21 ways to STOP PROCRASTINATING and get more things done in less time.
Focus on Key Result Areas
A key result area is an activity that is under your control. It produces an output that becomes an input or a contributing factor to the work of others.
Identify the key result areas of your work. For example, the key result areas of management are planning, organizing, staffing, delegating, supervising, measuring, and reporting.
Practice Creative Procrastination
Creative procrastination is the act of thoughtfully and deliberately deciding upon the exact things you are not going to do right now, if ever.
Select at least one activity to abandon immediately or at least deliberately put off until your more important goals have been achieved.
Use the ABCDE Method Continually
“A” tasks that are most important: the things that you must do.
“B” tasks only have minor consequences: things that you should do, but they only have mild consequences.
“C” tasks have no consequences: they have no effect at all on your work life.
“D” for delegate: the things that you can delegate to someone else.
“E” for eliminate: the things you should eliminate altogether.
Technology Is a Terrible Master
For you to stay calm, clearheaded, and capable of performing at your best, you need to detach on a regular basis from the technology and communication devices that can overwhelm you if you are not careful.
Resist the urge to start turning on communication devices as soon as you wake up in the morning.
Motivate Yourself into Action
To keep yourself motivated, you must resolve to become a complete optimist. For that:
- Look for the good in every situation.
- Seek the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty.
- Search for the solution to every problem.
- Think and talk continually about the goals.
Apply the Law of Three
Identify your three most important goals in each area of your life. Organize them by priority. Make plans for their accomplishment.
Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin
Get everything you need at hand before you begin.
Your work environment should be clean and neat to feel more positive productive and confident.
Brian’s personal rule “Get it 80 percent right and then correct it later.”
Develop a Sense of Urgency
Resolve today to develop a sense of urgency in everything you do. Select one area where you have a tendency to procrastinate, and make a decision to develop the habit of fast action in that area.
Single Handle Every Task
Single handling requires that once you begin, you keep working at the task without diversion or distraction until the job is 100 percent complete.
Build self-discipline which Elbert Hubbard defined as “the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”
Positive Addiction
Develop a “positive addiction” to organize your life such that one is continually starting and completing more important tasks first.
Stop procrastinating and get more things done in less time, using the following tips.
• Decide exactly what you want.
• Write it down. Think on paper and make it tangible.
• Set a deadline for the goal, set sub-deadlines if necessary.
•List down everything you may need to do to achieve your goal.
• Break things down into individual tasks, and arrange them in priority and sequence to form a plan.
• Take action immediately. Do something, do anything.
• Do something everyday that moves you toward your major goal.
Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything
The Pareto Principle or 80/20 Principle says that 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results.
Resist the temptation to clear the small tasks first; instead, start your day by asking, “Is this task in the top 20% or bottom 80% of my activities?”
Resist the temptation to clear up small things first.
Introduction
The principle behind this, made popular by Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog, is to do the most difficult and unappealing task first thing each day so that you can proceed with the rest of your day knowing that the worst has already passed.
The 1st rule of frog eating is: If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.
The 2nd rule of frog eating is: If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long.
Technology Is a Wonderful Servant
Use your technological tools to regularly remind yourself of what is most important and protect yourself from what is least important.
Resolve to research and install one piece of software or one app that will help you be more efficient and focused.
Focus Your Attention
Current research proves that continuously responding emails, calls and texts has a negative effect on your brain, shortening your attention span and making it difficult to complete the task on time.
Try to work for a period to complete your task and then reward yourself with a shot a dopamine by checking your notifications.
Create Large Chunks of Time
Think continually of different ways that you can save, schedule, and consolidate large chunks of time.
One of the keys to high levels of performance and productivity is to make every minute count. Use travel and transition times to complete small chunks of larger tasks.
Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time
Get your mind off the huge task in front of you and focus on a single action that you can take.
Sometimes all you need to do to get started is to sit down and complete one item on the list.
Upgrade Your Key Skills
Identify the key skills that can help you the most to achieve better and faster results. Whatever, they are, set a goal, make a plan, and begin developing and increasing your ability in those areas.
Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.
Consider the Consequences
Having a clear idea of what is really important to you in the long term makes it much easier for you to make better decisions about your priorities in the short term.
There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do. So ask yourself “What’s the most valuable use of my time right now?”
Plan everyday in Advance
Use 10/90 Rule which says that the first 10% of time used to plan your work can save you 90% of the execution time once you start.
Begin today to plan every day, week, and month in advance. Add to your list as new things come up.
Identify Your Key Constraints
What is holding you back? What sets the speed at which you achieve your goals? What determines how fast you move from where you are to where you want to go?
Make a list of every step in a process and examine every activity to determine exactly what is holding you back.
Put the Pressure on Yourself
Get into the habit of putting pressure on yourself to complete work independently.
Set higher standards for yourself than the standards others set for you.
Slice and Dice the Task
Cut a big task down to size using the “salami slice” method of getting work done.
With the salami slice method, you lay out the task in detail and then resolve to do just one slice of the job for the time being, like eating a roll of salami one slice at a time—or like eating an elephant one bite at a time.
