All micro-courses

5 Days to Stop Procrastinating

Understand why you delay, shrink the first step until it is easy, and learn to restart without guilt.

  • 5 lessons
  • 5 days, about 10 minutes a day

By day five you will have a simple method for starting any task you have been avoiding.

0 of 5 days done

  1. Day 1 It's a feeling problem, not a time problem

    We don't put things off because we are lazy or bad at planning. We put them off because the task brings up a feeling we want to avoid: boredom, confusion, fear of doing it badly.

    Once you can name the feeling, the task gets smaller.

    Today's task

    Write down one task you keep avoiding. Next to it, write the feeling it gives you in one word: bored, confused, afraid, overwhelmed or something else.

  2. Day 2 Shrink the first step

    Big tasks feel heavy because we picture the whole thing. Starting is the hardest part, so make the start so small it feels almost silly.

    "Write the report" becomes "open the document and type the title". Once you start, carrying on is much easier.

    Today's task

    Write the two-minute version of the task you named yesterday. Then do just that, right now.

  3. Day 3 Make the next step visible

    Vague tasks get delayed because your brain doesn't know where to begin. "Sort out taxes" is a cloud. "Find last year's tax form in the email folder" is a step.

    A good next action starts with a verb and you could picture yourself doing it.

    Today's task

    Take three vague items from your to-do list and rewrite each as one clear next action that starts with a verb.

  4. Day 4 Make starting easy and stopping hard

    Your environment decides more than your willpower does. If your work is already open and your phone is out of reach, starting takes no effort.

    The 10-minute rule helps too: promise yourself you can stop after 10 minutes. Most of the time, you won't want to.

    Today's task

    Tonight, set up tomorrow's work: open the file, put out what you need, move your phone away. Tomorrow, start with a 10-minute timer.

  5. Day 5 Forgive yourself, then restart

    Beating yourself up after a delay feels responsible, but it makes the task feel worse, so you avoid it again. Studies on students suggest that those who forgave themselves for procrastinating were less likely to procrastinate next time.

    You don't need a perfect record. You need a quick restart.

    Today's task

    Write one sentence forgiving yourself for a recent delay. Then write the first tiny step you will take tomorrow, and when.