How to get shit done: An Ultimate Guide To Ditch Procrastination

"Just one more episode" is usually the favorite blindfold I wear. The results, however, turn out to be quite the opposite: "If I would have had just one more day, I would've skipped the episode and performed better today"
If you are here, you are probably through the "Recognizing you are Procrastinating" stage so I'm going to skip all those stories and get straight to the point. You know you have a problem, I know you have a problem, and you and I are not the only ones with this problem. Procrastination is not a mental illness and it's as common as 88% of the entire world population being a subject of it. Now that we have the basics laid out, let us work on what can get us to move our asses and get things done so we don't end up getting kicked out of our houses.

1) Realize the cause of your Procrastination

This line has two ends to it. Your procrastination can be caused by either (a) you being attracted to a source of entertainment or (b) you using that source of entertainment to distract yourself from a task that you are avoiding. In both cases, the simplest guide to the easiest solution is determining what are the two major elements in the above theory. I name them FUN and WORK; with FUN being the source of distraction and WORK being the task that is being side stepped respectively. For example, as a student I am avoiding studying for a test (WORK) tomorrow and scrolling on Instagram (FUN) instead.

2)Dealing with FUN

Now that we are completely aware about our minds' behavior, our job is to flip the brain's tricks and deceive it in return. FUN is now to be locked away for a while. Your mind doesn't need Instagram, trust me. It needs entertainment, anything that distracts it from looking at a specific book's particular page all day long. And if that entertainment is not beneficial for you, honey, it needs to be taken away. In the example we are using here, I will not be an extremist and lock away my phone since I am most likely to run back to it for one thing or another and end up on Instagram again. So I will just uninstall Instagram instead. Just like this example has Instagram, other online forms of entertainment include chatting with friends, reading e-books or articles, watching videos etc. All of the above require the platform of activity to be deleted or uninstalled. If your distraction is a physical item, like a novel or a video game, they need to be locked in a closet, or given to a friend who lives far. If neither of these are manageable, just give it to a relative and instruct them not to give it back until a specific date. 

3)Improving WORK strategy

After dealing with FUN, it won't be easy to move forward; but that doesn't mean it's impossible. During this time, it is extremely necessary to strictly refrain from finding other activities to entertain yourself, since many is the times you can subconsciously end up with a new form of procrastination. As soon as possible, get started with your task normally such as studying from your academic course book, or finishing an assignment on your laptop. This will let you achieve at least a bit, if not major, progress and provide a sense of fulfillment and motivation to keep going. The minute you feel like its getting too boring, or you catch yourself thinking about irrelevant matters constantly, its time to stir things up. If you have been studying from a book, start making notes or writing it all down. This will not only help you memorize faster, but it will also help you concentrate due to our need to keep thinking about a topic to be able to write it down which will prevent wandering off to other subject matters. A switch of the surroundings such as from indoors to outdoors might also help you calm down and help in working efficiently. The trick here is to make your WORK seem so interesting and new that the brain embraces it and keeps enjoying it for a long time. Don't be frustrated if you have to change your methods of maintaining focus often. If not anything, you will definitely learn which strategy appeals to your brain and you can keep fooling around with your brain on your way to hard work and determination. Joke's on you brain, 'cuz I just met my headline and excelled towards a better position!

4)The Side Steps

If the above mentioned steps don't suit you or if you are still looking for more techniques, I would suggest you to rest assured. Because as long as your goal is to ward off the evil spirit of procrastination, you have the support of the world and I. No one set the limit for the number of solutions of any problem, and that surely includes not being able to work it up. If reading this article is a part of your procrastinated time, you already know all the important juice you could get out of this. So I don't recommend, but instruct you to close all the tabs/recent apps, switch off your device and start working on your task right this instant. That's it. It was fun chatting with you. See you later, Goodbye!

Now that we have established you are either not procrastinating at the current moment, or just very, very stubborn, let me mention a few secondary procedures that are my best roads out of procrastination:

i) Sit down just blankly without any distraction and plan out the list of tasks that you need to do. If its a huge, single job, break it into steps. Plan out your list one step after another. It works better if you write it down. A more productive detail is to keep your thinking chair/couch the same. This trains your mind into associating planning with that specific place and preventing drifting from the topic. After your list is ready, glance neither left nor right before you are done with the task.

ii) Practice self control. Sometimes, stealing your phone and hiding your books is not the perfect way to keep yourself away from the items. The power of will exceeds its limits in humans. It establishes a feeling of trust, responsibility and belief in yourself. To be honest, the struggle to fight your heart's desires, in my opinion, is the toughest form of life's difficulties and conquering those is more of an accomplishment than climbing the highest mountain or completing the longest marathon. So give yourself time, and let your mind learn you are its greatest ally because you know what's best for you and that you are willing to do or give anything to achieve it. 

iii) Take interest in your task. You are where you wanted to be. It was your decision. Your task is your way of proving your capability. Can you not accept this challenge and show everyone how determined you are towards achieving your task? Search how your task can be performed properly. Search up more information surrounding your task. Search how others perform the task and learn from them, create new materials, have strong opinions about your task. Embrace it till you ace it!