3 ways to stop procrastinating

Much of the business world is full of people who describe themselves as procrastinators. Even if they know they should be doing one thing, they end up spending their time on something else. This can lead to missed deadlines and lower-quality work because it has to be rushed through. Stop yourself from procrastinating with these three tips:

1. Try the five-minute rule 
When you realize that you need to do a certain task, take a moment to evaluate how long it will take you to complete. Is it 10 minutes or several hours? If it would take less than five minutes to do (such as writing quick reply to an email or wiping up the break room microwave), don't put it on your to-do list – take care of it now. This will lessen the size of your task list (and the smattering of post-it notes around your office), and help you procrastinate less. {awkward wording – consider revising} You'll be able to focus on the big things like meetings and projects instead of staring at all the small things you have yet to do.

2. Recognize why you're procrastinating
When you are putting something off there has to be a reason. Maybe you are afraid to start writing an email to your boss because you don't know what the outcome will be. Perhaps you are supposed to be doing the supply ordering at the office. If you think it's tedious, you are probably going to do it at the last minute. Once you've identified why you are procrastinating, come up with a solution. If you're worried about emailing your boss, consider showing the correspondence to a colleague before sending it. He or she can be your second set of eyes, making sure there are no spelling and grammar mistakes and that the email is conveying your message in a clear and concise manner. As for the supply list, send a quick email to everyone in the office to see what supplies they'd like you to order. Check out your current inventory and tally up what you'll need. Add that to the emailed requests and send out the order. This should take less than 30 minutes and may even be a nice break from your daily routine.

3. Tackle tasks in steps
When you have a major project to do that will take a lot of time, break it into steps. Do a little bit each day and you will find you've reached your goal much quicker than if you'd tackled the whole thing at once. Plus, you'll be able to revise it each day as you see fit, doing multiple drafts before finishing with the best quality project that you can create. Decide how much time you need to devote to the project each day and stick to that schedule. You'll be done in no time, and with a lot less mental anguish than having spent an entire day to start and complete the project.