Steps to Finally Stop Procrastinating, Health And Happiness, Procrastinator, Tips For Living A Goood Life, Wellness Formula, Emotional Health

Stop Procrastinating

You have a deadline. In fact, it’s right around the corner. But, instead of working on your project, you’re cleaning the house (which, interestingly, you hate to do normally), you’re running to the store, you’re watching TV, you’re checking your Google Reader or you’re looking for old classmates on Facebook. Or you don’t have a deadline, but the same tasks have stayed on your to-do list for weeks. OK, maybe months. Of course, you’re not alone. At some point in their lives, everyone puts off doing something. Fortunately, you can overcome your procrastinating ways and finally get things done. Here are eight suggestions.

Margarita Tartakovsky, MS, is an associate editor at Psych Central and authors the body image blog Weightless. She writes about everything from anxiety and ADHD to creativity and couples to mindfulness and stress. You can learn more about her work at her website.

Set Good Goals

Set good goals. Ineffective goals also can lead to procrastination. In their book, The Worrier’s Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, authors Pamela Wiegartz, Ph.D, and Kevin L. Gyoerkoe, Psy.D, explain the five steps that make up good goals: determine your values; set your goal; identify the steps you need to accomplish it; anticipate problems and solutions; and reward yourself. The authors define values as “chosen life directions,” which “help us organize our choices and behaviors.” So consider what’s important to you, and see if your actions and efforts reflect those values. Maybe the reason you’re procrastinating is because your task doesn’t jive with your values. And remember that effective goals are also specific, challenging, measurable and feasible.

The Mind

Acknowledge and accept your thoughts. Our thoughts can easily persuade us to procrastinate as we get locked up in a negative, self-critical cycle – without us even realizing what we’re doing. Your cycle may sound like this: I don’t really want to do this right now. Wow, I’m so lazy. I never get anything done. I’m such a loser. So the first step is to spot this litany of negative thoughts. The second step is to accept them. Accept that you don’t want to tackle the task right now and that it’s upsetting to you. But rather than trying to wrestle these thoughts and eliminate them – which saps your energy even more – take a few slow, deep breaths and have compassion for yourself. Everyone procrastinates; the key is to accept it and move on.