Five small steps to defeating procrastination

“I’ll finish reading this article and I’ll definitely go to work.” Are such promises heard too often? And how many times, having given ourselves a word, we actually got to work? There are always a hundred more important things to do, and then the working day ends and it makes no sense to start doing something today.

“Tomorrow,” we reassure ourselves. “I will definitely start working tomorrow.” But tomorrow history repeats itself. So we fall into the trap of procrastination, which is sometimes very difficult to break out of. Here’s what coach Marty Nemko suggests to pull yourself together and take the first steps in the fight against her.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes

Usually we procrastinate on things because, consciously or not, we are afraid of making a mistake. Postponing work for later, we subconsciously believe that this will help to avoid mistakes and problems. But it’s impossible to make everything perfect. Of course, you can strive for this, but the result is unlikely to coincide with expectations.

Admit it: even if you felt stupid when you were pointed out mistakes, the solution to the problem is not to drag it out for as long as possible. The work will still have to be done – or face the consequences of doing nothing. It is better to immediately treat the difficulties as problems that need to be solved.

Learn to deal with failure

Once you take action, you may fail, especially if you have never done anything like this before. Ask yourself: what outweighs the benefits of doing the job or the challenges you might face? It is important to remember that everything can turn out for the best.

You may well succeed and earn praise. And if it really doesn’t work out, it’s okay – you can learn from failure lessons that will be useful next time. Believe me, you will feel better if you try than if you do nothing at all.

Looking for motivation

Sometimes the very goal we are trying to achieve is motivation enough. But if this is not enough, it is worth finding other means to motivate yourself to work. For example, the ability to prove that everyone was wrong about you.

Use the two minute tactic

Many procrastinators admit that the hardest thing is getting started. To deal with this, you can choose a task that will already be the start of work and will not take more than two minutes. You can make a to-do list or google the information you need. These two minutes do not yet frighten our brain, but they already allow us to get involved in the workflow. Very often this is enough.

Stop being distracted

When work gets difficult, you have to make an effort to resist the temptation to put it aside and do something more enjoyable. This is the moment of truth. Marty Nemko advises to force yourself to focus on work.

But if after a few minutes it doesn’t get any easier, here’s what he suggests: “Think about what is best for you: ask for help, still try to cope on your own, or start doing another part of the work for now, and just return to this one later? Or maybe the project can still be completed without those actions that scare you so much?

Sometimes we get distracted by our own thoughts. It could be fear, a memory of a failure we’ve already experienced, or anger. The best tactic to deal with this is the two-O tactic: stop and get distracted. As soon as you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, say – you can even out loud: “Stop.” Then do something useful. This will not allow unnecessary neural connections to gain a foothold.

Over time, these thoughts will come to mind less and less, until they disappear altogether. Many experts argue that procrastination is incurable. But, even if so, this does not mean that it cannot be dealt with. “If it is incurable, then at least you can achieve a significant improvement,” says Marty Nemko, and over time, the victory over procrastination will be given more and more easily.

About the author: Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach. Author of the book Careers for Fools.