Do you want to know how to stop putting off work?
Well get ready, because you are about to find out how to STOP putting things off and START getting stuff done!
I’m going to divide this article into 2 sections:
- WHY you put off working on things.
- HOW to stop putting off work.
Alright, enough procrastinating. Let’s do this!
Section 1: Why You Put Off Working on Things
Putting off work is a form of procrastination.
Procrastination is “the action of delaying or postponing something.”
So, when you put off work, you are delaying work that you want or need to get done.
Here are 7 reasons why you put off working on things:
Why You Put Off Working on Things – Reason 1: Distractions
Distractions are things which tempt your Present Self because they bring pleasure or relief in that moment.
EVEN though your Present Self knows they are NOT good for your Future Self.
Things like TV, video games, or your social media feed.
When you get distracted, you get pulled away from the work you know you should be doing.
Recommended articles:
Why You Put Off Working on Things – Reason 2: Other Competing Priorities
Unlike distractions, your competing priorities aren’t bad.
Rather, they are things that are of real importance.
For example:
- Exercise
- Errands
- And spending time with people close to you
Sometimes, these things force you to choose between them and getting work done.
Because you simply don’t have enough time in the day to devote to everything.
Other times, there IS a way to get everything done, if you manage your time more efficiently and spend less time on distractions.
Why You Put Off Working on Things – Reason 3: The Work Seems Overwhelming
One of the biggest reasons why you put off working on things, is that the work seems like too much to handle.
And because the work appears so difficult, you often get discouraged and put it off.
Of course, sometimes the work is truly challenging, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
However, there are a few factors that can make work SEEM even more difficult than it really is.
First, if you look at all the work you have to do from a big picture perspective, it can seem impossible.
That’s because you are focused on EVERYTHING you need to get done.
As opposed to focusing in on one task at a time. Which is usually much easier.
Second, you might not be sure how or where to start. Because you haven’t thought through the details.
Without at least some of the key details mapped out, it can be tough to get going.
Why You Put Off Working on Things – Reason 4: Fear
One of the biggest reasons why you put off working on things, is fear.
You may not even be thinking about that fear consciously, but it’s often there beneath the surface.
That fear can come in many forms, but the biggest of which are:
- Fear of failure: Which includes your worries about doing a bad job, not finishing on time, or getting negative feedback from others.
- And fear of the unknown: Which is the fear you get from going outside of your comfort zone and doing things you aren’t familiar with.
These fears can cause you a lot of emotional stress and make it harder for you to focus on the task at hand.
Why You Put Off Working on Things – Reason 5: Guilt
When you put off things you need to do, you tend to feel guilty.
And that feeling is perfectly natural. There is nothing wrong with that emotion occurring.
But you don’t want to get so lost in your guilt that you start punishing yourself.
When you are too hard on yourself, it only makes things worse.
In a negative emotional state, it is even harder to get yourself to do things.
And you end up procrastinating things even more.
Why You Put Off Working on Things – Reason 6: You Rely on Motivation Instead of Forming Habits
Often, you do work when you feel motivated.
But the problem is, you aren’t ALWAYS going to be motivated.
There will be plenty of times you are tired, uninspired, or just plain feeling lazy.
The better alternative to only working when you are motivated, is to form habits.
With habits, you will do things EVEN when you aren’t motivated. Because they will just become part of your regular routine.
But often habits are neglected in favor of motivation, which makes it harder to get work done on a consistent basis.
Why You Put Off Working on Things – Reason 7: The Mental or Physical Effort Required
Last, but certainly not least, is the very real effort required to get work done.
Your body and mind tend to RESIST doing work, because you bias your Present Self over your Future Self.
Even though you know that the work you do will help for your Future Self in the end, you are conflicted because your Present Self doesn’t want to do it.
Later on, I will give you a strategy to align the interests of your Present Self and your Future Self.
Section 2: How to Stop Putting Off Work
Now going to give you 9 steps for how to QUIT putting off work!
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 1: Create an Environment That Makes it Easier to Focus
The first thing I suggest when someone asks “how do I stop putting off work” is to make sure their environment is distraction free.
Here are several tips for how to do that:
- Have equipment you use just for work: For example, a dedicated work computer.
- Use apps to block distractions: If having dedicated work equipment isn’t possible, there are apps you can use to block games and other interruptions during work periods.
- Have a dedicated space you devote to work: This could even just be PART of a room, like always sitting in a certain chair.
Having a distraction-free environment helps create a sense of separation between the place where you do work, and the places you do other things.
Over time, having a dedicated work setup will get your brain in the habit of working when in that environment.
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 2: Break The Work Into Small Tasks
When you look at a project in its entirety, it can seem overwhelming.
But if you ZOOM in on each specific component, often that one piece isn’t that bad.
That’s why one of the most effective ways to quit putting off work is to break the work down into small tasks.
Dividing things into tiny tasks also helps reduce the feelings of fear that I mentioned earlier:
- Fear of failure decreases because things seem more achievable.
- And fear of the unknown goes down because you’ve broken things into smaller, clearer components.
Recommended Article: How to Break Down Goals Into Steps
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 3: Strike the Right Balance Between Under-Planning and Overplanning
When planning, you want to find a balance between 2 extremes.
- On the one hand, you have under-planning: That is when you don’t have things detailed out clearly enough. When plans are too vague, it’s going to be tough to get going because you don’t know where to start.
- On the other hand, you have overplanning: That is when you spend too much time in the planning phase. To the point where planning becomes another form of procrastination.
Here are a few tips that can help you avoid the pitfalls of under-planning and over-planning:
- Set a timer for initial planning and research: After that time limit is up, dive right into actually doing the work. Note, this doesn’t necessarily have to be an exact time. It could just be something like “I will spend the morning planning, after that, I will get started.”
- Don’t wait until you’ve figured out EVERYTHING to get started: As soon as you know enough to get the FIRST part of a project going, get that done. Then, come back to planning out the next phases after you’ve established some initial momentum.
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 4: Schedule Dedicated Work Times
Scheduling specific times to work can help you in 2 ways:
- First, it gives you structure: Which makes it less likely you will put work off.
- Second, it helps with prioritization: Because it makes it easier for you to prioritize the time you spend on work vs. other things. It’s much harder to do that if you just plan to work spontaneously at random periods.
Having dedicated work times is especially helpful if you keep the times CONSISTENT on a regular basis.
For example, perhaps you work every morning between 9am and 11am.
If you keep the times consistent, you will start to get in the habit of working during those periods.
EVEN when you aren’t feeling particularly motivated.
Recommended Article: How to Learn to be Consistent: A Wise Way to Live
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 5: Have a Routine That Gets You Started
The routine doesn’t have to be anything complicated. Just a simple thing you do to get yourself in the right mindset.
For example, before you write a paper, you might do the following:
- Get your computer out
- Turn your computer on
- Open and save a word document
- And put your name in the header
If you do a routine in the same order every time, you will train your brain to get to work as SOON as you complete the routine.
Another option is to build off of habits you already do.
For example, let’s say you have a morning routine that goes:
- Drink a glass of water
- Floss and brush teeth
- Shower
And now you decide to start working IMMEDIATELY AFTER you shower.
Inserting working within your existing routine will make it easier to get started with work.
That’s because you build off the momentum from your other habits.
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 6: Start With One of the Easiest Tasks
Speaking of momentum, a great way to create it, is to begin with one of the EASIEST tasks on your list.
For example, let’s say you have to create a PowerPoint report for work. And you break that into the following tasks:
- Make a title slide
- Create body slides with charts
- Write an executive summary
- And insert a thank-you slide
The executive summary and body slides seem relatively hard. So perhaps you want to start with something easier, like inserting the thank-you slide.
After you’ve done that, you might gain enough momentum to move on to a harder task.
Or, if you are still having trouble, you can do another easy task, like making the title slide.
Keep repeating the easy tasks as needed, until you eventually get enough energy to take on the tougher challenges.
If the tasks on your list ALL seem fairly hard, see if there is a way to divide them up further to make at least some of them easier.
For example:
- Instead of writing the full executive summary, you can just outline it.
- Or instead of thinking about all the charts, perhaps you focus on 1 specific chart which is not as difficult.
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 7: Do the Hardest Tasks When You Are Most Productive
So, what do you do if you have a task which is really hard and CAN’T be divided out further?
In that case, save that task for when you are most productive.
Exactly when, is going to vary based on your own unique circumstances.
For me, I tend to be most energized in the morning, so I like to do the hardest things on my list early.
I still start with 1 easy step to gain some momentum, but then I spend the rest of the morning on the more difficult things.
Of course, for you, the time you are most productive could be completely different. And that’s totally fine.
Perhaps you do your best work after meals when you have more energy. Or in the evening.
Naturally, you also have to factor in the priority of each task, so this might not work every time.
But whenever possible, try to schedule the hard tasks when you tend to be at your strongest.
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 8: Reward Yourself Along the Way
One of the best ways to get yourself to quit putting off work is to make it more rewarding.
Giving yourself rewards can help align the interests of your Present Self AND your Future Self.
That way all versions of you are on the same page and willing to get stuff done.
The rewards could be:
- Breaks
- Something tangible like food or entertainment
- Or simply giving yourself credit
If you get in the habit of rewarding yourself throughout the process of a project, your brain is going to be less likely to put things off.
Since the process ITSELF will seem more appealing.
Side note – if you want another method for how to make the process appealing, I have written extensively about how to focus on the process here. You can also check out the video below.
How to Stop Putting Off Work – Step 9: When You Put Off Work, Forgive Yourself and Limit The Damage
After you procrastinate, you often feel guilty.
And when you don’t forgive yourself, there is a tendency for things to spiral out of control.
You might even end up abandoning your plans for the entire day, or longer.
But what if instead, you forgive yourself, and just focus on limiting the damage?
You can’t control the initial feeling of guilt that arises, but you can control how you REACT to that guilt.
For example, imagine this scenario:
- You plan to work on an assignment from 9am to 11am.
- But you end up getting distracted, and all of a sudden you look at the clock and it’s 9:42. And you haven’t started yet.
There are two paths you can take from here:
- The first, is to be hard on yourself: And think “I feel really guilty that I didn’t start on time, I may as well just wait until tomorrow at this point, since I already messed up.”
- But the better option, is to forgive yourself, and limit the damage: Tell yourself “ok, no big deal, I’ll get started now at 9:42 and still work until 11 as planned.”
You see the thing is, it’s not usually the INITIAL procrastination that is a big deal.
It’s the tendency to get in your own head AFTER you’ve procrastinated, which leads to you putting off work for longer periods.