to accomplish or achieve.

It’s a good idea to create a list of what you want to achieve so you can see where your focus is and make adjustments as needed.

Having a list will also help you understand how much progress has been made at any given point.

Schedule your daily actions. Once you’ve created your goal-setting list, take some time each day to schedule what actions are important for those goals that day.

This could be anything from writing down specific assignments for schoolwork or work to logging in for a gym session when it fits into your schedule. Or even just taking an extra second before dinner each night.

The key is scheduling daily action steps that align with your main goal while also keeping in mind what other responsibilities need to be completed on any given day.

4) Write Down Your Goals

You can’t procrastinate if you know what you want to accomplish and have a clear goal.

It helps to set SMART goals. Those goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Writing your goals down helps you a lot. Just write down your goals on paper or a piece of paper so that you can see them, feel them, and hold them in your hands as tangible reminders of why you’re doing what you’re doing.

After all—what good is it to think about how great things will go once they finally happen if you don’t think about how you achieve them?

After setting up those concrete goals, make sure to practice accountability so that no one else can take the credit away from you!

5) Use a Shorter To-Do List

Many people tend to have long to-do lists. They try to do everything and end up with a mountain of tasks that you can just complete none on time.

To overcome this, try using shorter to-do lists. This will help you be more focused and set realistic deadlines for yourself.

Keep your list concise, so you aren’t overwhelmed by trying to do too much at once.

6) Remove Distractions

Distractions can be quite tempting, especially when focusing on a task.

There are many different types of distractions, and it’s important to know how to deal with them.

For example, social media is a major distraction that can lead to procrastination because you might wander there to avoid work altogether.

If you find yourself feeling bored, try switching tasks instead of continually avoiding your work.

If there’s one thing that helps me more than anything else, it’s switching tasks or doing something completely different. 

7) Set Deadlines

Make a plan for how to get your work done each day. Give yourself a deadline for what you want to accomplish, and write it down.

Start off by setting your first task for the day and having a specific deadline for it.

You’ll lose track of time when you feel overwhelmed and procrastinate when unsure what to do next.

Setting deadlines can help you prioritize what you need to do and finish things on time

Conclusion

The steps outlined in this article can help you overcome procrastination and achieve your life vision.

By implementing these seven simple steps into your daily life, you’ll be able to live the life you want without feeling overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks.