Getting back into day-to-day tasks after some time off can be a challenge – whether it’s work or study. If you happen to find yourself struggling with procrastination here are some practical ways which may assist you in the battle.

When looking to implement practical strategies for beating your procrastination it can be helpful to know the what, how and when.

What?

For establishing what needs to be done, give the following a try:

• Write a ‘To Do’ list - This could include goals and/or tasks you need to achieve. The list could be for the day, or the week, or longer – the timeframe will depend on what makes sense for your situation.
• Prioritise the list of tasks/goals, establishing which is most important to the least important;
• Grade the tasks/goals, by breaking each task into the smaller steps which are involved;
• Estimate the time required for each step of the task/goal (you may need to time a task to in order to become more accurate at time telling – as regular procrastinators often over or under-estimate the time a task requires).

How?

Listed below are four of the many strategies you can attempt to see what makes completing the task/goal easier. It is important to remember that these suggestions might not be suited to every situation or everyone, and it may take some attempts to see what helps you in various situations.

• Worst-First: complete the worst/hardest task first, then other tasks that follow are easier in comparison.
• Momentum: start by doing a task you like and which energises you. Then without taking a break switch to another task which you were putting off.
• Just 5-Minutes: make a plan to spend 5 minutes on a task. Being a small length of time, you will feel that you are able to tolerate it. Once 5 minutes is up, reassess to see if you are able spend another 5 minutes on the current task, and repeat.
• Plan Rewards: by rewarding yourself after you have achieved something (which could include a well-deserved break from a task) you will feel less like you have missed out.

When?

In order to manage your time and availability, so you know when you are able to work on your tasks/goals, try using a timetable to schedule your day/week. Scheduling is where you enter into a timetable your current routine and commitments, and then add into your timetable specific times, for engaging with specific tasks/goals.