The Best Strategies to Overcome Procrastination to Become Productive and Successful

But don’t worry, there is hope. You can overcome procrastination and become more productive and successful by following some simple and effective strategies.

Ready to learn more? Let’s dive into the best strategies to overcome procrastination and how Wolf Task can help you with them.

Identify the role of procrastination in your life
Make time for time management
Break up large projects into smaller tasks
Find productive reasons to keep working on tasks and commitments
Keep your goals realistic and reassess them as needed

Identify the role of procrastination in your life

The first step to overcoming procrastination is to understand why you do it. Procrastination is not a sign of laziness or lack of motivation. It is a coping mechanism that you use to avoid negative emotions associated with a task, such as boredom, frustration, anxiety, fear, or self-doubt. By postponing the task, you temporarily escape from these unpleasant feelings, but you also create more stress and guilt for yourself in the long run.

To identify the role of procrastination in your life, you need to be honest with yourself and reflect on your habits and patterns. Ask yourself questions like:

What tasks do I tend to procrastinate on and why?
What emotions do I feel when I think about doing these tasks?
How does procrastination affect my life and my goals?
What are the benefits of completing these tasks?
What are the costs of not completing these tasks?

By answering these questions, you can gain more insight into your procrastination triggers and motivations, and how they impact your well-being and success. You can also use Wolf Task to help you with this process. You can create a note in Wolf Task and write down your answers to these questions. You can also use the app’s voice recognition feature to dictate your answers if you prefer. You can then review your note and analyze your procrastination behavior. You can also set a reminder in Wolf Task to revisit your note regularly and update it as needed.

Make time for time management

The second step to overcoming procrastination is to improve your time management skills. Time management is the ability to plan, prioritize, and execute your tasks and activities in an efficient and effective way. It helps you to manage your time and resources wisely, and to achieve your goals and deadlines. Time management also helps you to reduce stress, increase focus, and enhance your productivity and performance.

To improve your time management skills, you need to develop a system that works for you and your needs. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for time management, but there are some general principles that you can follow, such as:

Set SMART goals: SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These are the criteria that make your goals clear, realistic, and trackable. For example, instead of saying “I want to write a book”, you can say “I want to write a 50,000-word fiction novel by the end of the year”.
Create a schedule: A schedule is a plan that outlines what you need to do and when you need to do it. It helps you to organize your tasks and activities, and to allocate your time and resources accordingly. For example, you can create a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule that shows your tasks, deadlines, appointments, and other commitments.
Prioritize your tasks: Prioritization is the process of ranking your tasks and activities according to their importance and urgency. It helps you to focus on the most critical and valuable tasks first, and to avoid wasting time and energy on less important or urgent tasks. For example, you can use the Eisenhower Matrix, a tool that divides your tasks into four categories: Do, Decide, Delegate, and Delete.
Use a timer: A timer is a device that measures and limits the amount of time you spend on a task or activity. It helps you to stay focused, motivated, and accountable, and to avoid distractions and interruptions. For example, you can use the Pomodoro Technique, a method that breaks down your work into 25-minute intervals, separated by 5-minute breaks.
Review and adjust: Reviewing and adjusting is the process of evaluating your progress and performance, and making changes as needed. It helps you to monitor your results, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and improve your strategies and methods. For example, you can review your schedule and goals at the end of each day, week, or month, and adjust them according to your feedback and outcomes.

Wolf Task can help you with all these aspects of time management. You can use the app to create, organize, and track your tasks and goals, and to set reminders, deadlines, priorities, and tags for them. You can also use the app to create and view your schedule, and to sync it with your calendar and other apps. You can also use the app’s timer feature to set and track your work and break intervals, and to customize them according to your preferences.

Break up large projects into smaller tasks

The third step to overcoming procrastination is to break up large projects into smaller tasks. Large projects can be overwhelming and intimidating, and they can make you feel like you don’t know where to start or how to finish. By breaking them up into smaller tasks, you can make them more manageable and achievable, and you can reduce your resistance and anxiety. You can also increase your motivation and satisfaction, as you can see your progress and results more clearly and quickly.

To break up large projects into smaller tasks, you need to follow a simple process, such as:

Define the scope and objective of the project: What is the purpose and outcome of the project? What are the requirements and expectations? What are the constraints and challenges?
Divide the project into phases or stages: What are the main steps or milestones of the project? How do they relate to each other? What are the deliverables and criteria for each phase or stage?
Split each phase or stage into subtasks or actions: What are the specific activities or components of each phase or stage? How long will they take? Who is responsible for them? What are the dependencies and risks?
Estimate the time and resources needed for each subtask or action: How much time and effort will each subtask or action require? What are the tools and materials needed? What are the costs and benefits?
Assign a priority and deadline for each subtask or action: How important and urgent is each subtask or action? When does it need to be done? What are the consequences of not doing it?

Find productive reasons to keep working on tasks and commitments

The fourth step to overcoming procrastination is to find productive reasons to keep working on tasks and commitments. Productive reasons are positive and meaningful motivations that drive you to take action and complete your tasks and commitments. They can be intrinsic or extrinsic, depending on whether they come from within yourself or from external sources. For example, some productive reasons are:

Personal interest and enjoyment: You work on a task or commitment because you find it fun, challenging, or rewarding. You are curious and passionate about the topic or activity, and you want to learn more or improve your skills.
Personal values and beliefs: You work on a task or commitment because it aligns with your core values and beliefs. You care about the purpose and outcome of the task or commitment, and you want to make a positive difference or contribution.
Personal goals and aspirations: You work on a task or commitment because it helps you to achieve your personal goals and aspirations. You have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish or become, and you want to make progress or reach your potential.
Social support and recognition: You work on a task or commitment because you have the support and recognition of others. You have people who encourage, inspire, or help you, and you want to please, impress, or thank them.
Social responsibility and obligation: You work on a task or commitment because you have a responsibility or obligation to others. You have people who depend on you, trust you, or expect you, and you want to fulfill, honor, or respect them.

To find productive reasons to keep working on tasks and commitments, you need to identify and focus on the benefits and rewards of completing them, rather than the costs and risks of not completing them. You also need to connect your tasks and commitments to your personal or professional interests, values, goals, or relationships. You can ask yourself questions like:

Why is this task or commitment important or meaningful to me?
How does this task or commitment relate to my personal or professional interests, values, goals, or relationships?
What are the positive outcomes or consequences of completing this task or commitment?
What are the negative outcomes or consequences of not completing this task or commitment?
How will I feel or what will I gain if I complete this task or commitment?
How will I feel or what will I lose if I don’t complete this task or commitment?

Wolf Task can help you with this step as well. You can use the app to create a note in Wolf Task and write down your answers to these questions. You can then review your note and remind yourself of your productive reasons whenever you feel tempted to procrastinate. You can also set a reminder in Wolf Task to revisit your note regularly and update it as needed.

Keep your goals realistic and reassess them as needed

The fifth and final step to overcoming procrastination is to keep your goals realistic and reassess them as needed. Realistic goals are goals that are challenging but attainable, and that match your abilities and resources. They help you to stay motivated, focused, and confident, and to avoid frustration, disappointment, and burnout. Unrealistic goals, on the other hand, are goals that are too easy or too hard, and that exceed your abilities and resources. They can make you feel bored, overwhelmed, or hopeless, and lead to procrastination, avoidance, or quitting.

To keep your goals realistic and reassess them as needed, you need to follow a flexible and adaptive approach. You need to be willing to adjust your goals according to your feedback and outcomes, and to cope with changes and challenges. You also need to celebrate your achievements and learn from your failures, and to reward yourself and seek feedback from others. You can use the following tips to help you with this step:

Use the SMART criteria to set your goals: As mentioned earlier, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These are the criteria that make your goals clear, realistic, and trackable.
Break down your goals into subgoals: As mentioned earlier, breaking down your goals into subgoals helps you to make them more manageable and achievable, and to reduce your resistance and anxiety.
Track and measure your progress and performance: Tracking and measuring your progress and performance helps you to monitor your results, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and improve your strategies and methods.
Review and revise your goals as needed: Reviewing and revising your goals as needed helps you to adapt to changes and challenges, and to cope with feedback and outcomes. You can use the PDCA cycle, a tool that consists of four steps: Plan, Do, Check, and Act.
Celebrate your achievements and learn from your failures: Celebrating your achievements and learning from your failures helps you to acknowledge your efforts and results, and to boost your motivation and confidence. You can use the SWOT analysis, a tool that helps you to evaluate your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Reward yourself and seek feedback from others: Rewarding yourself and seeking feedback from others helps you to reinforce your behavior and outcomes, and to increase your satisfaction and recognition. You can use the CARL method, a tool that helps you to give and receive feedback based on Context, Action, Result, and Learning.

Wolf Task can help you with this step as well. You can use the app to create, organize, and track your goals and subgoals, and to set reminders, deadlines, priorities, and tags for them. You can also use the app to celebrate your achievements and learn from your failures, and to reward yourself and seek feedback from others.

Conclusion

Procrastination is a common problem that affects millions of people around the world. It can have negative consequences for your personal and professional life, such as stress, anxiety, poor performance, missed deadlines, and lost opportunities. However, you can overcome procrastination and become more productive and successful by following these simple and effective strategies.

Check out the video below for some added great tips on how to overcome procrastination if you need more help.

Thank you for reading this article. We hope you found it useful in your productivity journey. Also, if you have any questions, or suggestions, please feel free to let us know. We would love to hear from you.

How to Overcome Procrastination to Become Productive