Act behavioral strategies, the more we rely on sheer willpower to be through procrastination, the
less likely we will break its grip.
Rather than trying to muscle our way through, we can find greater leverage to overcome avoidance.
Some simple changes in our actions can greatly improve our chances of being productive.
Use external reminders.
We can boost our chances, our chances of starting a task by making it hard to ignore setting an alarm
boost a note for yourself right to go on a whiteboard or put things where they will remind you of what
you need to do if you can't do it right away.
Be sure to set another reminder and create a distraction free zone.
It's harder to procrastinate when time waste wasters aren't really available.
Lose your Internet browser if possible.
Silence or put away your cell phone and remove any other likely distractions.
It's too easy to turn to these things out of habit when feeling anxious or otherwise uncomfortable about
the task.
Use a calendar.
The more specific we are about our plans, the more likely we are to complete them.
But any task you intend to do into your calendar and do everything you can to protect that time if you
have to pump or but of the task list, schedule it for as soon as possible.
Break down a big task into manageable tasks.
Breaking down overwhelming task can make it much easier to get started, make the steps as smooth as
necessary to feel doable.
Give each subtask its own mini deadline so you will know you're on the job.
Just get started and see an entire task in front of us can be daunting resolve simply to start the task
and work on it for a short period of time.
For example, maybe you take five minutes to outline an email you've needed to write.
There is a chance you might even keep working past your modest goal.
Finish a task, even if it's hard on the other end of the project.
Keep going.
When the finish line is in sight, you may as well capitalize on your momentum rather than having to
overcome inertia from a cold start when you come back to finish it later.