When it comes to blogging and doing work online, the biggest problem many bloggers will have is the fact that they have so much available to them at their fingertip, whilst they try to complete all of their blogging activities. The internet is a brilliant thing. But, at the same time, it is the biggest reason for procrastination. Learning to blog efficiently first means that you need to remove all forms of procrastination from your working life, since procrastination can cause even a ten minute task to take 4-5 times longer when self-employed and with the internet at your fingertips. For this reason, here are some tips to help stop yourself procrastinating as you try to blog.

 

 

#1 Reward Yourself for Work

One of the best ways to stop procrastination is through rewarding yourself once you have done part of the work (such as got to a certain milestone in the work) or all of the work. Little things even such as a bite out of a chocolate bar or a sip of your cup of tea can really be the motiviation to help you crack on with the work you have to do.

What is important with this tip, though, is the fact that the reward cannot be procrastination. If you open up to procrastination, it is harder to stop once you are doing it.

 

 

#2 List Your Procrastination

Understanding that you have a problem with procrastination is the first step. Once you have done this, it is a wise idea to list down the top five things you procrastinate over. For example, for myself, the list would look like:

1. Facebook
2. YouTube
3. TV
4. Playing smartphone games
5. Social Media

Once you understand what your biggest procrastinations are, you can look to eliminate the whilst you are working.

 

 

#3 Keep Your Procrastinations Out of Reach

From identifying your procrastinations, the next step is to make it harder for yourself to perform the procrastination. From doing this, you will be reducing the temptation to procrastinate. For example, based on my above list:

1. Go Incognito when blogging so if I wanted to go on Facebook, I would have to re-login manually.
2. Hide the bookmark toolbar in my web browse so YouTube is not one click away.
3. Make sure the TV remote is out of reach or, in the best situation, as far away from myself in the house.
4. Turn my smartphone off and put it upstairs or away from myself.
5. Incognito on web browser so I would have to login to get onto social media.

If I wanted to procrastinate, I still could. However, it would be a a lot harder which is usually enough to put me off wanting to procrastinate.

 

#4 Stay Hydrated

This is a crucial point. Staying hydrated is important to maintaining focus and concentration on tasks. If you are not hydrated, you are more likely to sway off topic and end up procrastinating. Therefore, always make sure you have a bottle or glass of water to your side so that you stay hydrated the whole time you are blogging.