How to Stop Procrastinating: Top Tricks

Research shows 95 percent of people put off till tomorrow what they could do today, a habit that affects friends, families, and co-workers. Here’s how to stop procrastinating for good.

1. Define what you’re trying to accomplish. That way, you know what you’re asking yourself to do. “The vaguer the task, or the more abstract the thinking it requires, the less likely you are to finish it.”
2. Put the word “focus” in front of you. On your desk, in the front page of your planner or at the top portion of the screen of your laptop. Pick the most important tasks, start with the one that excites you the most, and focus (that word again) on completing one task at a time.
3. Set a timer. Start a 25-minute countdown and get going, suggests Ryan Waggoner on lifehacker.com. You can do almost anything for 25 minutes, can’t you?
4. Shut off the Internet. Working while connected is “like trying to diet with a magic spoon of ice cream following you around”.
5. Aim for the smallest step. “Any improvement no matter how small, is a step in the right direction.” (Adapted by Jessy Pearl)

Source: Condensed from Reader’s Digest I March 2011