Top 5 Tips to Overcome Procrastination

I recently subscribed to get organizing tips from Marcia Francois at Take Charge Solutions. These are some tips I received in my latest e-mail. I think they probably work and I'll have to try them . . . later:

1. Do nothing until your most important task is done If something needs to be done, resolve to do nothing else until that task is done. That means no coffee or breakfast! (This really works if you love eating like I do, and you're self-disciplined).
2. Give yourself a self-imposed deadline Tell yourself that the task must be done by a certain time. And when you actually do it, it usually takes you just a fraction of the time to complete instead of the hours you imagined.
3. Get someone to check up on you I like being someone who keeps to my word so this works perfectly for me. I chat to Beth Dargis, a fellow coach, every Friday night, when we set our business goals for the week ahead. Just knowing that I have to report back to Beth makes me get moving and helps me get things done. I'm told that I do the same for my coaching clients ;)
4. Work on it for just 15 minutes For bigger tasks, it always helps if you tell yourself you'll work on the task for just 15 minutes. You can do anything for 15 minutes. Usually by the time 15 minutes rolls around, you'll have built momentum and you'll want to make some serious headway. But even if you don't want to carry on, at least you've made a start! I do this with gym - "I only have to stay for 30 minutes" and before you know it, the class is over and an hour's gone :)
5. Build in rewards Reward yourself the minute it's done, depending on the size of the task, of course. Like a cup of coffee for making a difficult phone call. Please don't go out and buy a new dress to reward yourself just for doing the laundry!

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