Do you put off things to the next day? And do you do it all the time? If yes, you are in the habit of procrastinating. Procrastination is the act of delaying a task that needs to be actioned straightaway but gets delayed due to lack of motivation or because the task seems hard.

If you happen to be a habitual procrastinator, don’t worry, you are not alone — procrastination is probably the most common human trait. However, by adopting some useful strategies, you can reduce this undesirable tendency. The following tips are intended to help you overcome procrastination and make your day more productive.

One: Define Your Goals Clearly

The first step to overcome your procrastination is to define your tasks or goals. These goals should be as clearly defined as possible. Clarity is an essential part of productivity. You can’t work effectively if you don’t know what you are after. So figure out what tasks matter the most to you — look for something both doable and worth doing.

In order to bring clarity to your goals, write your tasks down instead of trying to sort them out in your head. Statistics show that only three percent of adults manage their time with written goals, and they accomplish five to ten times more than those who don’t jot down their priorities. Even highly educated individuals are less productive than those who write down their goals.

A useful technique to achieve clarity of goals is to make them SMART. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Let’s go through these features one by one.

Specific: Your goals should be clearly defined, leaving no room for ambiguity. For instance, the goal should specify who, what, when, which, and why. What needs to be done? And why? Who is going to do that? And when? Which resources are required?

Measurable: Your goals should have quantifiable metrics to track progress and determine success. For example, if you want to lose weight, what is your target weight in kilograms or pounds. Can you measure your progress periodically? e.g. checking your weight on weekly basis.

Achievable: Rather than setting unattainable targets, your goals should be realistically achievable. For instance, if you plan to lose 10 kilograms of weight, it might take six months through a steady diet control and exercise plan, but setting a target of losing 10 kilos in 10 days seems unachievable, rather injurious to health.

Relevant: Your goals should be aligned with your overall objectives, values, and strategic plans. An example is to count your steps or measure your calories intake, and how do these goals align with your weight loss strategy.

Time Bound: Your goals should have a well-defined target date, creating a sense of urgency and accountability. For example, losing 10 kilograms in three months’ time is an example of a time bound target.

Lack of clarity can lead to procrastination. Rather than setting some random goals, make your goals SMART.

Two: Plan Your Day in Advance

After you’ve outlined your goals, plan ahead and allocate your time and other resources in advance. It’s better to put five to ten minutes into planning your day rather than starting with a random task. Having a plan will give you a sense of purpose. Each accomplished task will boost your confidence for the next one, and you will keep cracking your goals.

A useful strategy in this regard is to break your goals down into a series of tasks that you can execute one after the other. This approach will help you visualize your goals before actual execution. Besides when you will look back on the tasks you’ve completed, you’ll feel proud. This is a good way of keeping you motivated.

Where applicable, use the 80/20 rule, also called the Pareto Principle. The 80/20 rule says that every list of ten tasks should include two tasks that are much more important than the others.; focus on those two. Most people make the mistake of dealing with the easy things – the 80 percent – and procrastinate on the remaining 20 percent that really matters but seems tedious.

Use checklists where relevant. Research has shown that productivity improves by 25 percent when you work from a list. You save a lot of time when you don’t have to decide what to do first. Apart from task prioritization, you need to manage your time effectively. More on time management in the next tip.

We often procrastinate because the task seems to hard. Breakdown and prioritize your tasks. Use 80/20 rule to identify high value tasks.

Three: Manage Your Time Effectively

The 80:20 rule explained earlier would save you a lot of your resources. One of those resources is time. In fact, in most situations, time is your most precious resource. Time management is a key to being successful in overcoming procrastination and make each day more productive. A few tips for effective time management include:

One: Distinguish between urgent and important tasks. Some tasks are short and urgent; execute to get them out of the way as soon as possible. Develop an action plan for your important, long-term goals, and work on them on daily basis.

Two: Avoid multitasking whenever you can. Contrary to common perception, multitasking doesn’t make you more efficient. It is better to tick a few boxes than leaving everything in progress forever.

Three: If you tend to be a perfectionist, keep your perfectionism pragmatic. Spending all your time on a single task to make it look perfect is like sitting in the exam and presenting an overdetailed answer to a single question when you were actually required to answer five questions within the allocated time.

Manage your time by distinguishing between urgent and important tasks. Avoid multitasking and curb your perfectionism to a practicable level.

Four: Practice, Practice, Practice

You may have heard the saying, “Practice makes a man perfect”. Practice or preparation can be a major difference between being productive or non-productive. You will be amazed by what you can achieve with preparation. It’s like being prescient and ready for whatever the future brings. The more knowledge you accumulate through practice and experience, the better you become at it, and the faster you can get things done.

In addition to enhancing your productivity, preparation boosts your confidence and keeps you motivated for taking on further challenges. For instance, a well-prepared presentation is more likely to receive a better response, thereby boosting your confidence for the next time.

Sometimes, procrastination is due to lack of confidence. Practice or preparation boosts your confidence.

Five: Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

A key step towards overcoming your procrastination is to understand your own skills. Everyone has a special talent that makes them unique. Find yours, then maximize your potential in your chosen field. Your special skill or passion might make you valuable to others. You might be good at numbers, foreign languages, working with people or holding up under pressure; find out your real talent— identify your niche.

To identify your special skill or niche, ask yourself the right questions. What’s easy for you that’s difficult for others? What has helped you achieve what you have achieved in life? Find something you are good at and put it to use. Your aim should be to achieve expertise in that area. Focus your efforts to leverage your talents. This is the best way to make progress in less time.

While identifying your strengths is crucial, recognising your weaknesses is important as well. You might say you don’t have any weaknesses. But that won’t be true, and you know that. As human beings, we all have weaknesses— acknowledge them and improve upon them.

Identify your strengths and weaknesses. This is the first step towards improvement. Continuous improvement will keep you motivated and you will be less likely to procrastinate.

Six: Try Your Best, No Matter What

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. One of the factors leading to procrastination is the perception that a goal is too hard to accomplish — this leads to fear of failure. Failures are part of any successful venture, whether it a personal endeavour or a professional enterprise. It is important to remember that each failure takes you closer to success. In that sense, the more you try, the more you fail, and the closer you get to success.

Rather than focusing on the impossibility of a task, just focus on giving your best every single day. Remember that life doesn’t require you to be the best; it requires you to try your best. This approach will help you keep going without caring for failures and setbacks. So rather than postponing things because they seem too hard, keep trying— each time a bit more wisely, getting closer to success steps by tiny steps.

You are more likely to procrastinate, if you are not ready to accept less than perfect result. If you believe in trying your best, you will get good results, if not perfect.

Seven: Don’t Let Things Get Out of Hand

You might have heard the saying “Nip the evil in the bud”. It is important to learn that most problems tend to grow over time. As you procrastinate over moderately difficult tasks, they may become increasingly complex. Many problems can be resolved rather easily if they are tackled early on. This is applicable to both personal and business situations.

Going back to the example of working on weight loss mentioned earlier, if you live an inactive life and eat unhealthy food, it is easier to control this habit while you are still young and determined. However, it becomes increasingly difficult as you grow old and lose your ambition while accumulating excessive weight.

Similarly, if you are not enjoying a good working relationship with a coworker, it might take a simple conversation over a coffee break to develop a better rapport. But if you leave that situation unattended, it might turn into a lifetime animosity. Don’t procrastinate; resolve problems before they grow too big to overcome. Good luck!

Procrastination can turn small challenges into insurmountable obstacles. Do not let this happen; tackle issues early on while they are still small and manageable.

Bonus Tip: To reduce the risk of procrastinating on your tasks, include others in your commitments. Including your peers in your commitments will put peer pressure on you, thereby pushing you to complete the tasks that you might postpone otherwise. For instance, if you plan to lose weight through diet control and exercise, having a partner or competitor will increase your chances of executing the plan rather than delaying it— you would like to lose some weight for sure, but you won’t like to lose a bet to your mate, right?

In A Nutshell:

If you are a habitual procrastinator, below tips should help you overcome this habit:

1. Be clear about your goals right from the beginning.
2. Rather than starting with random tasks, plan your day in advance.
3. Manage your time by avoiding distractions and curbing your perfectionism.
4. When you feel like procrastinating, practice taking actions no matter how small.
5. Don’t try to be the best; focus on trying your best.
6. Involve others in your commitments; you will get more done when you are challenged.