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

Action #7: Prioritize Your Important Values
This is an important step, yet it’s perhaps the most difficult step in the
process. In order to pick out your top values, visualize a situation where
you would have to choose between two values. For example, if you

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compare your core values of philanthropy and belongingness, ask this
question: What if you had to decide whether to move to a foreign country
to do valuable aid work or remain in your hometown and volunteer and
do local charity work? Go through your list of values with this in mind to
home in on your core values.
Repeat this process until you’ve identified the values that directly relate
to the potential projects. Once you have these in mind, you’ll make more
effective decisions about the five core projects that you’ll select.
How to Select Your Five Core Projects
It’s my hope that the biggest lesson you’ll get from this book is accepting
the fact that you have only a limited amount of time each week. Would
you rather spend your time stressing over dozens of different obligations
or would you like to focus on a handful of core activities that truly enrich
your life?
Hopefully you picked the first option!
If so, then I recommend another exercise that takes three steps to
complete.
First, write down (at least) 25 projects or activities that you might to
focus on. How you define projects is up to you. But generally speaking, I
consider a project to be anything that requires at least an hour or two of
my time each week. This can include:
coaching your kid’s soccer team;
starting a side business;
working out;
learning a new skill;
going to school;
tackling work-related projects;
planning a trip;
buying a new house; and

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dating and/or being in a relationship.
Now, I’ll admit that it might be weird to label some of these actions as
projects—especially the part about dating and relationships.
Not very romantic, right?
But look at this way: if your schedule is filled with too many tasks and
projects, then I guarantee you’re probably not being present in your
relationships. In my opinion, if you want to build something that lasts,
then it needs to be a priority.
To get started on this first step, I recommend writing down every possible
goal and outcome you’d like to focus on in the next year. Don’t be afraid
to jot down anything that pops into your mind, because you might
discover something that truly matters to you.
Second, take 30–60 minutes to examine this list and narrow down your
focus to five projects. One way to do this is to match each item to the core
values that came up in the previous exercise. Ask yourself, “Which option
do I feel most excited to focus on for the next few months?” Also be sure
to account for the areas of your life where there would be a serious
consequence if you ignored it (like your job).
Ultimately, what you choose should be a good balance of your personal
obligations with one or two projects that make you feel excited.
Third, commit to focusing only on these five items for the next few
months. This means that you’ll have to purposefully procrastinate on
many projects that sound interesting but that you don’t have time for.
Yes, this will require a bit of willpower (and frequently saying no), but
you’ll discover that when you singularly focus on a handful of activities,
it’s easier to get things done and avoid the trap of procrastination.
Now, it’s not enough to focus on five projects at a time. If you don’t know
what outcomes you’d like to accomplish, then you’ll still end up
procrastinating. That’s why I recommend creating S.M.A.R.T. goals,
which we’ll talk about in the next step.

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