In order to beat procrastination, first of all, pick just one important task you are procrastinating on. Then use the following 3 techniques, and I personally guarantee you that you will stop procrastinating and start working on the task immediately.

1. Explore and map the task

Procrastination is often related to fear. We are often afraid of unknown work. After all, it might be too much work, or we might be unable to do it. The easiest way to reduce this fear is to explore, map and research the task.

So, how do you explore a task? Well -

Just break the task down into subtasks! This is the best way to “explore” it, unpack it and see what’s really going on.

If you use Swift To-Do List, to break a task down into subtasks, simply select it, then start adding subtasks with all the steps necessary for completing the task.

Add even all the small steps. Try to order the subtasks roughly in the sequence they need to be done.

While you are adding the subtasks, pay extra attention to all the “research” actions – steps that require you to gather extra information and data in order to move forward. These “research” actions are what you want to do first, because doing them will help you to unpack the original task even further.

Once you break the task into subtasks AND start gathering all the necessary information, materials and data, and possibly discuss it with your co-workers or boss, the fear of unknown will diminish, and as a result, you will be able to start doing the task right away without procrastinating anymore.

2. Find the smallest possible next step – then do it!

When we procrastinate, we often feel that we are simply unable to do the task. However, when you identify a tiny easy action to get started on the task, you will be absolutely confident that you can do it.

For example, you might be procrastinating on this task: “Write the 70-page Q3 report”

So, you quickly think about what you actually need to do to get started on it, and determine this smallest possible next step: “Open MS Word and write a rough half-page outline of the Q3 report”

Can you open MS Word and write a rough half-page outline? Of course you can! You know you can absolutely do it. You are confident. So there is no reason to procrastinate anymore. You can just do it. So you do it.

And once you do it, you can simply repeat this process – what is the next small easy step?

3. Schedule fun and limit the work

This technique might seem counter-intuitive at first, but it’s extremely effective. It uses powerful reverse-psychology.

Get this -

Another big reason for procrastination is the fear you will miss out on all the fun and pleasant things in life.

The solution is ridiculously simple: Guarantee the fun first. Then limit the time you have available for work.

Simply schedule some fun! Plan and schedule a night out. Or, schedule any of your favorite relaxation, entertainment, sport or fun activity that you just love.

Ideally, schedule this pleasant activity right after work.

Next, limit the time you have available for your work. Give yourself a hard time limit that forces you to stop working at a specific time of the day. Absolutely no overtimes allowed. This will motivate you to stop procrastinating and get to work, right now.

Tip: When scheduling the fun activity, ideally pick an activity right after work that involves other people. You will know that you HAVE to be there because of the other people, so you will know that there is a very real time limit on your work today. This will strongly motivate you.

As an extra bonus, the fun activity will help you recharge your batteries and sharpen your saw, so the next time you get to work, you are strong. Obviously, this also makes you immune to burnout.

How procrastination works

If you want to learn more about how and why you procrastinate, you will love this.

Here’s my summary of The Now Habit, which is probably the best book on procrastination ever written.

This summary will give you the most important insights from the book in just a few pages.

In the summary, you will also learn additional causes of procrastination (perfectionism, fear of judgment, fear of success, and more).

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• How to keep your to-do list useful, short and motivating
• Custom Task Priorities
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• Hidden Procrastination
• The Key To Higher Productivity

3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

1. Do you have any tasks that are not captured in Swift To-Do List?
2. Do you have to remember any time-sensitive information that you’ve not captured in Swift To-Do List (or other appropriate tool)?
3. Do you have to remember any work-related information that you’ve not captured in Swift To-Do List (or other appropriate tool)?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I have both bad and good news for you. The bad news is that you are not getting maximum benefits out of Swift To-Do List. The good news is that in just 10 minutes or so, you can feel happier and more efficient.

The #1 cause of work-related stress and worry is the necessity to remember information that is not written down. This starts an endless spiral of worrying and questioning yourself: “Am I forgetting about something important?”

You probably already understand this problem. And I salute you for obtaining Swift To-Do List. However, if you really want to feel relaxed and reclaim all your mental resources wasted on worrying, you need to do the following.

You need to write all tasks, all time-sensitive, and all important work-related information into Swift To-Do List. Not just tasks – but anything you would have to remember otherwise.

Note: If you have a lot of reference material, you might already have some other system than Swift To-Do List for managing it – and that’s completely fine. Just make sure that your mind is not part of that system!

Since version 8, Swift To-Do List allows you to manage not just to-do lists, but also “Lists” in general. You can use them, along with Memos, to capture non-task information.

So, what are you juggling in your mind? Write it into Swift To-Do List, right now. You will be glad you did – and feel the difference with an immediate sigh of relief.

If you would like to learn more about why it is important to capture information into Swift To-Do List, and how to do it best, take a look at my new Swift Mind Freedom e-book.

Related Posts:

• Swift Mind Freedom released!
• Centralize Your Lists with Swift To-Do List
• Getting Things Done (GTD) Tutorial: Commitment Management
• 3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating
• How to keep your to-do list useful, short and motivating
• “Why should I care about being organized?”

30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List? is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Sometimes, you might have a feeling that you will never finish your to-do list. And you know what? It might be true. It might be entirely possible that your to-do list is indeed impossible to finish. This happens when you place non-tasks on your to-do list.

You see, there are two types of items that might appear on your personal organizer lists: tasks and non-tasks.

Tasks are actionable. Tasks are actions you decided to do.

Non-tasks are non-actionable. Non-tasks are ideas, notes, thoughts, reference-material and information.

It is very important to understand the difference between “actionable” and “non-actionable” (tasks and non-tasks), because if you don’t, it will be absolutely impossible to finish your to-do lists.

You should never place non-tasks on a to-do list among tasks. Why? Because you can’t “do” non-tasks, so they just sit there cluttering your to-do list, making it cumbersome to read – and impossible to finish!

To-do lists are for tasks you can do. Non-tasks belong in a separate list or place.

Since we all have both tasks and non-tasks, I strongly recommend having at least 2 separate lists.

1. One or more to-do lists with tasks (actions)
2. One or more lists with non-tasks (ideas and information), and as many collections of notes, memos and reference material you need. Again, all this should be kept separate from your to-do list with tasks.

Note: Ideas are not tasks because you’ve not yet decided to do them, so they are not yet actionable. But if you decide to take action on some idea, it becomes a task.

How to separate tasks and non-tasks in Swift To-Do List

I will now show you how you can separate your tasks and non-tasks in Swift To-Do List.

Just do this -

1. Make sure that you have an “Ideas List” created in the to-do list tree. You will be moving all non-tasks into it. To create it, use menu Tree – Add To-Do List, and in the Add To-Do List window, check “List“. Then name the list “Ideas List” and press OK.
2. Now, go through all the tasks you’ve captured up to this point, and whenever you encounter a non-task, move it to the Ideas List. You can simply select the non-task and using mouse, Drag and Drop it to the Ideas List in the to-do list tree. Or, you can select it and press Ctrl+X to cut it, then click the Ideas List, and press Ctrl+V to paste it. Tip: You can do both these operations with multiple items at once.
3. Now back to the information you put into “Ideas List”. If you have lot of non-tasks, you might want to create multiple “Ideas Lists” and categorize them by project or topic if possible. (You can just Drag and Drop items to other lists or to-do lists in the tree.)

And that’s it! Congratulations! You’ve separated your tasks and non-tasks. Isn’t that better? Now, it should be actually possible to “finish” your to-do list.

Also, here is an important distinction: At times you will have information, reference material or notes that are directly connected to a specific task. You want this information handy when you look at the task and ready to do it. Put this information into the Notes section of that particular task, instead of keeping it isolated on the idea list or somewhere else. This way, when you work on the task, you will immediately see the important related information, and it also won’t unnecessarily clutter your Ideas List.

Related Posts:

• How to keep your to-do list useful, short and motivating
• 30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?
• Endless to-do list
• How to separate work and personal tasks
• Swift Mind Freedom released!
• 3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating

Is your to-do list impossible to finish? is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

So… do you ever wonder why you can’t get anything done?

Well, Julie Morgenstern, the #1 USA professional organizer, explains what new research revealed:

According to a study published by Cubesmart Inc., we experience on average, one interruption every 8 minutes or approximately 6-7 per hour.

That equals about 50-60 interruptions in an 8 hour day.

Most interruptions take approximately 5-15 minutes. If you receive 50 interruptions daily and each takes 10 minutes, that totals 500 minutes, which is 8 hours per day.

Ouch! No wonder you feel the need to work 12 hours per day… 8 handling interruptions, and 4 getting your work done after hours.

Sobering, isn’t it? Or, consider this study:

“In a recent study, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment Web sites.”

The bottom line is this -

DISTRACTION equals DESTRUCTION …of productivity and your future career and success in life.

Interruptions and distractions are the #1 reason why we can’t get anything done in the office.

Yes, you can use all sorts of fancy productivity techniques, but as long as people and things keep distracting and interrupting you, you won’t accomplish anything. It will be impossible.

You are either distraction-driven, or productive. Your mind is either scattered all over the place, or focused.

It’s your career and future at stake here. It’s a very serious problem – and most people don’t have a clue about it.

Fortunately, here are 5 action steps you can do right now to turn things around -

You absolutely need to get rid of as many interruptions and distractions as possible, immediately. And this is what you need to do -

1. Disable all popups and notifications – on your computer, phone, tablet. Everywhere. Be brutal.
2. Start explaining to your co-workers that when they need something, they should email you. Be polite but firm and persistent. Also tell them that calling you or walking to your desk should be used only in important urgent matters.
3. Check your email only twice a day. Keep your email closed the rest of the day. This is key.
4. Keep your phone on vibrate if possible. And remember: You don’t have to pick up the phone just because it rings.
5. Don’t “train” others to expect your response immediately in trivial matters. If it takes you 24+ hours to reply to an email, they will learn to obtain the information themselves instead of contacting you all the time, sometimes unnecessarily.

Once you do these 5 things, you will make it possible for yourself to actually get something done!

Then, the next step is to schedule some un-interrupted blocks of time without distractions. Once you do that, you will be more productive than ever – and start going home sooner.

The perfect workflow

Your workday can look like this:

1. Look at your to-do list to see what’s next
2. Do it
3. Mark it as complete in your to-do list
4. Go to 1 and repeat

If your current workflow doesn’t look anything like that, well, blame the distractions and interruptions.

PS: Psssst. Let me tell you a secret — ready? — YOU are the one who is allowing the distractions and interruptions into your life. You are responsible. I suggest you take control of your work environment and life back into your hands – today.

You can start by removing the “email drug” needle from your arm, disabling all notifications, and training your co-workers to stop interrupting you all the time.

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• Be Successful First Thing in the Morning

New research explains why you can’t get anything done is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

We’ve all had those times where we wish we could add hours to the skimpy 24 hour days we’re limited to on this planet. As the work day rolls along, we look at the clock and say “Hey, where did the time go?” Well I haven’t figured out a way to actually add hours to a day, but here are 10 ways to at least preserve the precious hours you do get:

1. When a task comes along that you can do in less than 2 minutes, do it and be done with it. E-mails are a great example; it takes time to read an e-mail, so when it’s something quick, deal with it right at that time.
2. Related to tip number 1, don’t be a slave to your inbox. Studies have shown that it’s better to concentrate on one task and finish it before moving on to the next. Turn off your e-mail notifications, finish your project, then check it and follow rule number 1 for e-mails that you can address quickly.
3. Make phone calls standing up. Research shows that you’re less likely to shoot the breeze when you are standing. (As an added bonus, you actually burn more calories for those of you interested in that).
4. Batch similar activities. If you have several calls to return or e-mails to send, group them together to do at one time.
5. Use a scheduler. I know it sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how many people don’t schedule their day – plan the work and work the plan.
6. Don’t multi-task. Research has shown that you actually get less done when you try and pack 10 activities in at the same time. Sequential is better.
7. Use information management software. Statistics show that office workers spend an average of 48 minutes a day just looking for misplaced information.
8. Delegate. Not all of us have this option, but for those of you who do, there are probably plenty of tasks that could be done by someone else. Even if you work alone, you can get outsourced help for just about every task imaginable online these days.
9. Cut down on your e-mail newsletters. Most people are subscribed to way more e-mail newsletters than they’ll ever read and having them in your inbox still takes time to deal with them. Take the time to unsubscribe.
10. Limit the amount of socialization you engage in. I know it’s fun and it does provide a nice break, but try to limit it to a set amount of time.

These 10 tips come from Telexis. Telexis produces software that helps offices stay organized and manage their time: GroupReady scheduling software and PHONEslips office management software.

Related Posts:

• 30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?
• 3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating
• Is your to-do list impossible to finish?
• New research explains why you can’t get anything done
• Start your workday the right way
• Swift Mind Freedom released!

10 Ways to Get More From Your Work Day is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Unfortunately, modern life presents with a dizzying array of commitments, both work-related and independent of work. Thus, a major component of GTD stressed by author David Allen is that of commitment management. Commitment management offers a way to clear your mind prior to taking on tasks so that you can focus all of your energy on the task at hand.

The first component: Identifying commitments

The first part of commitment management is essentially a brainstorming session in which you identify all of the commitments you have and put them on paper. These commitments can be new assignments or ongoing projects – “anything you consider unfinished in any way,” says Allen – and can be work for your boss or chores you need to do at home. Because these thoughts are cluttering your mind, merely thinking about them won’t help you focus on anything in particular. Instead, you need to put them into what Allen calls a “collection bucket,” and what we like to call a Swift To-Do List task list.

The key features of a “collection bucket” are that you can easily see all of the individual tasks and that you can revisit them whenever you need to. A Swift To-Do List 7 task list satisfies both of these, as the list is just a mouse click away. Using Swift To-Do List 7 actually improves upon the traditional “bucket” design thanks to the to-do list tree. You can create different lists and sub-lists to keep commitments organized. This is particularly helpful if you have multiple projects going on.

Virtually everyone has multiple projects – at minimum, you have your work and personal life. Both can be divided into additional sub-projects.

Second component: Clarifying commitments

According to Allen, the second part of commitment management is clarifying commitments and actions you need to take to complete them. This allows you to further free your mind and understand the scope of your projects. Swift To-Do List 7 is particularly well-suited to this task, as you can write notes and attach files to each of your tasks. This creates an individual workspace for each of your projects, so you’re not muddling your mind with ideas. And instead of worrying about jotting down new ideas on the nearest napkin, you have a place to keep things organized.

Swift To-Do List 7 allows you to attach not just text but images and files to each task in the notes area; consider using this option to create flow-charts or other visual aids to enhance your understanding of the requirements of each task.

The use of sub-lists can also help you plan ahead – further easing and clearing your mind for work – and assess your progress as you move toward your goals. In fact, being aware of your progress and the next step you need to take for any given task is essential to complete commitment management. If you fail to clarify the actions required, the uncertainty will remain on your mind and compromise your focus.

Third component: Creating organized reminder system

The third component of commitment management – and arguably the most important – is creating an organized reminder system that you can review whenever you need to. While you can rely on your brain for this, Allen notes that your brain’s reminder system is often inefficient and tends to kick in only after you needed to take action. Thankfully, Swift To-Do List 7 is tailored to take on this task as well.

Swift To-Do List 7 allows you to set reminders not just on your desktop but as e-mails as well, so even if you’re away from the office but have your mobile device, you can stay informed. This is particularly useful if you often travel for business or have a mixture of commitments in and out of the office. If you’re a freelancer or self-employed, e-mail reminders are invaluable, as your workplace is often mobile. Relying on an external reminder system can eliminate the distraction of trying to keep track of commitments in your mind.

Summary

While identifying absolutely every commitment at once would be ideal, it doesn’t often happen. But don’t be discouraged – remember that commitment management is an on-going process, so you can always add more later. This will ensure your mind is fresh and focused until you’ve checked all of the tasks off of your list.

(…) remember that commitment management is an on-going process, so you can always add more later (…)

Commitment management is a simple yet effective way to take the pressure of juggling all of your assignments off of your brain so you can be totally committed to the task at hand. All it takes is (1) identifying commitments; (2) clarifying completion requirements; and (3) creating an organized reminder system.

Post by Brian J. Willet

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• Getting Things Done (GTD) Tutorial: Perspective
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Getting Things Done (GTD) Tutorial: Commitment Management is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

You might ask: “Do I even have to write the task down, if it’s not important?” The definitive and final answer to that is – maybe! :-)

Let me tell you why: If you are even considering writing the task down, then your subconsciousness has already identified the task as somewhat important, and the task would subconsciously bother you. If you write it down, your mind can discard it, as it knows that it’s safely stored in your to-do list program, and move on to more important stuff.

On the other hand, if you can consciously decide that doing the task would have zero or negative benefit, then it’s safe to not write it down, as you consciously know that you don’t even want to do it.

So, the promised 5 ways how to deal with low priority tasks. *drum roll*

1) Can you delegate it?

This is not really a solution, unless you have a very reliable person to delegate the task to. Otherwise, you have to create a task “Check that Wally has done Task X”. And besides, doesn’t Wally have something more important to do, like drinking coffee and eating donuts?

2) Will it resolve itself?

If you know that the task will take care of itself, then just skip writing it down and let it go.

This approach is not always wise, as some tasks “solve” themselves not the way you would like them to (eg. your bills will get paid with the friendly help of executor :-)). It’s important that you are sure the task is really of low priority before using this approach.

3) Do I even want to get this done?

As I’ve said above, if there is zero or negative benefit for completing the task, then just move on.

4) Is it really low priority?

Sometimes you might label important tasks that you are not feeling like doing as low priority. That’s a really bad habit! If the task is important, admit it. Don’t run away from the truth.

Also, sometimes it is likely that finishing a task will have zero benefit, but it might also pay of handsomely. Eg. calling a client might likely not result in more business for you, but what if he places a huge order? (Now or in the future, because you’ve called him today)

5) Write it down and forget it

That’s my favorite way of dealing with unimportant tasks. I recommend creating a new to-do list just for tasks like this. You can name the to-do list something like “Maybe”, “Future”, “Procrastination Ideas” or “Never to-do” :-).

Alternative approach: Place the low priority tasks in your normal to-do lists, and get them out of your sight, either by sorting your to-do list by priority (from Highest to Lowest), or using filters (eg. you can create a new filter preset that will automatically hide all unimportant tasks).

Did you know that you Swift To-Do List 7 allows you to fully customize priorities? For example, you can delete or rename the default “Low” and “Lowest” priorities. Read more about it in our previous blog post: How to use 4-Quadrants Time Management using your own custom priorities

Don’t let low priority tasks undermine your productivity!

Having lots of low priority tasks that never get done haunting you can be *really* demotivational. I hope that this post has given you some insight into this issue and ideas how to deal with them.

Related Posts:

• 30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?
• Getting Things Done (GTD) Tutorial: Commitment Management
• 3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating
• Is your to-do list impossible to finish?
• Swift Mind Freedom released!
• “Why should I care about being organized?”

5 Ways How To Deal With Low Priority Tasks is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog