How to stop procrastinating + start taking action
In this post, I’m going to be sharing some of the helpful ways I’ve found to stop procrastination in its tracks and start taking action again on the things that have either been slowing me down, or I’ve not yet been motivated to do.
Now this is definitely not to say I’ve got it all worked out by any means but I do like to do lots of things in my life so I need to make sure I’m able to get into action-mode more often than not!
I am most inspired by people who can accomplish a lot and are really driven to make their goals happen. I want to be someone who is able to do the same (plus I also like the feeling of making the most out of my time each day).
The most common things people procrastinate on are:
exercise
work tasks that require a bit of thinking
cleaning
life admin that’s boring but needs to be done
cooking healthy meals or making food in advance
putting off difficult conversations
There are other things too but these are the main culprits.
I’m sure you’ve read them but there are heaps of articles on the internet about not relying on motivation to keep you going as it’s widely recognised that motivation is an unreliable source of energy so you need to make sure you’re finding something else to get you going.
Sure, motivation is fun and initially helpful to get you into action to start with (and most people enjoy the burst of energy they get if they can get going), but you really can’t rely on it for too long because it disappears easily.
You do need to have some good strategies up your sleeve in order to get moving when it’s important and particularly when you’re finding yourself thinking I can’t be bothered or are putting off taking action with all those excuses.
Here are the things I’ve found most helpful to overcome procrastination - hopefully you’ll find some of them useful too if you need a little push along.
👉🏻Start with taking the smallest action
It’s sounds cliched and too simple to be of use but often it’s just “getting started” that I find most difficult. It’s way easier to just sit there and do nothing that get moving.
But it’s actually the thing you need to start building some momentum first so it’s a good one to start with.
An example of this right now is sitting down to write this blog post ✍🏻.
It’s been on my list for ages now and I really found it difficult to make the time to do it, but because I want to create helpful content on my website and it’s one of my goals this year, I had to figure out how to get it done.
So once I had decided I was actually going to write it this morning, it was really a matter of:
first turning on my computer
making a cup of tea, and
opening my laptop to get started.
Those were easy small actions I did that weren’t overwhelming at all and they got me going.
Then once I sat down, it was much easier to start writing.
👟 Exercise is another area most people find challenging to stop procrastinating on but it’s such an important part of being strong and healthy so you really can’t put it off too long.
I don’t find it as hard anymore because I built a solid habit around exercising a few years ago but when I was first getting going with it, I had to stack the odds in my favour to make sure I didn’t pull out when life got a bit tough.
Things like:
putting my shoes near the door, and
having my gym clothes washed and ready to go made it that bit easier to get out of the excuses mentality.
I also made sure I had an accountability buddy so I didn’t skip my workout.
I have to say though that even though I was exercising very regularly for many years, after having my youngest son, Jake, two years ago (including a difficult birth recovery), I’ve really only gotten properly serious about getting fit again this year so I’m having to lean on some of the strategies above again.
👉🏻Do I have all the info I need to get this done?
Another barrier to taking action can be that you don’t have all the information you need to do the task.
Generally I find that once I’ve worked out all the steps and added them to my to-do list in a logical order it takes away the overwhelm of not knowing what to do first.
Now this obviously applies more to stuff like tasks, projects and life admin (eg. enrolling your kids at a high school or getting a client document out the door), than exercise and cooking, but it can be useful to ask if you have everything you need to get the job done so you’re not put off by it and it can get finished.
👉🏻Build momentum and get lots of little things ticked off first
I like to build momentum by doing smaller things on my to-list first to knock them out of the way and that gives me some energy because it snowballs 🔁.
You get a quick hit of dopamine first up and feel really good crossing off a bunch of stuff so that you can then jump into something harder that you might’ve been putting off.
That said, don’t let doing too much “busy” work stop you from getting to your important priorities though!
It can go too far the other way where you fill up all your time running around feeling busy but you’re not really accomplishing anything useful so make sure the little tasks are actually things you need to be doing, otherwise get them off your list!
👉🏻I set up my environment so that it triggers me into action
At work I like to have a clean and tidy desk so that I can start the day fresh 🖥.
This helps stop me getting overwhelmed from yesterday’s work and also get moving on my tasks for the day because I’m not too distracted then.
Like I mentioned above with exercise, setting up your environment properly is really to give you a visual or emotional trigger to go and do something you might not find as easy.
You might want to consider filling your fridge with fresh nutritious food so you’ll be more likely to do that bake-up you were putting off, or keep a foam roller somewhere visible in your lounge room so you remember to stretch each night while watching TV.
These are only little things but the visual cues can compel you to take action on something you have been wanting to prioritise but don’t already.
Remember, this also works in reverse so if you want to find time to build a business in the evenings (like I do), you need to remove lots of distractions or triggers for procrastination such as your phone as that will stop you from taking the action you know you should be.
👉🏻Being motivated by my values: Leaning on my “WHY”
Have a think about why you want to do something in the first place but are finding it difficult to get started?
Is it really important to you, like building a fitness habit or spending time journalling on the weekend might be?
What about those New Years resolutions you set yourself?
The more you can uncover the true reasons behind why you want to be taking actions but aren’t, the more clarity you’ll have around what steps you need to take to push you into action.
Again, with building up my fitness again, my motivating reason is that I’m getting older now and starting to feel my mobility decreasing.
I watch my mum (who is very active and takes excellent care of her health) be able to jump on the trampoline with my children and I want to be the same at her age.
If my reason was just to lose weight for vanity reasons, that wouldn’t last for me because I don’t find it a compelling enough reason to keep me going.
Whatever works for you is what’s important!
The more you dig into your WHY, the more gold you’ll find to fuel you when you find yourself putting something off.
👉🏻Find someone who inspires you and is an action taker themselves
If you’re someone who does need the extra motivation, you could also have a look around you to see who is an action taker in the areas you’d like to be inspired in and watch closely to see what they do.
They will have certain:
☑️ behaviours
☑️ habits
☑️ routines
☑️ mindsets that they display regularly, and
☑️ they’ll likely show up at the same time each day.
There are plenty of people like that on social media who are documenting their journeys so go follow along with those or you can probably find them in your work and personal life too.
During my career, I’ve come across a few very motivated people who don’t procrastinate much and just get on with things who’ve deeply inspired me to take action myself.
A question I always ask myself when my own motivation is waning and procrastination is high, is visualising “What would X person do in this situation?”
It’s a great way to channel their inner action taker for yourself and start making progress again.
Once you’re able to get going and build some good momentum, you can then rely on yourself 💪🏻.
👉🏻Finally, I ask myself if the thing I’m procrastinating on is something I really WANT to be doing?
If I’m really putting something off and I can’t get started on it or I keep moving the task to tomorrow’s to-do list, there’s usually a deeper reason going on and I need to be asking if this is something I really want to be doing or I just feel like I should because someone else is doing it or said I had to.
Obviously there are some tasks you can’t avoid in life but most are within your power to say no to.
Over the past twelve months, I started getting really picky where I put my time and energy because I found that as a chronic people pleaser, I was always doing things for other people that weren’t energising or took up all my time and resources and then I’d have nothing left to do what I wanted.
Once I started putting my own priorities first, a lot these things either dropped away or I have been able to fit them after I’ve considered my own needs first.
And lastly, if it’s something I really don’t want to do but HAVE to, I then just use one of the more common productivity techniques like the Pomodoro technique and get it done so I don’t have to keep thinking about it ✅.
I’ll focus more on how I know I’ll feel once it’s off my list than on doing the action itself.
So there you have it, my tips to help you stop procrastinating and the things I use myself!
Give them a try and see how you go!
Somewhere along the way, you ultimately need to find that reason to get going on what you want to do because no-one else can make you do it or do it for you.
Remember, it's easy to fall into the trap of putting things off until later, but the longer you procrastinate on the thing you’ve been sitting on, the harder it becomes to take action.
I promise you’ll feel much better when you the take action you know you need to!
Valli x
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out the rest of my blog for more helpful topics 😊.
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