1.  Can you pay (a reasonable sum) to have someone else do these tasks? There might be children in your house who would clean up your linen closet/pantry/storage area for $$. Isn’t it worth that to you?

2.  Do you need a professional to help you with a task? What if your carpet is pulling up from the seam and you can’t fix it yourself? Set a specific time every week to make phone calls to professionals to help you with odd tasks like this.

3. Are there tasks that you are afraid of? How about that big project your employer asked you to do? Even if you aren’t going to do the task today, make an outline of what must be done to complete the task. Force yourself to complete one item on the outline before you leave work today.

4.  Are there tasks you hate? Accounting, filing, etc.? Get to work 10 minutes early for the next several days until these items are caught up. Then designate an early morning time to complete the item on a regular basis.

5.  Don’t allow yourself to whine about your procrastination. In the time it takes you to whine, you can often finish the task.

Read Rita Emmett’s book The Procrastinator’s Handbook.

You may also want to access one of the Third Thursday Productivity Time programs:  

Polish Off Procrastination!  Bump Off this Obstacle to Productivity (just $9.97; such a deal!)

1. Keep a procrastination log. (You’ll enjoy this because you’ll be procrastinating.) That is, take notes on those items that you know you should be doing, but you just aren’t getting them done. As each item floats into your consciousness, write it down.

2. Divide the log into “work” items and “personal” items.

3. Look through the list and see if there are any items that can be done in five minutes or less. Do these immediately! (Now you can check off a few items in your log – very satisfying).

4. Be honest with yourself. Are there items that you know you’ll never do? Cross these off.

5. Delegate a task if you know it really isn’t yours. And if you’d like to learn from a 3-part program (which you can listen to at your own pace), feel free to take a peek at the webpage that has all the info: Deputize Then Delegate

Read Rita Emmett’s book The Procrastinator’s Handbook. It is outstanding…and in a few weeks, I’m even going to have a special list from her in the Keeping Chaos at Bay series. Stay tuned!

You may also want to access one of the Third Thursday Productivity Time programs:  

Polish Off Procrastination!  Bump Off this Obstacle to Productivity (just $9.97; such a deal!)

Until I read Following Through, this was the only book I ever recommended as helpful for procrastination. It’s small, concise, and practical. What more could I ask for? A number of her suggestions & techniques have “gotten me off the dime.” Don’t put off reading this one (plus, if you have child who procrastinates, she has a book entitled The Procrastinating Child).  It is also excellent.

If you love having books arrive FAST, be sure to sign up for Amazon Prime…free 2-day shipping for one flat rate each year (and you can have 4 family members all using it.  Such a bargain for those of us who want books NOW vs. later!)