How to Stop Procrastinating

Why do we delay things we know are important? This book offers a way to break free from procrastination and take charge of your time and goals.

1. Clarify Your Commitments

Procrastination often stems from tasks piling up without a clear headspace to manage them. Clarity begins by prioritizing and organizing your commitments. Taking time to lay everything out frees your mind and reduces the stress caused by mental clutter.

To start, create a master list of everything demanding your attention for the next year. This includes work, personal projects, and even everyday errands. Having everything in one list shifts the burden from your mind onto paper, allowing you to focus instead of ruminate. Whether you use a notebook or digital tools, consistency is key.

Two approaches help tackle tasks effectively. The Getting Things Done (GTD) method captures every task, while a simpler one-year focus limits commitments to more urgent goals. Both strategies reduce overwhelm, helping you see priorities clearly and fostering daily momentum.

Examples

• Use Evernote to categorize professional, personal, and family responsibilities.
• Apply GTD to categorize detailed work projects like quarterly reports and routine chores like grocery shopping.
• Limit your yearly task list to high-impact goals, like completing a course or planning a move.

2. Prioritize Five Core Projects

To stay productive, shift from being busy to being intentional. The "25-5 Rule" urges you to focus on what's most important. By narrowing down broader goals, you align limited time with your highest values.

Write down 25 goals you'd like to achieve. Then, circle only five that matter most and set aside the rest. This process keeps distractions at bay and ensures energy goes to what truly advances you. Clear priorities help reduce stress and give permission to let go of less meaningful goals.

Focus can be enhanced by aligning these five projects with your personal values. For example, if health and family are priorities, your projects might include committing to a fitness routine or attending key family gatherings, ensuring purposeful momentum.

Examples

• Use a journal session to list your aspirations and circle five essential ones.
• Tie selected goals, like career advancement, to deeper values such as financial stability.
• Avoid spreading yourself thin by postponing less urgent hobbies or interests.

3. Use SMART Goals for Quarterly Motivation

SMART goals energize success by breaking ambitions into smaller, time-oriented targets. By avoiding long-term, vague goals, you stay anchored in practical and measurable plans every three months.

A SMART goal defines what you want to achieve specifically and frames it with measurable criteria — whether it’s stepping up your daily steps or making progress in a big project. Align them with your values to make them meaningful, and give yourself a timeline to drive progress. For instance, “Lose ten pounds by September” is more actionable than “Get fit this year.”

Quarterly plans offer flexibility. If a goal like improving a skill takes more than three months, divide it into achievable segments. Adjust through frequent reviews, making sure each goal remains both relevant and doable.

Examples

• Change “Save some money” into “Save $3,000 by December.”
• Improve time management with a measurable rule of completing two tasks per hour.
• Track daily productivity in tools like Todoist to hit weekly or quarterly landmarks.

4. Learn to Say No

Procrastination often arises when we take on too many commitments, leaving important tasks sidelined. Saying no protects your time and energy so you can focus on priorities.

Declining tasks politely but firmly is a skill worth practicing. For instance, when asked to join a committee unrelated to your goals, clearly state that your current commitments don’t allow for it. Getting comfortable with this response avoids overloading your schedule.

For tasks you naturally dislike but are unavoidable, link them to broader goals. Viewing routine work, like cleaning a workspace, as part of your overall wellness plan can give unappealing chores purpose.

Examples

• Email a colleague to decline extra work politely, explaining priority conflicts.
• Say no to distractions like non-essential meetings eating into an already busy calendar.
• Refrain from social obligations during weeks when family or career demands peak.

5. Plan Weekly and Tackle the “Big Rocks” First

Weekly planning ensures that time goes towards significant priorities rather than getting lost in the day-to-day shuffle. Concentrate on "big rocks" — the key tasks that contribute most to your goals.

During your weekly review, identify your major priorities. Plot these directly into your calendar to guarantee focus. The remainder of your tasks, or what the book calls "pebbles and sand," can fill in around these bigger commitments.

Plan theme days for better focus, grouping similar tasks to save time. For example, reserve Mondays for administrative work or Wednesdays for creative brainstorming. This system helps maximize productivity by reducing decision fatigue.

Examples

• Block out specific times in Google Calendar for family time, workouts, or big presentations.
• Dedicate Fridays to future planning and Mondays to dissecting past week results.
• Reflect on your biggest win at the end of each week to replicate success.

6. Begin the Day With Your Most Important Tasks

Starting the day with key priorities ensures progress before distractions creep in. Focus your mornings on 2-3 MITs (Most Important Tasks), which will set the tone for a productive day.

These tasks should tie to long-term objectives, not just urgent matters. For example, prioritizing a proposal due next week over answering non-urgent messages ensures key progress early on. Completing big-ticket tasks early keeps motivation high to handle lower-priority items later.

Using tools like the Eisenhower Matrix also helps classify which of your tasks need immediate action. By sidestepping less critical chores, you retain clarity.

Examples

• Divide to-do lists daily: urgent emails after completing your MIT.
• Focus on creating one project draft before reacting to team updates.
• Reserve quiet early mornings for tasks needing creativity or concentration.

7. Use the Pomodoro Technique to Stay Focused

Procrastination often stems from mental fatigue. The Pomodoro Technique is an effective remedy by structuring focus with timed intervals.

Work on a single task for 25-minute bursts, followed by a five-minute break. Removing distractions during this window lets you fully engage while the break provides valuable time to recharge. Repeat these cycles and take longer breaks after completing four sessions.

Breaking tasks into bite-sized Pomodoros lowers resistance to starting. Avoid feeling overwhelmed as time becomes manageable and accomplishments steadily accumulate.

Examples

• Tackle report writing in three Pomodoros of 25 minutes each.
• Combine music-free sessions with an alarm timer for distraction-free productivity.
• Reward task streaks with motivating activities like watching a short clip.

8. Build Resilience By Tackling Discomfort

Fear of uncomfortable tasks often drives procrastination. Addressing small, difficult tasks daily builds mental strength and reduces avoidance tendencies.

Start with small wins — tasks slightly outside your comfort zone. These can include engaging in challenging conversations or testing new skills. Each small victory conditions you to tolerate progressively bigger challenges, breaking cycles of overthinking.

Facing discomfort trains your brain to normalize action over avoidance. Gradual exposure is not only emotionally easier; it remakes procrastination into opportunity-seeking.

Examples

• Volunteer to lead meetings that scare you, knowing practice will lessen hesitation.
• Pitch a creative idea even if it's uncertain to gain feedback experiences.
• Break dull tasks (like annual taxes) into micro-activities spread across weeks.

9. Keep Yourself Accountable

Accountability ensures follow-through on your commitment. Use tools and accountability partners to keep actions aligned with stated priorities.

Track daily completions with apps or written checklists. Alternatively, partner with someone to manage shared goals, checking progress regularly. Knowing you're accountable motivates consistency more effectively than relying solely on willpower.

Adding end-of-day reflections can refine your behavior. Ask yourself, "What went well? What didn’t? How do I adapt?" Regular self-awareness can prevent procrastination from re-emerging.

Examples

• Partner with a friend for morning check-ins sharing completed habits.
• Develop scorecards tracking weekly MITs completed against plans.
• Share SMART deadlines with your team, creating a motivation feedback loop.

Takeaways

1. Dedicate Mondays as your "weekly strategic planning" day and ensure your "big rocks" are always calendared first.
2. Use the 25-5 Rule immediately by revisiting your goal lists and eliminating distractions from the bottom 20 items.
3. Adopt the Pomodoro Technique tomorrow for your most dreaded work task as an experiment to unlock flow states.