MANAGEABLE STEPS

Often one reason people procrastinate is because they get overwhelmed with a project. If you need to clean out your attic, you may stand and look at those mounds of junk and realize it will take hours to get through everything

… and so you go and hit the couch instead.

There are many projects and goals that are overwhelming like this, and giving in to procrastination is all too easy when this happens. To avoid this, it's good to break things down into manageable steps. If you are facing just one manageable and workable step at a time, you're less likely to avoid it.

Here are some suggestions for how to break down projects into manageable steps.

MAKE A LIST

You can't attack your projects step by step if you don't know what those steps are! If you make a list of everything that needs to get done, this can help tremendously.

Many steps are simple and some need steps within steps. For instance, if you want to adopt a child you know that your finances need to be in order for this to happen. You will then need to write up the steps needed to accomplish this.

There may be some chores where you don't necessarily need a list, such as cleaning out that attic, but there are other ways to avoid procrastination for those projects.

MANAGEABLE TIME

Your particular project may or may not have necessary steps, but in either case you can avoid procrastination by tackling it with manageable time. This means you should set aside a small amount of time to address the project, rather than trying to get everything done at once.

For example, suppose you need to clean out your attic. Set aside fifteen minutes every day to work at it. Do your cleaning for no less than this time; set a timer if necessary. If you're facing only fifteen minutes of cleaning work, you're much less likely to avoid it.

Setting a time limit can work with just about any project you have, although of course larger projects will mean more time, more often. To get your finances in order you may need to spend an hour this Saturday going through your bills and expenses and working up a reasonable budget. You may then need to spend another hour next week speaking with a debt consolidation company over the phone.

Another hour in their office may mean getting that consolidation loan. You may then need to spend a half hour every week going through the money you've spent that week, recording it and making sure your bills are paid on time. You also need to spend time regularly reviewing your budget to keep yourself on track.

But you'll note for these things too how every step is broken down into manageable timeframes. The key is to think solely about the next step, not about every single thing you need to get done to accomplish your task.