How To Prevent Procrastination

How do you prevent procrastination? By doing it NOW, as soon as you remember it and as soon as you reach the item in your to-do list. Do not give yourself any excuse or reason why it has to wait or why it can wait.

---

How To Prevent Procrastination

Once you get started doing, there is no stopping the habit. It takes good self-discipline in order to prevent procrastination. So, how do you start this habit of doing things now? These are the few things you need to learn and remember:

1. There Is Only NOW

Realize this - there is no yesterday, there is no tomorrow. There is only NOW, and now determines the tomorrow you will have. If you delay doing something, all you will be doing is mess up your tomorrow. Things get piled up for tomorrow. By the same token, you are also messing up tomorrow’s yesterday. Remember, there is only now and now is the all-important time slot to help you relieve all your stress. Now is how you can ease all your tension on your huge to-do list. If you start doing something that needs to be done now, slowly but surely, the motion gains momentum and tasks will be completed. The idea is to start doing.

2. There Is No Better Time

It’s all an excuse. I have been there. You start telling yourself, “I will start on Monday; it’s a nice day to start as it’s the start of the week," or whatever similar excuses you cook up. There are no perfect dates and no excellent time-slots for things to be done. You have to do it when it comes up. Push once and you will never stop pushing.

3. Once You Do It, You Will Be OK, Seriously

You want to prevent procrastination? Here’s my challenge to you. Pick an item that you have been procrastinating for a long time. Start on it now. Once you start, you will realize the freedom that comes with doing something you have delayed. It makes you feel good. You want to repeatedly allow yourself to feel this feeling. Then you will make it a habit to do things quickly as they come up. As you do so you are – it is positive reinforcement at work.

4. Do All It Takes

If at first, you do not succeed to prevent procrastination - write it over and over again. What does that mean? In your to-do list, keep writing it each time you update the list. Do not allow yourself the excuse of dropping it from the list. There are only so many times you can write the item without starting to work on it.

5. Think About The Repercussions

If positive reinforcement doesn’t work on you, and you still refuse to start on something, then try negative reinforcement. Think about all the repercussions it will bring for procrastinating. Nagging? A bad evaluation? Stress from the fact that you will be thinking about it everyday? If you want to prevent procrastination, you have to do it yourself. No one can help you. Just DO it. That is why action is important. Talking, planning, discussing are not actions. They won’t move anything. Only in doing, things get completed. You want to prevent procrastination. Do it NOW, on your own. No one can do it for you. There is power in action and that power can be used to stop procrastinating. Photo Credit: Shutterstock