13 Self Motivation Habits That Help You Stop Procrastinating

I once put off a four-minute phone call for eleven days. Four minutes. In that time I cleaned my garage, reorganized a drawer, and answered emails from two years ago, all so I wouldn’t have to dial. When I finally made the call, the person was friendly, and it was over before my coffee cooled.

For a long time I called that laziness. But that week I worked hard. I just worked on everything except the call. Laziness doesn’t explain it.

Researchers who study this give a different explanation. In 2013, psychologists Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl published a review of the research on procrastination. They point out that it tends to happen when a task feels unpleasant. Their argument is that putting something off has a lot to do with managing your mood in the short term. You skip the task to skip the bad feeling, and you feel better right away. The bill for that relief goes to the future you.

Another study looked at what happens after you’ve put something off. In 2010, Michael Wohl, Timothy Pychyl, and Shannon Bennett followed about 120 first-year college students through two midterm exams. Students who forgave themselves for putting off studying for the first exam were less likely to put it off before the second. They also felt less negative in between. It was a survey study, not an experiment, so it shows a link, not proof. Even so, it pushes back on the idea that being hard on yourself is what keeps you on track.

So the 13 habits below aim at the feeling first and the clock second. Some come straight from those studies. Others I learned by putting things off a lot, and I’ll tell you which is which as we go.

Get Nine Simple Habits to Start With

Grab my free 9 Daily Habits guide. It has nine morning practices you can pick from, and any one of them makes a good small first step.

Get the Free Guide

1. Ask what you’re trying not to feel before you call yourself lazy

The next time you catch yourself stalling, try a different question. Instead of “What’s wrong with me?”, ask, “What feeling does this task give me?” It might be worry that you’ll do it badly. It might be boredom, confusion, or dread of a hard conversation.

This question comes from the research. If putting things off is partly about dodging an uncomfortable feeling, then finding the feeling gives you something to work with. Calling yourself lazy gives you nothing to work with. The feelings I listed are just my examples, and yours may be different.

Try this: Pick one task you’ve been avoiding and finish this sentence: “When I think about it, I feel ___.”

2. Find the exact part of the task you’re dodging

A task is rarely unpleasant all the way through. Usually one part bothers you. Maybe you don’t know how to begin. Maybe it’s too big. Maybe one piece is boring, or one step scares you.

I remember the phone call. The call itself wasn’t the problem. I didn’t know what to say in the first ten seconds. Once I wrote down one opening sentence, most of the dread went away. This habit comes from my own experience, not a study.

Try this: Ask, “What is the one part of this I’m really avoiding?” Write the answer down.

A Small Reminder to Just Start

I make prints, mugs, and shirts at Premier Print Works. Some people like a reminder where they can see it.

Visit Premier Print Works

3. Notice the moment your hand reaches for an escape

Every procrastinator has a favorite escape. Mine was the garage. For you it might be your phone, the fridge, or a new browser tab. The escape usually shows up within seconds of starting something hard.

If putting things off is a way to feel better right now, this is the moment it happens. When you notice your hand moving, pause for ten seconds and ask, “What am I about to get away from?” You don’t have to stop yourself. Just notice. The ten-second pause is my own trick.

Putting it off can feel like relief today, and the bill goes to tomorrow’s you.

Try this: Name your favorite escape out loud, so you’ll recognize it next time.

4. Start while the feeling is still there

For years I waited to feel ready. That’s a trap, because the feeling I was waiting for almost never showed up. If a task makes you uneasy, then waiting for the unease to leave can mean waiting forever.

You can start while you still feel a little dread. You don’t have to fix the feeling first. It’s like cold water at the beach. It feels awful for a minute, and then you’re in. This is my own view, not a finding.

Try this: Tell yourself, “I can feel this and start anyway,” and take one small step.

Take a Week to Look at What Gets in Your Way

My free 7-Day Life Reset is a short week of reflection on your own routines. It’s a good place to start seeing what gets in your way.

Start the Free Reset

5. Shrink the first step until it feels almost silly

Big steps set off the feeling. Tiny ones often don’t. So make the first step so small you can’t say no. Open the document and type the title. Put on your running shoes. Write one sentence.

I remember a stretch when I had a long report to write and kept avoiding it. I gave myself one job: write the first line, even a bad one. Forty minutes later I was still going. That doesn’t happen every time, and it’s not from a study. But starting is usually the hardest part, and a tiny step makes it easier.

Try this: Pick the smallest possible first step for your task, one that takes two minutes or less, and do it now.

6. Fix the unpleasant part instead of pushing through it

If the task is unclear, ask a question. If it’s boring, change your setting or add music. If it’s huge, cut off one slice. If you hate doing it alone, ask a friend to sit with you while you work.

Pushing through on willpower is the hard way. Changing what makes the task unpleasant is often easier. This follows from the research, since procrastination often shows up with tasks that feel unpleasant. The specific fixes are my own ideas.

Try this: Look at your answer from habit 2 and change that one thing.

7. Try a ten-minute start, with permission to stop

Set a timer for ten minutes and tell yourself you can quit when it rings. Make it a real promise, and keep it. Often you’ll want to keep going, but you don’t have to.

Permission to stop makes starting feel safer. I can’t point to a study that shows this works for procrastination, so treat it as a trick I use, not a fact. Try it on the task you’ve been avoiding the longest.

Try this: Set a ten-minute timer right now and start.

8. Start with the easiest piece, not the most important one

Sometimes the best first move is the smallest win. If you have five things on your list, do the quickest one first. It gets you moving, and moving makes the next thing feel less heavy.

I know the usual advice is to do the hardest thing first. That works for some people. On a bad day it doesn’t work for me, so I match my first step to how I feel that day. This is my experience, not a rule.

Try this: Circle the easiest item on your list and do it first.

9. Picture who gets stuck with this task if you skip it

Here’s the part of the research that stuck with me most. Sirois and Pychyl point out that when you put something off, the cost lands on your future self. The you of today gets the relief. The you of tomorrow gets the stress.

Try picturing tomorrow’s you, tired and behind, looking at this same task. Would you want to hand that person this? Thinking of your future self as a real person can make it easier to do one small thing today. The exercise itself is my own suggestion.

Try this: Before you put something off, ask, “What will tomorrow’s me think about this?”

10. Leave a short note for tomorrow’s you

If you can’t finish something today, make tomorrow easier. Write two or three lines: what you did, what comes next, and where you left your files.

It takes about two minutes. Tomorrow’s you can then start without working out where to begin, and that removes one more reason to dread it. This is my own habit, not something from the studies.

Try this: At the end of your next work session, write a three-line note and leave it where you’ll see it.

11. Forgive yourself for the last time you put it off

This is the second thing from the research, and it surprised me. In the study of college students, those who forgave themselves for putting off studying for the first exam were less likely to put it off before the second. They also felt less negative in between, and they tended to score better on the second exam.

Forgiving yourself doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t matter. It means saying, “Yes, I put that off. It cost me something. I’m done punishing myself for it.” Remember that this was a survey of college students, so it shows a pattern. It doesn’t prove that forgiveness causes change.

Try this: Think of something you put off recently. Say to yourself, “I forgive myself,” and then pick a next step.

12. Replace the self-scolding with one practical question

After a stall, most of us say something harsh. “I always do this.” “What’s wrong with me?” That voice feels like discipline, but it mostly just makes you feel worse.

Try a question instead: “What got in the way, and what’s the smallest next step?” Answer it in a sentence or two, then take the step. The question is my own tool. The idea behind it, that feeling less negative helps you move on, matches what those students showed.

Try this: The next time you catch the harsh voice, swap it for the question above.

13. Give yourself credit for starting, even if you don’t finish

If putting things off feels good right away, then starting needs to feel good too. So give your start a little credit. Say it out loud: “I started.” Cross it off your list. Make yourself a cup of tea.

Some days you won’t finish, and starting still counts. One more thing. If putting things off feels impossible to control, and it’s hurting your work, health, or mood, please talk with a doctor or a licensed professional. It can have causes that habits alone won’t fix. That’s not a study result. It’s a caution I want you to hear.

Try this: Tonight, write down one thing you started today, however small.

Ready to Take the First Small Step?

Download my free 9 Daily Habits guide and pick one small habit to start today.

Download Free Now

A Small Reminder to Just Start

Take a look at Premier Print Works for prints, mugs, and shirts made for people who like a small daily reminder.

Visit Premier Print Works