Let’s all face it, we all have procrastinated from time to time. Okay, you dragged it out of me, I must admit that your girl is
a master procrastinator…smh. No, I’m not proud of it, but I must be honest, I am. If it doesn’t hold my interest or if I don’t get some form of instant gratification, I’ll put it off for a later time. And when that time comes, I still won’t do it.

Now if you’re like me, a master procrastinator or a student of it, I’m sure you want to stop. I mean let’s face it, procrastination is a dream killer, destiny stealer & a time waster. And boo, boo, we don’t got time for all of that because we got big dreams that we want to make reality. Procrastination is only holding us back, so it’s time that we grab this ninja by the neck (lol). I mean, we have no time to be wasting, we already wasted enough time procrastinating, so let’s beat it at its own game.

Ways to beat procrastination.

1. Don’t beat yourself up. Yes, you’ve been procrastinating but you’re not going to get anywhere by being upset, angry or feeling guilty. If you do this, you won’t have any kind of motivation to do what you planned on doing. Own it and move on. I mean you can’t change your past BUT you can definitely change your future.
2. Just start. Don’t overthink it. We know that if we dread the task at hand, we’ll NEVER get it done because we’ll feel overwhelmed & won’t even bother to do it. Start your difficult task for at least 15 minutes, than take a little break. Now don’t take an 2 day break…lol. But take an half hour break (less is even better) & get right back to it for another 15 minutes, continue to do this until you get into the flow of it all.
3. Break it down, baby! Break down your tasks into small chunks. Don’t try to do everything at once because you’ll just start to feel overwhelmed & put it off for a later time & NEVER get it done. So set some small goals & start with those. For example, instead of thinking, “I need to finish this essay by 10PM tonight,” tell yourself, “I’m going to make a short outline, fill that in, and then look for quotes.”
4. The BIGGER, the better. Now I don’t know what crossed your mind when you read that, but if you’re anything like me, please get your mind out the gutter…lol. No, but start your day with the big tasks first. You’ll be more energized & ready to take them on, instead of trying to do them late in the evening when you’re ready to crawl in your bed & turn the world off. So tackle the hardest thing on your docket right then. You’ll feel better once it’s done, and then you can move on to a few easier tasks for the rest of the day.
5. Encourage yourself, boo! I mean if you don’t do it, who else will? NOBODY (in my Keith Sweat’s voice…lol). You have to motivate yourself, by giving yourself some pep talks. Self-talking” is a great way to calm yourself down, get focused, and meet your goals. Talk to yourself, using your name. Tell yourself that you can (and will) do this.
6. Just do it! I mean just get it done, don’t try to make it perfect. Imagining the perfect essay, assignment, or project could be what’s holding you back. Don’t worry about perfect, start it, finish it, and once you complete it, go back over it, if it needs perfecting.
7. Treat yourself. Let’s face it, many of us are reward driven, pleasure seeking nuts. And maybe I’m just talking about myself, which I am…lol. But I think it’s safe to say, we all enjoy a little treat here & there, so promise yourself that you’ll get a reward when it’s done. You’re probably dreading the next however many hours you need to finish this task. Just tell yourself that when it’s over, you get to celebrate with one of your favorite things. Use that anticipation to push yourself through the pain.

Hooray! I’m going to reward myself for getting this blog post done because I really didn’t want to do it…lol. But I didn’t procrastinate, I grabbed that ninja by the neck & showed it who’s boss. So I encourage you to do the same.

Let me know if these tips helped you in anyway by giving me some feedback in the comment section.