How to Stop Procrastinating: a simple Guide to Mastering Difficult Tasks and Breaking the Procrastination Habit

Activity #1: Complete Four One-Time Exercises
An effective way to break the cycle of procrastination is to clearly
understand your immediate priorities. As we’ve discussed, one of the
primary reasons people procrastinate is they often feel overwhelmed by
an avalanche of personal and professional responsibilities.
You can fight that feeling of overwhelm by completing four one-time
exercises:
1. Write down your current commitments and any activities you’d like
to do in the next year. Put this list
in an app
like Evernote or a
journal
that’s always nearby. (Time required: 30–60 minutes.)
2. Identify your core values and goals that are important to you. These
should relate to activities that make you happy, the experiences
where you feel the most alive, and the people that enrich your life.
Use value words that act as a reminder of why they are important.
(Time required: 30–60 minutes.)
3. Identify your five core projects by jotting down 25 projects or
activities that you could focus on in the next year. Then narrow
down this list until you pick just five projects. Commit to these five
activities for the next quarter and say no to anything else that
conflicts with these goals. (Time required: 30–60 minutes.)
4. Set a S.M.A.R.T. goal for every three months for each of the five
core projects. Each goal should have a specific outcome and a
deadline of when you will achieve it. Use these goals as a guideline
whenever you feel stuck or if you’re wondering how a task fits into
your quarterly plan. (Time required: 30 minutes.)
Activity #2: Schedule a Weekly Planning Session
Your weekly schedule will become your greatest defense against
procrastination and that feeling of overwhelm caused by daily tasks. Not
only does the weekly review give you a bird’s-eye view of all the tasks that
need to be completed but it also provides a realistic look at how much
time you actually have every seven days.

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To implement this activity, you need to schedule a 60-minute session
every week (preferably on a Friday or Sunday). During this block of time,
you’ll complete five actions: