Push Past Procrastination: Start Here
The Costs of Stalling at Procrastination Station
Ever have a project you’re excited about but you keep pushing it off? Or a task that isn’t hard but you can’t seem to get around to it?
You’re certainly not alone!
Important projects without a deadline and tedious tasks often get stalled at “procrastination station.” The longer they linger here, the heavier they feel.
The avoidance drains mental energy and adds to low-level background stress, stifling your productivity.
The costs can be even greater with strategic projects. The new program initiative waiting to be launched, workflow that will bring clarity, or project plan that will chart your path forward? These are foundational projects that can move you out of reactive mode. You don’t want to delay getting there.
Nine outta 10 times procrastination does more harm than good.
But most procrastination resources give you a bunch of strategies to throw at the wall and see what sticks.
Instead, if you listen to what your procrastination is telling you, you can find a better way.
Start Here
To get started, think of procrastination as less of a flaw and more of a signal. It’s an imaginary friend tapping you on the shoulder and saying “Hey! Look at me! Something is not quite right here!”
When you notice you’re avoiding something, pause and ask:
What feels hardest about getting started? What exactly am I resistant to?
(Pro Tip: Ask yourself “why” a few times until you get to the root cause.)
Common causes underlying procrastination are:
Being unclear if the project is actually important
Not knowing where to start
Fear due to pressure of getting it perfect from the start
Being overwhelmed with other tasks
Lacking motivation or interest
Your answer provides clarity and clarity is the key to your more productive, proactive, and calm path forward.
Pick Your Strategy
The cause of your procrastination is the first thing that needs attention.
Here are some straight-forward strategies focused on helping the most common causes of procrastination:
Abandon ship
Maybe you realize you aren’t sure of the project’s impact or importance. So you pause to reassess and realize it doesn’t really align with your goals anymore or that a pivot is needed.
This is that one-in-ten time that procrastination helped you! Permission to set the project aside and stop beating yourself up over not getting it done. If it’s important, it will come up again later.
If an intentional reassessment reaffirms the value of the project, then you can use one of the other strategies to help you prioritize, break it down, or just get started.
Break it down
If you don’t know where to start then your project is likely too large and undefined.
Start by deciding on small, clear steps to get started and schedule when to do them. Write them out so there is no question of what to do or when to do it.
Give your perfectionism a break
If you're stalling because you want to get it *just right* or are waiting for the perfect circumstances, consider if you are being too perfectionistic.
Perfectionism raises the bar unrealistically high and puts extra unfair pressure on yourself that can be paralyzing. The truth is, for most of us our projects or tasks are not directly saving lives.
Shift your mindset and try a more iterative strategy:
Remember: Imperfect action is better than no action!
Think: Progress not perfection!
Decide on what is “good enough” and get started
Start with a low-stakes first draft and refine it with feedback
Prioritize
You know what to do, you just keep getting sidetracked or overwhelmed with all of the other things on your to-do list.
This case needs some prioritization and focus.
Consider what tasks are urgent and important vs urgent but not important vs not urgent but important. Prioritize accordingly.
Pick 1-3 of the important tasks to focus on for the day or week and get those done. Try some “Just do it” strategies if you still need an extra push.
Delegate or Reschedule
You are not motivated or interested in the project or task at hand.
Consider if this is important for you to do and if it's important to do now.
If it’s not important for you to do, consider delegating.
If it’s not important to do now, intentionally reschedule for better timing.
Just do it
You know it’s important. You know what you need to do. You’ve prioritized it. You’re still not motivated to get started.
Sometimes you need some extra umph to get you over the hump.
And sometimes the truth is that we just have to do things we aren’t excited about. (Although, if this issue comes up a lot for you I encourage you to start digging deeper into what’s going on)
This is where productivity hacks can be helpful. Here are a few of my time-tested favorites that I plug and play according to the situation at hand:
Eat your frog. Schedule a day to do the task first thing in the morning and visualize yourself doing it. You’ll be less likely to convince yourself it can wait as the day progresses. And when you do get it done, you’ll feel proud and relieved for the rest of the day.
Temptation bundle. Pair the task with something you enjoy. I often will go to a coffee shop and treat myself to a croissant, or set a comforting vibe with tea, music, and a candle.
Pomodoro. When all else fails, get started with short bursts. Set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on the task at hand. Take a break. Repeat if you’ve found a flow. Schedule the same thing for the next day if not.
I used to handle procrastination the hard way: beat myself up, add the tasks back to my already full to-do list, and will myself to get it done next week. But that cycle creates more friction than it does momentum. Moving past your procrastination can be a lot simpler and more elegant with the right strategy. Next time you are avoiding something, give this a try!
If you found this content helpful, sign up for my email list. I send short&sweet monthly-ish emails sharing time management and other strategies to help you stay on the proactive side of work.
Procrastination Reset: Decision Tree
Move from “avoidance” to “next steps” with this Procrastination Reset Decision Tree. It helps you match your source of resistance to the right strategy and define a clear next action.
You can download the PDF here: Procrastination Reset Decision Tree.
A decision tree to find strategies for overcoming your procrastination hurdle. Answer the question, “what feels hardest about this project/task right now.” Response categories are: unsure it’s important to do, worried it won’t be good enough, I don’t know where to start, not motivated or interested, and too many other choices or tasks. Responses point to one of four strategies: Shift your mindset, break it down, just do it, and prioritize.
