How to beat procrastination - can it be done?

Good morning, lovely dreamers, and welcome to another self-improvement infused blog post. Today, we’re talking about: Procrastination. It is a problem for most of us, especially freelancers or work-at-home folks. This is what we're focusing on and trying to fix in the following steps. What do you think, can it be done?

First things first: What is procrastination?

Let's talk a little bit about procrastination and what that means. The actual definition of procrastination on Wikipedia says: "Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished", or putting off resolving tasks, by browsing social media, watching stuff on TikTok and Youtube, or simply doing something more enjoyable instead.

It's doing nothing important, or anything else that is not urgent.

Procrastination is fun, let's face it. But what is not fun, is the guilt that comes after you've wasted so much time on unimportant activities. It's so much easier to just sit on your butt and do anything else but what you actually need to do.

It's the worst thing anyone could do instead of something actually productive.

The fun thing is that you can call "procrastination" any activity that keeps you from your important task, including reading this blog post. So, gorgeous, if you have something more important to do, do that and then, when you are free, continue reading this and relax.

What makes us choose procrastination above work?

Although it's different for each of us, the most common reasons why we choose might be one of the following:

• laziness
• burnout
• lack of interest
• not liking the job
• second thoughts
• self-doubt

The important thing to note here is that everyone's situation is different, BUT it's important to know the cause, not just how it manifests. It will make it easier to solve in the long run.

But enough with the chit-chatting! Let's get to it!

5 life-changing steps to beat procrastination for good

Thankfully, there are a few simple tricks that can help with the problem that we all have with procrastination, like the following:

1. Plan ahead and set daily goals

Use a simple but effective Daily Planner, like this printable one we made. It also looks pretty without being too distracting from what's important.

Set goals depending on your task. Keep it simple, realistic, and doable.

This is extremely important, especially when you're dealing with harder jobs that need to be broken into day-to-day goals. When the goal is realistic, it's easier to see it fulfilled, which in turn keeps you motivated.

2. Alarms, alarms, alarms

One way to keep yourself in check is to set up alarms throughout the day, for each task you have to do. Approximate how long it could take you to fulfil those tasks and set up one alarm for when you should begin, and one for when you should end or take a 5-minute break if it's a bigger task.

This, together with the Daily Planner, will help you be organised, and not lose yourself in the process.

3. Choose your first daily task carefully

While some people prefer to do the most difficult and dreaded task first, others feel like solving the smaller ones ASAP, so they don't get distracted during the day.

Whatever the case may be for you, it's important to know how you want to deal with your day-to-day tasks and set your schedule accordingly.

You might even find that on some days, or for some projects, you go from small to big, but on other occasions, you will reverse, and that is totally okay, as long as you get them all done by the end of the day.

4. Cut off distractions

At least for the time, if you have to do something that requires your full attention, turn off every social media you have, or even the internet, if you think it might get in the way. Focus on the task at hand, and your reward can be to check your messages, for example.

5. Reward yourself

It's like pet training. We're just simple animals that need rewards for every good action we make in a day. But make sure those rewards are healthy, non-distracting during working hours and proportional to the task and/or action you've accomplished.

This can be anything that gives you joy and keeps you motivated to keep on fighting. For you, it may be as simple as getting a cup of tea or playing with your cat for 15 minutes. Maybe you've been working your butt off trying to reorganise the house and you're 2 rooms down, one to go, and you want to get a nice take-out and a nap.

Or maybe, you have a bigger work task filled with problems that are simply draining the life out of you. For every issue you solve, take 5 minutes for yourself, to do what you want.

Do whatever makes you happy and energised. But don't stray too far from the end goal. And if you would like to learn more about how to set goals, and stick to them, check out our new book, "Dream, Follow. Do."!

Aaaaaaand that's all for today, lovely dreamers! We hope you enjoyed our post filled with tips on how to beat procrastination, and if you did, please make sure to share it, pin it, tweet it! We will surely appreciate it.    

QOTD: What do you do to deal with procrastination?