How can you boost your motivation to start things as soon as possible, with maximum effort and energy? Habitual procrastination has been known to cause chronic stress because of all the negative consequences that come with not finishing tasks on time.
Procrastination also results in added pressure to perform well even when the time left to complete a task has been significantly depleted by non-essential activities.
In today’s blog post, we’re going to talk about the different approaches that you can use to motivate yourself to accomplish tasks on time (or even earlier than that)!
1. Time Yourself – This method of accomplishing tasks has become extremely popular in recent times because it’s easy to apply and it really helps people accomplish tasks in an efficient manner.
How does timing work?
Here’s how it works: when you need to accomplish something, you time yourself (20-30 minutes is optimal) and you work continuously within this timeframe without paying attention to anything else.
After 20/30 minutes of continuous work, you can take a 5-10 minute break and resume working on your task. Eventually, the task will be completed and you can relax or move on to the next task.
If you feel that 30 minutes is too short, you can choose to skip the break. Set your timer once again before working so you know you’re set to work for another 20 or 30 minutes.
2. Reward Yourself – Nothing motivates people more than having a reward at the end of a long and tedious task. You don’t have to give yourself expensive rewards.
Stick to simple, pleasurable activities and you’ll feel well-compensated for not procrastinating. You'll soon discover the special group of rewards that really motivate you to work on even the hardest tasks.
3. Involve Other People – When you tell people that you want to do something, you'll feel more accountable for your actions. Have a close friend or a coach monitor your progress and remind you when you don’t meet the deadlines that you have set for yourself.
Be sure to take your friend or coach’s advice and suggestions seriously because he/she is also your support network. Beating procrastination can be difficult without the help of a coach or family and close friends. Don’t take your support network for granted!
4. Change Your Beliefs and Values About Time – Time is like cash; when you spend it haphazardly, it’s gone forever (and too soon)!
You can’t turn back all the hours that have already been wasted on unimportant activities, but you can start changing your beliefs and values about time now so that you don’t commit the same mistakes in the future.
If you spend a lot of time on unimportant, time-consuming activities, it’s time that you made the conscious choice to limit or avoid them altogether.
View your time as a scarce and essential resource that needs to be spent wisely. We already know what happens when a person runs out of time for all the things that they need to do – they get stressed, angry and frustrated at everything.
5. Assert Your Right To Use Time Wisely – Some people always feel pressured or obligated to acquiesce to any and all invitations from friends, family and coworkers. While it’s healthy to socialize regularly, it’s no longer a healthy practice when your schedule is always delayed.
You have to learn how to say “no” to unimportant invitations so that you can use your time for more important tasks and commitments. I’m sure that this change will cause some negative reactions from some people, so be sure to explain why you’re now declining some activities that you used to attend regularly.
I’m sure that the people who truly know and care about you will understand immediately what you’re trying to do. And as for the rest – they don’t deserve any of your time if they fail to see why you need to procrastinate less.
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