Are you also struggling to beat procrastination?

You’ll see sentences very similar to this all over productivity and better living forums: “This is all great advice. Now I just wish I would get off my a** and put it into action.”

Or, from those with even more snark and personal awareness, “Great, saved this for later to never look at it again and do nothing about it.”

It’s funny, but heartbreaking. And what a common problem! When reading books like “Tools of The Titans” by Tim Ferriss, you notice that even the best of the best have strategies to avoid this trap.

How to Beat Procrastination

Listen, here’s what’s could happen as you read this. The same thing. You might skim this article about procrastination, ignore the call to action, and put it away forever.

This is your chance. Don’t blow it.

If you can just complete this one task, you are going to be alright. And you can do it right now, before even finishing this article. How does that sound? Post in the field reports below that you’ve taken action, and we can celebrate with you.

Ready? This is the trick:

Break your goal down into such a minuscule, effortless, initial task and put it into motion immediately.

Here’s how to do it.

It’s one of the physical laws of our universe: an object in motion takes less force to stay in motion than it did to get started. The first push of a broken-down car is tough, and then it starts to move much easier after it gets rolling.

Can we use the same physics in our goals and habits? Of course. So, follow the step-by-step process below. And before you continue, whether you are on your computer or phone, you must take care of it. Remember, you can come right back to what you are doing!

STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

Think of your end goal: to eat healthier, clean your house, find a new career, or save money. Break that goal down into one single starting step you can complete immediately.

+ Google ONE healthy recipe and save a note to purchase that new meal on your next trip.
+ Get off the computer and put ONE dirty shirt in the laundry basket.
+ Open up ONE job site and type in your dream career, then leave the tab open.
+ Transfer ONE dollar to a savings account from your phone.

Find the smallest possible action you can take based on your own personal goals, and take care of it now. We will wait.

… Back so soon? Awesome! Congratulations on finally hoping on the path towards your goals. Even though what you did might not have taken much effort or made a huge dent in your progress, it actually feels pretty good, doesn’t it? It’s like you’ve broken the spell.

MOVING FORWARD

Now, here’s what could have happened to many of you.

+ That first meal recipe sparked an idea for something else you wanted to try.
+ You actually put a full load of laundry in, just to get it done.
+ There was a career that really interested you, and submitted a full application.
+ You realized you could actually save $20 this month, or set up a recurring transfer.

You didn’t have to do all that, which really takes some pressure off. That’s all because you’ve put an object in motion. Understand that these small, mini-actions are what make up a lifetime of success.

Every time you feel the procrastination trap creeping up on you, beat it down with this little trick.

Leave a comment: what did you take care of right away?

PS: Are you struggling to think of life-long goals, and how to break those down into shorter benchmarks? Use the simple 5-1-30 worksheet. Each week, you can spend some time thinking about where you want to be long-term.

Then, you can follow these easy questions to turn that into what you need to do in the next 30 days! This will help you immensely when planning your week.