How to Beat Procrastination at Work

Everyone procrastinates sometimes, but creative people seem more prone to it than others. especially writers. Not just novelists and poets, but also copywriters and journalists.

It’s a universal flaw in human psychology, though. Graphic designers, musicians, and even plumbers sometimes succumb to it.

The good news is that it’s surprisingly easy to beat.

Just do it. The muse is a myth. If you sit around and wait for inspiration to strike, you’ll hardly ever get anything done.

Motivation comes after you start. As psychologist David Burns wrote in his landmark book, Feeling Good, “You have to prime the pump. Then you will begin to get motivated, and the fluids will flow spontaneously.”

First comes action. Then comes motivation, followed by more action.

All working professionals know this, but many of us are prone to forgetting and have to be reminded over and over again. Consider this your weekly reminder.

If all you need to do is work for five minutes, just sit down and work for five minutes.

Science-fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson forces himself to write 50 words a day and no more. Hardly a tall order. This paragraph alone includes more than 50 words, so you can see at a glace how little that actually is. If he’d rather do something else for the rest of the day when he reaches the minimum, he gives himself permission to call it a day without guilt.

If he wrote only 50 words a day, he wouldn’t get very much done. But he rarely writes only 50. Once he gets started, he’s almost always motivated to keep going.

It sounds like a lazy person’s work ethic, but paradoxically his method has made him one of the most prolific writers in the world with more than 120 published books. Because unlike most writers, he produces something every day without exception.

Don’t eat the elephant. Imagine if someone delivered an elephant to your house and ordered you to eat the whole thing. You might feel disgusted. You’d certainly feel overwhelmed. Never mind taking out a knife and a fork, you’d probably rather do anything but even think about eating that elephant.

If someone were to cut that elephant into half-pound steaks, however, and order you to eat just one per day, it wouldn’t be so bad. You might even feel terrific. Hey, a freezer full of steaks!

So when you’re facing a large project that will last days, weeks, or even months, thinking of it as an elephant you have to eat is a guaranteed motivation killer. You can’t eat an elephant. A single steak, though, that’s easy. Possibly even delicious.

Limit yourself. Don’t just cut that elephant into steaks to make it feel less overwhelming. Actually limit yourself to eating just one per day and no more. Then cut it into pieces and limit yourself again to small chunks throughout the day.

Here’s how it works. Force yourself to take a break after an hour. If you’re feeling particularly overwhelmed, force yourself to take a break after just thirty minutes or even twenty. If you’re sick, require yourself to take a break after ten. Get up and go for a walk, make a cup of coffee, do a crossword puzzle, or anything else you enjoy after your time is up even if you aren’t finished working yet.

If you force yourself to take breaks, your productivity will actually go up, partly because your mind has a chance to rest, but also because it’s easier to get started when you know the break is coming ahead of time.

Avoid should statements. If you’re procrastinating and beating up on yourself, don’t tell yourself you should get to work. That word implies consequences from your boss, your clients, your editors, or whoever else.

Use carrots rather than sticks. Do it for yourself. Tell yourself that you’ll feel better after you start. All those feelings of frustration and angst will vanish just minutes after you start. On some level you know this is true no matter how much you’d rather go to the mall or watch Leave it to Beaver. Wouldn’t you rather feel good about yourself sooner rather than later?