Six steps to stop procrastinating

Our brains are programmed to procrastinate. In general, we can process concrete things better than we can process abstract thoughts about the future.

So how can you become less myopic about your tasks? It’s all about rebalancing the cost-benefit analysis. The reward for doing a task needs to feel larger than the immediate pain of tackling it.

Here are six tricks you can try to make the benefits of taking action feel bigger – and make the costs of taking action feel smaller:

1 Visualise how great it will be to get it done Try imagining the virtuous sense of satisfaction you'll have once a task is completed – and perhaps also the look of relief on your colleague's face when he gets from you what he needed. 2 Pre-commit, publicly Tell people what you're going to get done to help incentivise you to take action.

3 Confront the downside of inaction Force yourself to think about the pros and cons of not doing a given task.

4 Identify the first step Break down big, amorphous tasks into baby steps that don't feel as effortful.

5 Tie the first step to a treat We can make the costs of effort feel even smaller if we link them to something we're actually looking forward to doing. In other words, tie the task that you're avoiding to something that you're not avoiding.

6 Remove the hidden blockage If you can't figure out why you're stalling on a task, you need to ask that stubborn voice in your head some questions. Figure out what's really holding you back from taking action. – Copyright Harvard Business Review 2016