5 Surefire Ways to Beat Procrastination Today


I have a confession to make.  I'm a procrastinator.  I'm in recovery, but it's been a long road.  In high school, I was king of homework in homeroom.  In college, term papers were written the night before, and, when I first started leading children's ministry, the best time to plan for kids church was an hour before service.

I knew I couldn't continue this way, and to be honest, I still struggle from time to time.  So here's some easy thing you can do today to help you better prepare for tomorrow.

  1. Start planning just one week ahead.  When I first started out in ministry, I would plan for Sunday on Thursdays.  It worked for several years, but then one week life happened, and it all fell apart.  My volunteers were mad and confused, and I looked stupid.  It was not a good day.  Now I plan three weeks in advance, but I got there by simply planning two services in my planning time instead of just one.  I did that for two weeks, and I was there. This step has made my life so much less stressful. 
  2. Make a to-do list.  I love lists, especially to-do lists.  There's a certain joy in checking off a task and moving on.  Sometimes, we procrastinate because we feel that there's just too much to do, and we don't know where to start.  Putting everything on one sheet of paper can help put things in perspective and increase your likelihood of getting things done in time and on time.
  3. Set a timer.  As my work load started piling up, I felt like I was running out of time to get everything done.  I then realized that I was wasting an inordinate amount of time on Facebook and Twitter.  I started to set a timer on how long I would mindlessly scroll and found myself getting a lot more done. 
  4. Budget your time. Many procrastinators, myself included, love to do things that entertain us.  There's nothing wrong with entertainment and it actually reduces stress.  However, indulge too much and your workflow suffers.  Budget your time to spend on leisure and time to work, and then stick to it the best you can.  
  5. Conquer the big projects first. Studies have shown that we're more likely to get the hard things done in morning.  Our wills are stronger, and we have more energy.  Unfortunately, procrastinators like to put things off to the very last minute.  When this happens there's no more energy or brain power to accomplish the task.  We usually just give up and put off until the next day and the pattern continues.  I suggest conquer the big things first.  If you don't want to do that big task yet, just go ahead and get it over with.  I've found my capacity to get the big things done has greatly increased since I started this practice.
Procrastinator's mantra is "Why do today, what you can do tomorrow?"  I've worn that one proudly for a long time. Nonetheless as I've grown and earned more responsibility, I've realized that the original statement, "Why do tomorrow, what you can do today?" has made me a much better leader, husband, and Christ-follower.

What do you do to overcome procrastination?  Leave a comment below.

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