4 Unusual But Effective Strategies to Kill Procrastination
They’ll definitely help you one way or another.
Some of you might know that I was a chronic procrastinator back then since I talked about it in my previous blog.
Once I, consciously or unconsciously, identified the task at hand as boring, I postponed my action till the very last minute.
But I’ll be honest with you, I still struggle with procrastination from time to time to this day. Procrastination is like a constant battle for me; I can’t eliminate them once and for all.
It’s somewhat like a wave of Creeps constantly popping out of nowhere. As soon as they appear, I had to fight them back, otherwise, my project will be left, in my drawer, gathering dust.
And as I battled with those Creeps for a long time, I found some tactics to be effective each time I use them. Some tactics may seem a bit awkward at a glance, but as someone who has been using these for 2+ years, I can confidently say that the tips I’m going to share with you will be helpful to you in one way or another.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
1. The 30-Second Rule
Six days ago, I went to the market with my mom to help her carry groceries. And when we got home, I helped her cooking lunch, did some housework, and cleaned my room. After all this, I planned to continue writing my draft.
And suddenly, from the back of my mind, I heard,
“Urgh, I’m so tired. I was outside in the sun all morning. And now, another work! Give me a break, man.”
So, I decided to watch some YouTube videos for a few minutes.
And it led to 5 hours!
After realizing 5 hours had passed, I told myself, “You know what, that’s enough. Let’s get to work.”
But my brain disliked that thought.
So, I told myself, “I’ll be writing some sentences for just 30 secs. Deal?”
I felt suddenly lightened. I felt no resistance to get up and work.
Later, I finished and edited that draft in one day.
Sometimes, you just have to convince yourself to get started.
Once you get started, it’s so much easier to keep on going.
So, to make yourself do the thing you have to do, you need to make it seem easy, so easy to the point where you don’t feel any resistance towards doing it.
By using the 30-second rule, you are allowing yourself to start. And as I’ve said earlier, once you get started, it’s so much easier to keep the ball rolling.
So, whenever you find yourself struggling to do your task or project, say to yourself, “I’ll be doing for ONLY 30 seconds, no more than that.”
And 95% of the time, you will keep on doing it, or even execute it.
2. Clean Up Your Physical Environment
I heard that Albert Einstein and Mark Twain had messy rooms. And my friends often shove it in my face that creative people have messy rooms. They even intentionally have messy rooms, like it’s a badge of honor.
(for them, messy room = smart people — even though they are having bad grades on every test)
And I don’t agree with them. When my room is messy, my mind is messy.
Whenever I’m feeling down or unmotivated, my room always looks chaotic. And by looking at my chaotic, disastrous physical environment, I feel like I have a chaotic, disastrous mental state, which leads to a more chaotic and disastrous physical environment.
It’s a never-ending cycle.
But after I see my room clean and organized, I feel proud of myself. My confidence level goes up. And I can focus better on my tasks and projects.
So, while you are reading this, if you feel like your physical environment is a little bit messy, try cleaning up your room.
Note: If you feel like you are more creative and focused when you have a cluttered desk, then, feel free to discard my advice here. After all, everyone has different preferences, hasn’t it?
3. Write Down All the Distractions That Pop Up While You Work
I know this is an obvious one, but I feel like it’s worth including in that list.
When you are working and you get this thought telling you to check your phone or watch some YouTube videos, have a sheet of paper and physically write them down. What you are doing is you are acknowledging those distractions without allowing yourself to indulge in them.
What we normally do is try to ignore them, but this only makes the thoughts more distracting.
Writing them down gives your head some space.
Get them out of your head and put them down onto the paper.
4. Make It More Enjoyable
When you can’t find yourself doing your work, it’s often because the task seems too uninteresting to you. So, why not make it more interesting and fun?
You can incorporate music or you can give yourself some rewards after completing the session. And you can even have some coffee with you while working.
Make the activity fun so that you won’t have to push yourself too hard to do the work.
It can also apply to workouts as well.
Whenever I’m working out, I always listen to some BadAss Music from YouTube. These kinds of music make me feel like I’m a hero at the battle and that alone ultimately makes working out more and more enjoyable for me.
