I don’t know about you, but procrastination has been the bane of my existence throughout my life. If you keep delaying something for no apparent reasons over and over again to a point where you have no choice but to do it, you, my friend, are a procrastinator. 

To some extent, I think everyone procrastinates a little bit in their lives but for some people, the situation is really bad. So bad, that this habit of theirs starts to come in the way of their success and any goals they might set for themselves. 

The world is so fast paced and competition is so high nowadays, that you can’t afford to add your own self to your list of competitors but that is exactly what happens if you procrastinate at every step of the way. 

For this reason, those of us who are suffering from this bad habit, really need to get rid of it as soon as possible. Since this is a very deep rooted problem, it is a tough one to overcome but try you must or face the chances of failures in life. 

1. Know Thyself

We all want different things in life and have different plans of getting there. For your own sakes, you should sit down and re-examine everything and decide once and for all what the most important things are for you which are absolutely non-negotiable. 

Make sure that these things are the ones that will get you to your goals. Then you need to set in your mind that no matter what you won’t procrastinate on at least those things because doing so will be detrimental to your future. Consider it as an agreement with yourself.

It looks so silly because you are kind of dealing with your own self or a ‘different’ self inside you. In any case, it is important that you get your head straight which I understand can be easier said than done but you should realise that you should take steps while you still can. 

2. Get Rid of Distractions

One of the biggest reasons for procrastinating is all the distractions that we are surrounded with. For example, you need to complete that assignment but you are binge watching your favourite TV show and every episode you say to yourself “Ok this is the last one” but you keep watching. 

You need to identify the distractions that you are distracted by the most and get rid of them or minimise them in an effort to focus your attention on the really important tasks on hands. As the saying goes, “Out of sight out of mind” 

You can ‘reward’ yourself with your distractions only after completion of a task. That way you will want to quickly finish the task first and enjoy the other things later ‘without the guilt’. 

3. Make Schedules

Another reason for procrastination is not knowing exactly what to do and when to do it. Leaving it open means you can ‘always do it later’ as you will always have an illusion of more time. 

If you make schedules, you will know exactly when to do stuff and your brain will be prepared. Make sure you give yourself frequent down times or you might not feel motivated to adhere strictly to your schedule and even give up on it. 

Depending on the amount of work you have, you can make daily plans and weekly plans. That way you can manage short term goals and longer term goals giving yourself ample time to complete them. 

4. Allow For Cheat Days

Since you don’t always have the same level of motivation, it is possible that sometimes you have periods of lows where your plans to overcome your procrastination don’t mean anything to you anymore or you just want to take a ‘break’ for a while. 


So, it is necessary to give yourself some cheat days where you are free to do whatever you feel like. I think once or twice a week would do the trick so that you don’t feel like you are ‘stuck’ in a never ending schedule that would make you want to give up on your ‘recovery’. 

You can also use these cheat days as a reward for being good the other days of the week and completing your tasks on time. The brain really responds to a reward system so this might just work for you.

I have been applying all of these ways myself and they have worked out pretty well for me. I don’t procrastinate as much as I used to before. I mean I still do but not nearly as much as before. So, yeah, this is what helped me overcome some of my procrastination. If you have an idea, do suggest them in the comments section down below.

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