20 Positive Tips To Help You Avoid Procrastination

Here are some tips to help you avoid procrastination: 

1. Set clear goals and priorities for the day.

2. Break tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks.

3. Use a planner or calendar to keep track of tasks and deadlines.

4. Set deadlines for tasks, even if they are self-imposed.

5. Eliminate distractions or find a quiet place to work.

6. Use tools like timers and alarms to stay on track.

7. Make a commitment to yourself to start working on a task and set a specific time to do it.

8. Use positive self-talk to motivate yourself to get started.

9. Seek out accountability, such as by telling a friend or family member about your goals.

10. Find ways to make the task more enjoyable, such as by listening to music or finding a fun way to approach the task.

11. Consider the consequences of not completing the task and use that as motivation to get started.

12. Try the "5-minute rule" where you commit to working on a task for just 5 minutes, then reassess and decide whether to continue.

13. Use rewards or incentives to motivate yourself to get started and complete the task.

14. Seek out professional help, such as talking to a therapist or coach, if you have persistent problems with procrastination.

15. Find a role model or mentor who is able to effectively manage their time and ask for advice.

16. Try the Pomodoro Technique, which involves working for short bursts of time followed by short breaks.

17. Set achievable goals and celebrate your progress. 

18. Practice mindfulness and focus on the present moment to help reduce avoidance behaviors.

19. Use visualization techniques to imagine yourself successfully completing the task.

20. Remind yourself of the benefits of completing the task and the consequences of not doing so. 

Ways To Get More Done

 1. Avoid interruption: If you have a private office, you may want to close your door. You might even place a sign saying something like "Hard at Work: Please Come Back Later." If you are interrupted, help keep the interruption short by remaining task-oriented.

2. Schedule time to make phone calls and return e-mail. When you leave a phone message, list times that you will be available by phone. Ask the other party to do the same - it will save you both a lot of time that would otherwise be spent on everyone's favorite game, phone tag. Also, avoid checking your voice mail and e-mail too frequently. Instead, review them at scheduled intervals during the day.

3. Plan stress breaks throughout the day. Make sure you give yourself a break! Working to the point of total brain fatigue and muscle tension will never do you any good. Stretch, take some deep breaths, and go out to get your lunch, call your kids - do something to give yourself a little break. If you'd like, you can schedule these breaks as a reward for when you've finished a particular chore.

4. Appreciate your own approach. Just as we are all different in other ways, we all have diverse organizational styles. Keep in mind that you have gotten where you are today because of whom you are and what you have accomplished. Employ improved organizational skills to enhance your personal style, not change it. Getting organized should make you feel good, not burdened.

5. Stick to your plan. The best-laid plans often fall victim to their makers. While spontaneity is important, there is a fine line between it and plain procrastination. Once you've come up with a good plan for tackling a task, stay with it. Only you can prevent yourself from wavering.

Positive Benefits of Home Organization and Decluttering Your House

I would like to begin by telling you a little information about myself. I am a Registered Nurse and I also earned by diploma in medical transcription.

I have several years of nursing experience and I even had the wonderful opportunity to write and teach a few online medical assisting courses on the junior college academic level.

However, I have always had a great passion for organizing my house. I studied many resources about home organization. There is so much helpful information to learn. I decided to continue to pursue my interest in this field. I studied online and now I am a trained Professional Organizer. I successfully completed a Professional Organizing program and I enjoyed my training very much. 

Now that you are a little more familiar with my training, we will get onto our topic of decluttering the house. I would like to emphasize that I do not believe there is just "one" successful method to organize and declutter your home. 

I think it is extremely important for you to educate yourself about home organization and decluttering the house and decide on specific "organizing systems" that will work well for your individual lifestyle and family. Always remember that good organizational habits can be learned.

I have a question for everyone reading my blog today. What is clutter?

• Clutter is anything in your home or office that does not serve a purpose or function in your life anymore.
• Clutter may include items in your home that are broken or nonfunctional.
• Clutter may be material items in your home that you do not need or love.
• Clutter could also include unnecessary duplicate items in your home.
• You may be surprised to realize that having too many storage containers that aren't actually being used in your home may add to your existing clutter problem. That is the main reason it may be suggested that you declutter your home "first." Then it should be easy to figure out exactly how many storage boxes to buy and specific sizes you may need.
• Clutter could also consist of accumulated items of trash to be thrown away or removed in an appropriate manner. 

Now that we know what clutter is, why do you think our homes accumulate clutter?

• Clutter may be caused be delayed decisions.
• You haven't taken the time to decide on appropriate areas to keep your specific items in your home.
• Procrastination: maybe you feel overwhelmed about organizing or decluttering your house.
• You may be experiencing that frustrating "all or nothing" feeling about home organization. For example: you may think to yourself, "I will never have enough time to get my organizing projects done. There is just too much to do. So, why should I even start?"
• Maybe you have a very busy family schedule and you haven't been using a good weekly/monthly planner for routine chores/tasks in the home.
• Possibly the family doesn't realize your home organization goals and you may get easily distracted with many interruptions throughout the day. It may be very helpful for you to communicate your short-term and long-term organizing goals with your family. You may decide to have family members participate in your plan. This may be especially important in helping to keep your home maintained after you have everything set up the way you like it.
• You may have felt the lack of energy or motivation to complete organizing projects in the past.
• Often times, a major lifestyle change may cause a change in the normal flow of organization in your home. Here are a few examples: a birth or a death in the family, new marriage or a divorce, job relocation or health problems.

How can clutter affect your life in a negative way?

• Clutter can take up lots of extra space in a home. Think of how much more additional space you may have available after you get rid of any unnecessary clutter.
• You may be using a lot of your valuable time to take care of all the material things in your house.
• You could be spending extra money for duplicate items that you have been purchasing because you haven't been able to find the things that you were looking for in your house.
• Many people say they lack energy because they are tired of maintaining all the material things they have accumulated over the years.
• They don't have enough time to take good care of themselves or to enjoy their favorite hobbies and outlets.

What are the positive benefits of home organization and decluttering your house?

• You will be able to focus on things that you enjoy such as: exercise, hobbies, good nutrition, etc.
• You may find that you have more time to spend with family and friends.
• Hopefully, you won't have the need to purchase unnecessary items because you will have easy access to your items and be able to find everything when you need it. You will learn how to find "the right place for everything in your home."
• You may really enjoy the big bonus of having more space in your home once you get rid of your clutter.
• An organized house, free of clutter, may help you save time when you need to do your routine daily/weekly household chores.
• I find that I focus and concentrate better and feel more productive and less stress with work when my house and office are organized.
• You may increase your confidence to invite your friends over to your home again.

This is a wonderful video titled:

"How to Organize Your Home: Organizational Expert Alejandra Costello's House Tour"