We have great resolutions, great goals, but when it comes to taking action, we always find good excuses not to get started. So how do you stop procrastinating and get on with life? Here are 6 tips that will change your life.

1 – Understand why we procrastinate

Putting things off until tomorrow is human. Yes, first of all, it’s about understanding that you’re not the laziest person in the world. In fact, procrastination affects everyone, every day.

But some people are able to overcome their procrastination, while others are not.

The very fact that you’re reading this article makes you someone who is overcoming this habit of procrastinating. So, bravo!

Indeed, the first step is always awareness.

Now it’s a question of understanding why you are where you are and how to overcome this obstacle.

In fact, procrastination is often a sign that your approach isn’t clear.

Either your goal isn’t really clear, or it’s the way you’re going about achieving it that isn’t clear.

In fact, putting things off until tomorrow is a signal for us to come back to our objective, to review our foundations. They’re not solid enough.

In fact, we could even say that procrastination is an opportunity for us to check that we’re going in the right direction and in the right way.

Because all too often we tend to behave like machines, without understanding that we are human beings.

In concrete terms, we set ourselves a goal and believe that, by dint of effort and motivation, we’ll get there, whatever the cost.

But we forget one essential thing: we need meaning.

Why is this goal important to us? And how can we achieve it in the way that suits us best?

And that’s what we’ll be looking at in the next few tips.

2 – Check the importance of your goal and stop putting it off until tomorrow

As we’ve just seen, procrastination is the signal that we need to check whether our goal is really important to us.

Have you noticed how many “I shoulds” are running through your head: I should do more sport, I should work more, I should have more friends…

And, all too often, these “I shoulds” become goals.

But we’re wrong.

These “I shoulds” are merely injunctions from society or from our ego, which always wants more, wants to be like everyone else and even have more than everyone else.

In fact, we’re constantly being asked to fit into more and more boxes.

And these injunctions become our goals. But when we dig a little deeper, we realize that this isn’t what we want, it doesn’t make sense to us.

And that’s why we spend our time putting things off until tomorrow, because we don’t like our goal, it doesn’t suit us.

That’s why, to stop procrastinating, check that you really like your current goal, that it gives you butterflies in your stomach.

To do this, ask yourself this simple but essential question: is this goal really important to me? Why or why not?

List at least 5 different reasons.

3 – To be proud of yourself

Now imagine that you really like your goal, but you keep putting it off until tomorrow. This is normal.

Because even if our goal makes sense to us, we still have to make sure we’re giving ourselves the means we need to reach it.

In fact, all too often, we act as if we were machines, telling ourselves, “I’ll do this for so long, and it’ll be good.”

But we’re human beings, and we need much more than a written commitment to put ourselves into action.

We need meaning.

Why do you do what you do?

Why is it important to you?

Answer these questions, constantly, every day. Whenever you feel like procrastinating.

In fact, remind yourself day after day why your goal is important to you.

Then go even further.

Be proud of yourself. That’s my secret. It’s the one that drives me every day to do what I have to do: to put in place new habits, to eliminate bad ones.

In fact, when I feel like I’m going to put off until tomorrow something I told myself I’d do (right now, for example, it’s meditation), I remind myself of one thing:

“Tonight, when I go to bed, I want to be proud of myself.”

And, that phrase is just magic, because I go from “I want to procrastinate” to “I want to do what I have to do. I want to be proud of myself tonight.”

So note this magic phrase all around you: on your bedside table, your desk, in your diary, in your phone….

Make sure you’re proud of yourself when you go to bed at night.

4 – Reduce to stop procrastinating

It’s also quite possible that you’re asking too much of yourself. Maybe you want to go too fast, too hard, and that’s why you tend to procrastinate.

Because the fear of having to make too much effort pushes you to do nothing.

It’s normal, it’s human.

So what can we do? We have to cut back!

Indeed, the most important thing is to move forward, even if it’s slowly.

So cut back on what you have to do.

Don’t be afraid or ashamed. In fact, it’s normal to take things slowly, and that’s the best way to move forward.

Because, in our society, we forget how far we’ve come. We want to get there right away, but there’s a long way to go, obstacles to overcome, and that’s what makes life so exciting.

We’re not here to know everything, we’re here to learn.

So, at least halve what you had decided to do today or this week.

And be proud of yourself.

Because it’s better to take small steps every day, than one big step, but never!

Reduce, that’s also the secret to stop procrastinating.

5 – Find the right moment

We think like machines, which is why we procrastinate so often.

We think that because we want to, we’ll do it. Wrong!

In fact, when you have a goal, you also have to make sure you work towards it at the right time of day or week.

A time when you’re focused on your goal.

In the beginning, find a key moment.

Personally, you’d be surprised how many good habits I’ve started in the morning.

In fact, when I began my apprenticeship in happiness, I set up a morning routine and all my habits today began during that morning routine.

In other words, I wholeheartedly invite you to make time for yourself every day or every week.

Is it morning, noon or night? Is it before or after your meal? Or before or after a shower, for example?

Don’t overthink it. In fact, test it out over a week and see what happens at the end.

Personally, I spend my time testing new habits and finding the right moments.

It’s really exciting.

Because we’ve never arrived, we’re always on the way, always learning, improving, improving our lives.

And it’s because of this that we can feel so proud of ourselves and so grateful to be alive.

6 – Accept imperfection and stop procrastinating

Finally, I’d like to tell you that you shouldn’t be afraid to put things off until tomorrow.

Indeed, when we don’t feel fully sure of ourselves, we tend to throw in the towel before we’ve even tried, and that’s too bad.

In fact, it’s because we believe we should be perfect, that we could be perfect, that we end up indulging in mediocrity.

Yes, I’m talking about mediocrity, and it’s to push you to take action.

Because in life, you always have a choice: either you go to bed with regrets, with a feeling of mediocrity, or you can go to bed proud of yourself.

Proud of having exercised, even for just 20 minutes. Proud to have meditated for even 5 minutes, to have read even 5 pages…

Imperfection is part of the journey, and that’s what makes us so proud of ourselves. Proud to try, proud to fail and proud to try again the very next day.

So don’t think that your path will be without pitfalls, don’t even wish for that.

Wish that your path is what it will be, wish to always be proud of yourself, even in failure.

Because life doesn’t ask you to be perfect, to be great, it simply asks you to learn, grow and evolve day by day.

I hope these 6 tips will help you live the way that makes you happy and proud of yourself.

Find out more:

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover Working on yourself: 10 tips to becoming the best version of yourself
Discover ʟᴏꜱꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴏᴛɪᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: 5 ᴛɪᴘꜱ ᴛᴏ ɢɪᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴀ ʙᴏᴏꜱᴛ!

In addition, I recommend this inspiring book:

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, protagonist Theo Decker battles procrastination and the ramifications of delayed decisions. He delves into themes of loss, guilt and the impact of choices on life.
The author has managed to do something quite wonderful, and the mechanism is mysterious. I was definitely absorbed by the book, in a satisfying, page-turning way.
Wonderful book!

Thank you very much for reading this article.

If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself.