One thing that works is finding ways to make achieving small tasks part of your routine. I have a to-do list and in my lunch break at work I often pick off one or two things and decide okay, that’s what I’ll do when I get home. And so that way the selecting of the tasks and the doing of the tasks are things that have their own specific times and the decision is already made.

What also works is to create some external motivation.

I might not feel like cleaning the house, for example, but if I have friends coming over then I’ll enthusiastically clean everything because I want it to be nice for them.

And so sometimes I intentionally weaponise that by inviting a friend over just to give myself that extrinsic motivation.

In shadows of the ticking clock, there lies A thief of time, with clever, cunning guise. Procrastination, sly, with whispers sweet, Entices us to slumber, rest our feet.

A task undone, it lingers in the air, A burden heavy, yet we seem to care, For fleeting moments, pleasures of the now, Distract us from the work that we endow.

But oh, the weight of tasks we let delay, Grows heavier with every passing day. Regret, remorse, a burden on the heart, When from our goals we slowly drift apart.

Yet in this dance, we find our strength anew, A force within that guides us to push through. The first step’s hard, yet once we start the climb, The path to progress seems to shift in time.

Break chains that bind, with courage face the fray, With focus clear, procrastination’s sway Dissolves like mist before the morning sun, And in its place, a sense of work well done.

With each small victory, the battle’s won, Distractions fade, and soon the task is done. Remember this when next the urge you fight, A single step can lead to boundless light.

For in the end, the greatest treasure found Is not in idle moments, safe and sound, But in the joy of seeing dreams come true, Through effort, heart, and every task we do.

Man, Lemmy sure is good at not answering (just) “later” like Reddit would repeatedly. It’s a weird level of restraint for the internet.

You should look up time management strategies for people with ADHD because these are both classic symptoms.

Counterintuitively, I try to do less. If I have 5 things to do today and can’t motivate myself to get started, I push all but 1 or 2 off until later. Then I know a nice, log break is waiting for me for the rest of the day if I finish those things. At that point, getting the one or two things done feels worthwhile, and it feels like there’s a reward for me at the end (goofing off guilt-free).

I mean, I wasn’t going to get all 5 things done today because I’m a procrastinator. But if I accept that and make the workload much lighter, can get a little done.

I trust future me to take care of it because I have an insane belief that he will be more responsible than I am. Bastard keeps proving me wrong.

At one time, I got one of those small appointment books that office supply stores sell. Writing down a list of things to do and then crossing them off gave me a tiny dopamine kick that was desirable enough to keep going. There’s apparently some science about writing being more effective for this than doing it on your phone. Dunno, but worth checking.

I create routines. Try to establish habits of doing a certain thing at a certain time. The key is to start, even if you get yourself to do it for only a few minutes at first, and then over time you can build up and do more. The key is to make sure you start each day consistently. I often put a recurring calendar reminder at first that nags me to do the thing, and then as I start forming a habit I get rid of it.

The first step for me was recognizing that procrastinating created more work for me in the future. Also, having those swords of Damocles hanging over my head robbed me of my mental health.

I don’t … Yeh I will explain it further… Later. now I have to keep scrolling never found the end yet …

I’ll save this post for later to read

I’m not very good at not procrastinating, but I started to do things for “future me” and when I realize “omg I don’t have to do this cause it’s already done”, I thank past me.

And when I end up having to do things last minute and in a rush, I tell past me that they have been right all along and that I should have let them do their thing.

I found that I would procrastinate less when I was thankful for myself for doing things earlier.

For me, the biggest first step was recognizing my habits in letting it start and pushing myself to not let it. I had to look at my own habits, learn to recognize when they were starting, and actually push myself to get up and do.

With that last bit, though, came the why I was struggling to do in the first place. Sometimes it can be that it’s something we don’t enjoy, and with that, it helped to remind myself that just getting it done meant it was over with. I can get back to whatever comfort I was in when it’s done, and make myself do it.

Sometimes it’s more, though. My depression and anxiety heavily fed into my lack of motivation and energy, and even the perfectionism I struggled with was fueled by anxiety that I’d somehow get it wrong.

That took getting help, medication, and changing a lot of my own thought process. Making a schedule definitely helped me with feeling like I wasn’t getting done “on time” or early enough. If I know something takes me 30 minutes, I schedule it out for 45 so if I take longer, I’m still not “behind”, and if I get done quicker, hey, I got some free time!

Learning to give myself some slack really helped, too. I had to tell myself it was okay if everything wasn’t perfect, if something came up, because we can’t plan for everything. The only thing we can do is try. Sometimes we give it our all, but something outside of our control goes wrong.

Learn to recognize and break negative thought processes. Don’t ignore mistakes or accidents, and don’t just bottle up negative emotion, but recognize when the thoughts are becoming a block.

Find what motivates you. Sometimes it’s easier to get through the rough when you know there’s something worth it at the end.

I stopped trying to do optional things.

I can definitely relate to what you’re describing. There was a time when work felt more self-evident, but today, a lot of work is more abstract and ambiguous, which brings its own kind of exhaustion. For me, procrastination often stems from not being entirely sure what I’m supposed to be doing or what my real target is. It doesn’t help when management just says, “fix the problems,” without providing clear guidance.

One thing that has helped me is acknowledging that this uncertainty and anxiety are part of modern work life, and it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. The key is to remember that you’re a human being, not a machine. The work you’re doing isn’t necessarily easy, and that’s alright. Instead of rushing or being paralyzed by perfectionism, I try to slow down, break things into smaller tasks, and remind myself to relax. Clarity will often come in the process, not before starting.

Just do it… for five minutes.

Once the time is up, you either would give up or continue your task to completion. Either way, you had progress.