How to stop procrastinating immediately in three easy steps

Today I feel like changing something. From time to time you should do this if you don’t want life to end in a dead end.

Surprisingly, the way to achieve all sorts of things is very simple. Basically, all you have to do is follow the three steps described in this article. That’s all it takes to achieve everything you’ve set out to.

Unfortunately, simple is not synonymous with easy. . . It’s one thing to read the three steps and say: “Okay, I’ll try that.”

Another thing is to really do it and stay with it for a long time. That’s why you should also read the text after the three steps, because there I’ll go into each one and deepen the concept behind it.

Are you in? Then let’s do it now:

Step one: Answer this question: What do I want to achieve or change that I haven’t achieved so far?

If you have clicked on this article, then there is at least one thing in your life that you cannot make progress with. It doesn’t matter what it is about. Are you trying to write a book, lose weight, treat your partner better or start jogging again? You can tackle it right now, and it will only take you a few minutes and thoughts — for today.

The only important thing is that you decide on a single project. All other goals you can write down for later. Now just pick one and write it down.

My personal goal is this: I want to go jogging again regularly (it doesn’t have to be more precise yet. That comes later).

Have you written down your goal yet? Fine, then let’s move on.

Step 2: Answer the next question: What really small step can I take right now that brings me closer to my goal?

You’ve probably read it a hundred times: Every big goal should be divided into many small intermediate goals, so that one does not lose courage right at the beginning and is motivated again and again by small successes to continue.

That’s exactly the point of step two. But when I say small, I mean really small. If you are trying to write a book, you should not answer question two: “Write the first chapter”, but rather: “Turn on my computer and open an empty Word document”.

Think about it for a few moments and then decide on a micro-step and write it down.

Did you write it down? I did it and decided to take the following step: “I’ll get my old runner-clothes out of the closet.”

Now that I have made the decision, I see that the first step on the way to my goal is really tiny. That’s why I’m going to take it out right now. Wait a minute, I’ll be right back …

Okay, I’m back. It really only took two minutes to take this first step.

Now it’s your turn: Do right now what you wrote down as answer to question two.

Ready? See, that wasn’t hard. And now we come to the third and final step If you also take this step together with me, your chances of really achieving what you have set yourself will increase. Sounds good? Then please follow me.

Step three: Make sure you repeat step two over and over again.

What kind of stupid advice is that? Is that what you’re thinking right now? Well, I assure you you won’t regret taking it to heart.

But before I tell you at the end of this article why this step is so important, I’ll explain how to do it.

One of the main reasons why we do not achieve our goals and our good intentions is that we are terribly forgetful. Another reason is that, after the first step, we do not know what to do next. We overcome these two obstacles with step three.

Let’s see how far I’ve come with my new goal in the course of this article: I have chosen regular jogging among many possible projects. I have already done more than ninety percent of the people who go to bed every night and have not made any fundamental decisions about their future. If you also answered the question from step one and wrote down your decision, the same applies to you — you have already left ninety percent of the people behind.

Okay, okay, you’re right: Everybody can make a thousand such decisions every day and write them down without that leading to any results. If you stop at this point, nothing will happen in your life, of course.

That’s why we’ve been keeping up with step two. My sports gear is ready now and with you it may be an open Word document that will become your book, or you have downloaded an app that lets you learn another language. No matter what it was with you, you’re one step further now, just like me.

But if we stop at this point, of course, it is still the case that life is not changed for the better.

A micro-step alone doesn’t change anything. But a thousand of them will make all the difference.

So step three is to keep sending us back to step two so that we can take the next micro-step.

What does that mean in my case? Now that I’ve got my running gear ready, I could put everything on and start running. But for most of us, that might be too big a step. What if I don’t have time to do an entire training session right now? What if I can’t get over myself yet?

So let’s just remember what I said to step two: Define really tiny steps. If I take heart, maybe my next move will be, “I’ll put on my running pants.”

This is again so simple that there is simply no reason for my subconscious mind to resist it. Anyone can put on a pair of running pants without feeling completely overwhelmed.

I’ll explain later how we’re going to prevent us from sticking with these tiny steps forever. Of course, at some point, we want to take bigger steps. For now, however, it is only important to find a way to be reminded regularly and reliably of step two and to go through it, preferably several times a day.

The text that appears on your display, preferably several times a day, should be the question from step two: Which very small step can I take right now that brings me closer to my goal?

Let us now come back to my promise from the beginning: I wanted to explain to you the concept behind each of the three steps. This is where I keep my promise.

About Step one

Every journey needs a destination. If we run off without knowing where we’re going, we’ll get lost. More precisely, every journey needs exactly one destination. We can’t go in multiple directions at once. That’s why we start with target selection in step one.

No matter how many dreams are buzzing around in your head, you won’t achive a single one if you chase after them all at the same time.

You may have encountered this concept before. You may have already read articles or entire books on the subject of goal setting and wonder why I explain that your first goal does not have to be exaggeratedly concrete. In this model we are initially content with such a general goal as: I want to jog regularly again / write a book / lose weight.

Why? So you can get started right away. You can specify your goal later on and you absolutely should do so. But you can use step two for that. Just make the elaboration of your goal one or more of your micro-steps.

Step one is all about getting started right away. Take your future into your hands immediately and don’t postpone the first step until tomorrow, next week or anytime.

About Step two

This concept is very well explained in the book “Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results” by Stephen Guise. It convinced me so much that I made it the basis of step two of this article.

When we break down a goal into ridiculous mini-steps, we do so for one reason only: to give our subconscious no chance to sabotage our project.

The subconscious believes that it does us good if it protects us from effort and change. That’s why we have to outsmart it. If the steps on the way to our great goal seem small and insignificant enough, the subconscious sees no danger for our well-being and sleeps on.

But it will do one more thing for you: Sometimes you will experience an intresting effect: You will carry out one microstep and then go on and do a lot more than that. This is because you are allready moving. Now that you startet, it becomes much easyer to go on.

Now you see, how this plan will lead you even to the bigger accomplishments. You will not get stuck with just finishing tiny steps every day.

Abot Step three

In step three, I urge you to use your smartphone’s reminder feature to remember step two over and over again.

I’m doing this because I know you’ll forget it otherwise. You may believe in this view that you will easily think every day, even without help, of carrying out step two, but you are lying to yourself.

This three-point program is nothing more than a new habit you’re trying to adopt. And like every habit, this three-point plan takes time to become flesh and blood to you. Until then, you just need external reminders.

So do yourself a favor and heed this advice. Only then can you be sure that your departure to new shores will not be ruined by your forgetfulness.

We have now reached the end of this article. I will now return to step two (I already have the running pants on) and define my next mini-step. If you would also like to apply this three-point plan, I look forward to hearing from your experiences with it.

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