7 strategies to stop procrastinating

Summary of Time article.

1. Do the worst thing first
As you have a limited supply of will-power, start on the baddest not the biggest job.

2. Start your day over at 2pm
At 2 p.m. every day, assess how much you’ve accomplished, remind yourself of what’s critical, and start another morning at 2pm on your most important task (with a second obligatory morning coffee too).

3. Make the job smaller
If you’re seeing the forest and forgetting that it’s made of trees, start by cutting down one tree. And if you can’t cut a whole tree, cut three branches. Instead of being disheartened by how much you can’t do, look at how much you can.

4. Create an audience
Make yourself accountable to a friend and suddenly potential embarrassment becomes a powerful motivator.

5. Race the clock
Set a timer for 10 minutes, work in a focused, perhaps even frantic manner for that short stretch, and watch what happens. Once a sense of satisfaction replaces the dread you felt before, there’s a decent chance you’ll continue.

6. Don’t interrupt yourself
Usually it’s not other people aren’t interrupting you; you are interrupting yourself. By using software blocking applications you can employ technology to break free from it

7. Plan an unprocrastination day
Gather your most neglected tasks and head off on an odyssey of productivity, vowing not to return home until your long ignored to-do’s are done

Read the full article here.