Use this list of best tips to reduce procrastination anytime you really need help getting started or finishing a task.

Procrastination can be a significant barrier to achieving your goals. It can lead to stress, anxiety, and decreased productivity. This list provides practical and actionable tips to help you overcome procrastination and take control of your time. Whether you struggle with starting tasks, staying focused, or managing deadlines, these strategies are designed to help you succeed. Scroll down to the bottom for a printable PDF link for this overcoming procrastination tips list.

For more detailed strategies for dealing with procrastination read my my article Effective Strategies to Overcome Procrastination.

• Take frequent breaks.
• Use the Pomodoro Technique: Work in short intervals and set a timer (10 to 25 minutes) followed by short breaks (5-10 minutes) to maintain concentration and avoid burnout. The more averse you are to the task, the shorter you can set the timer to work on the task.
• When you start to lag, re-energize with short bursts of high intensity exercise. Jumping jacks, skip rope, dance, run up and down stairs, push-ups. Do something very energetic for 3 to 5 minutes. This will raise your dopamine levels and make it easier to focus. Repeat when necessary!
• Ask for help with your task.
• Get someone to do it with you, or even just have someone sit with you (known as body doubling).
• Remind yourself what will go wrong for you, what you won’t get or be able to do, if you don’t get the task done.
• Getting something done to some degree is better than not done at all. An easy example is a student essay that is due. You can hand in a draft and get a 50% or hand nothing in at all and get 0%. The 50% will be a lot less damaging to your final grade. The same can be true for some household projects. Getting some of the dishes or rooms cleaned is better than none at all.
• If the task is for someone else and can be broken down into discrete deliverables, do so and schedule regular reviews.
• Make a realistic schedule of any project sub tasks and when you will complete each sub-task. Schedule review meetings for those sub-deliverables. If possible, create some kind of penalty for failing to meet a deliverable.
• If you are a contractor, have your payments linked to distinct deliverable stages.
• If it is a solo project, enlist a friend or family member to do reviews with. If you are averse to doing this with a colleague, partner or friend, ask yourself why.
• Set alarms throughout the day to help you keep track of time and commitments.
• When having trouble getting started, pick any piece of the project that seems a bit interesting, and give yourself ten minutes to work on just that piece. From the outset, give yourself permission to quit after 10 minutes.
• When you find yourself in that state of hyper focus or flow, make room for it, even if that means cancelling something you had planned.
• Do you have to do it? Can you do a trade of some kind with someone? If this same situation or task is frequently occurring is there a way to phase it out of your life?

This printable procrastination tips list will be helpful in moments when you need encouragement and suggestions. By incorporating these practical tips into your daily routine, you can reduce procrastination, boost your productivity, and achieve your goals more efficiently.

But for those who are hard core procrastinators, overcoming procrastination requires understanding the reasons behind your procrastination and applying effective strategies to address those challenges. Check out my article Effective Strategies to Overcome Procrastination.

For your convenience, here’s a printer-friendly PDF version of just the tips list.