Do the phrases “I’ll do it tomorrow,” “This project can wait,” “I still have enough time,” “Just one more episode!” sound familiar to you? Most likely. Truth be told, we all have been victims of procrastination at one point or another, and I believe that your resolve to overcome this habit is why you’re on this page.
Please read to the end of this article to know how to overcome procrastination!
- Plan your tasks – Having a clear picture of what you need to do goes a long way in determining the success of the task. You need to have a proper vision of the day’s tasks. I personally have a way of planning out my tasks effectively with the aid of an app – The Todoist App.
Todoist is a to-do list app that helps you organize, prioritize and manage your personal and professional tasks. Using this app will help you keep track of the tasks you’ve set to achieve.
You can download the Todoist app using this link .
- Break down goals – Often times, procrastination sets in when we focus on the size of a project at hand. So in order to minimize that overwhelming feeling, break down your tasks into smaller units. For example, as a designer, your next personal project might be to design the homepage of an e-commerce website. This would require a lot of thought process as there are many things to take into consideration. So break down your task into smaller units as this will make them more manageable and easy to achieve.
- Get rid of distractions – There are various sources of distractions. It could be from your phone, tv, or something else. As long as you do not need these things to achieve your goal, put them away or turn them off. When you get rid of these distractions, you’ve made it harder to procrastinate!
- Have an accountability partner – This is another important step in overcoming procrastination. Find someone you can trust to keep you accountable. It could be a family member, your friend, colleague, mentor or even the online tech community you belong to! When you let others in on what you hope to achieve, it becomes harder to procrastinate.
- Reward yourself – One way to motivate yourself to finish a task is to create a reward that you will give yourself once you’ve accomplished that task. This is very important but easily overlooked by many. Were you able to complete that project you vowed to? Give yourself a pat on the back. Were you able to accomplish the tasks scheduled for the day? Give yourself a treat. No matter how small you think your accomplishments are, never forget to reward yourself.
Remember that you are not perfect so pat yourself on the back for the times you overcame procrastination but also make a firm resolve to take the above steps when next procrastination comes knocking.
You can do this! 💪