How do I conquer procrastination?

In my previous blog "What is the reason I procrastinate?" I shared 5 causes of why I procrastinate, in this blog I focus on how I conquer these causes:

 Repulsive Tasks: One strategy I’ve found particularly useful for completing “dreaded” tasks is learning to BANJO. BANJO stands for: Bang A Nasty Job Out. And yes, even the musically challenged can apply this strategy. When I find myself with a backlog of “nasty” tasks, choose just one per day and knock it out at the first order of business. Why first? Because saving dreaded tasks until last was for me a great incentive to never get all the way through my list. Plus, knocking out a nasty task first, keeps them from taunting me for the rest of the day and making me content with what I have achieved already!

 Mental Mountains: I use the “Brain Dump” strategy. Despite its rather grotesque sounding name, the technique is quite liberating. First, grab a sheet of paper and start listing all of the steps necessary for completing the project or task you have been procrastinating. Then I identify JUST THE NEXT step. Finally, I begin with that step. Keep in mind, every marathon begins with the first step. If you focus on the whole process, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Remember, one step at a time!

 Emotional Avoidance: Gaining clarity on emotionally charged tasks I feel is particularly difficult. Some occasions it was fear, grief, resentment, or whatever. These emotional obstacles are barriers that holds me back, until I decide to cross them. Recognising them is for me the first step to conquering the mental barrier, followed by addressing them honestly.

Lack of Energy: Rest, exercise, and nutrition is essential to me. If I want to run at full capacity, I have to be well rested. Trying to tackle projects when you’re mentally or physically fatigued is a bad idea. The one-time procrastination is actually appropriate is when you consciously decide putting off a project for the sole purpose of getting some extra rest. It might be a trade-off, but it is with prioritising health over work that you can actually attack your project with a recharged body and mind.

 Help is Needed: Whether the job’s too big, I don’t know what I am doing, or I am just not any good at it, asking for help is sometimes the only way to get some things done. Although sometimes it means I have to step over my pride and admit to myself and to my environment that I don’t know everything. I learned through learning from others, future obstacles of problems are pre-empted or solved with greater ease.

Having an understanding of the common cause I procrastinate was the first step in dealing with them, the second step was to define proper actions that fitted me to conquer them in order to gain time. I hope that this blog gave you some insight in how you could deal with your personal causes of procrastination.