10 steps to end procrastination

1) Plan

Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich) declared desire the start of all achievement. Maybe your poor motivation is due to pursuing other people's goals. Visualise the person you want to be in 10 years' time, and then develop milestones for years' five, two and one. Then write it all down at the back of your diary…

2) Keep a diary

Yes, record your progress, or the lack of it, every day in a diary. It'll also bring out the emotions that could be at the root of your poor productivity. Fear, anger, blame, self-esteem: they can all keep you stuck on the sofa, so get them on paper and start rationalising. Without a diary progress goes unnoticed and lessons unlearnt.

3) Love your workstation

No, I mean really love it. Buy it presents, tend to its needs and pine for it when not in its company. This is the cockpit for your journey, so make it somewhere you want to spend your time.

4) Invest in the right equipment

Spending money on the right gear is a strong statement of intent so indulge yourself by going high-end: these are the tools of your trade – don't scrimp.

5) Gather/capture "stuff"

Get a large box (or file) and throw in everything required: papers, letters, books, brochures, folders, business cards – the lot. This is an important first step as it offers a sense of scale regarding the task ahead. It'll also reveal that life's manageable: in fact, there it is in the box. And please, print out relevant electronic files (sorry!).

6) Sort the box

Give everything in the box some gnat-like attention to generate three or four piles: Job A, Job B (possibly Job C) and Everything Else. Last task: check that Jobs A, B and C are in the right order.

7) Write a checklist

For Job A, write a checklist of all the tasks required. Checklists differ from "to do" lists in that they capture everything for a single project (while "to do" lists include feeding the dog etc). Once done, rewrite it in sequence, though remain flexible – some tasks may need reordering as we execute. And make sure task one is something exciting.

8) Get strategic

Spending too much time on strategy can fool procrastinators into thinking they're hard at work. Yet poorly-directed "busyness" (as Stephen Covey calls it) is equally wasteful, so why not try a SWOT? Write down your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then act on your strengths and, if relevant, develop the skills for overcoming your weaknesses. Meanwhile, grab the opportunities (if they fit with your goals) and remain vigilant with respect to the threats.

9) Focus

All that planning is for this: the moment we actually start work. So what's required now is a laser-like focus on one task. Indeed, multitasking is the death of achievement. To help, adopt Francesco Cirillo's pomodoro technique. Named after those ubiquitous Italian kitchen timers, we set the clock for 20 minutes and work furiously to complete a specific task before the alarm. Then take a break – though not before resetting the timer for restarting work.

10) Share

Just about everything we do has a public dimension, although it's here where the emotions that made you unproductive can exact their revenge, making us fearful of criticism. Yet if we judge others' feedback against our long-term goals, we can remain open to public scrutiny without being floored by the inevitable negativity. After all, it may need no more than a tiny adjustment.

Robert Kelsey is the author of Get Things Done: What stops smart people achieving more & how you can change (Capstone). Available in all good bookshops or here

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