I'll Just Do It Later

I’ve been meaning to write this article for a while, but I just kept putting it off.

I’ve had a lifelong hate-hate relationship with procrastination. As a kid, I would wait till late Sunday night to do my homework due on Monday.  In college, I remember too many nights staying up into the wee hours to finish the paper I needed to turn in the next morning. The

to-do list for things around the house sometimes gets pushed to the back burner.  That work project can wait till tomorrow. I'll just do it later.

Sound familiar?

There are ways to overcome this debilitating habit.

Once we start, research shows that 80% of us will keep going. So the problem isn’t in the doing, it’s in the starting. We can derail this avoidance pattern. Here are some strategies that work to get you going and develop momentum:

Reduce or eliminate distractions

 If you’ve been putting off doing something, chances are good that you have lost focus. In today’s world, the number of available distractions seems endless: your phone, social media, email, streaming. When you have a task to complete, avoid the temptation to engage in activities that zap your focus and plunge you into a time-sucking abyss. They sidetrack your progress. Switch your phone to Do Not Disturb and toss it in a drawer. Disconnect from the net. Unless you are used to a hectic atmosphere, make sure you are working in a quiet environment. Some people thrive in the bubbling energy of a coffee shop. Most don’t. Do an honest self-evaluation and place yourself in a situation best suited for productivity.

Accountability

 Sometimes accountability comes baked in with the task at hand. Your boss wants a report on his desk by three tomorrow. That’s pretty clear. But not everything is as straightforward.  One technique to accomplish things that need to get done that don’t have a firm deadline is to share your goals with someone else. Telling a co-worker, a family member, or a client what you’re doing and when you expect to finish it provides terrific motivation. Knowing others are holding you accountable to accomplish a project sharpens your focus.

Set clear goals

 You can’t get where you’re going if you don’t know your destination. Setting actionable, attainable goals will help you finish your work. Think of it like a roadmap. If you’re driving straight across the country from New York to Los Angeles, you’ll need to pass through the Midwest. What’s the Midwest of your project?  And what are the other checkpoints you’ll need to pass through on your route until you reach your destination? Break your project into smaller tasks that once ticked off lead you further along toward completion. Still feel overwhelmed? Create a schedule to finish each of these action points and keep it close for reference. Look at it often. This helps ensure you finish things on time and leads you to the next piece to tackle. And the one after that. Before you know it, you’ll have made it across the country or completed the job at hand.

Avoid perfectionism

Perfectionism and procrastination are like those nasty cousins who always fight at family gatherings. They just can’t along. If perfectionism is a weight you bear, it likely halts you in your tracks before you can begin. Perfection is an unattainable standard and the thought of trying to reach it can cripple you before you begin. Not everything you do needs to be award-winning. Sometimes good enough will get the job done. It’s better to complete a task imperfectly than not to start at all.

Leave off in the middle

This approach seems counterintuitive on its face. But, sometimes the most daunting thing that slows our progress and makes us procrastinate is not knowing how to start the next piece of a project. When you sit down at your desk and know you have started the next phase of your task you have already jumped the hurdle of how to begin. Pick up where you left off and finish the task. Now you have momentum and the odds are it will lead you to start the next thing on your to-do list.  Rinse and repeat. Writers often employ this trick. Many authors will walk away from the computer in the middle of a scene and pick up where they left off the next day.  

Don’t wait to try some of these techniques until tomorrow. Do it today.