How to get started when you really don't want to...

I’ve been meaning to write this post for ages but something else always seemed to crop up. First, I had to tidy my desk – you know how difficult it is to write with an untidy desk. Then I noticed there were some old documents I needed to delete from my folders, which then meant that I needed to organise the remaining documents. By that time, some emails had arrived and when I’d sorted those it was time to put some washing on. While I was in the kitchen, I thought I’d make myself a cup of coffee but I found I was out of coffee so I had to go to the shop…

You know the story. There’s a task that you need to do – you may even want to do it. It’s been sitting there for a while now but you never quite seem to get around to it. Consciously or subconsciously, you keep putting it off. But why? And how do you overcome that procrastination?

Not all procrastination is bad but it becomes an unhelpful habit when it starts to put you under pressure or means you risk missing important deadlines. If you find yourself doing this, the key thing is to ask yourself why you’re procrastinating. Is it a difficult or unpleasant task? Do you lack the skills, knowledge or confidence to do it?

If you procrastinate a lot, keep a note each time it happens and look for themes. Some common reasons why people procrastinate are a desire for perfection or a need to know everything before they start a task or a fear of failure. Understanding why you’re putting something off is a key step in spotting future tasks over which you might procrastinate; understanding the beliefs that lead you to procrastinate is the first step to changing those beliefs.

In the short term, here are some quick fixes that will help you to get going:

• If you can, try doing the hardest or least desirable part of the task first – after that, the rest will seem easy.
• Break the task down into sub tasks – the more the merrier. You’re more likely to do smaller, quicker tasks and it’s the old joke about eating an elephant: one piece at a time.
• Get a little egg timer and set it for around ten minutes – don’t check too closely, otherwise you’ll be tempted to clock-watch. Then start the task you’ve been putting off but promise yourself you’ll only do it until the alarm goes off. When it does, you have permission to go and do something more fun – or, if you feel like it, you can reset the alarm and keep on with the task.
• Reward yourself; promise yourself that when you’ve done the task you’ll go for a walk, or eat a bar of chocolate or book a flight to Hong Kong – then follow through.
• Hold yourself accountable – or, better still, find someone else to hold you accountable. Tell someone you trust that you’re going to do the task by a particular deadline and ask them to check up on you. With luck, they’ll not only check that you’ve done it when the deadline arrives, they’ll check that you’re working on it in advance of the deadline.

Finally, something that always works for me is to get those unpleasant or unattractive tasks out of the way first thing in the morning. I know I’m at my best in the morning and, if I do it first thing, it’s not hanging over me for the rest of the day.

The inspiredblog is taking a short break next week but we’ll be back on 11 February, picking up on our series about time management and bringing you the secrets of work/life balance. Now – stop reading this and get on with whatever it is you’ve been putting off!