Starting stuff is really easy. You sit around one day and you ponder and BAM! A great new idea comes into your head and you want to get started right then and there. Problem is, as easy as it is to start something, procrastination eventually kicks in and we never accomplish about 98% of the things we want to do.

Do you know how long I’ve been planning this blog? For about a year now. How long did the actual labor take for the site to go live? Probably no more than 6 hours.

So why the fuck did it take me this long for something that shouldn’t have taken more than a day to accomplish? I got lazy. Laziness and procrastination are probably two of the most sinister forces I’m still fighting against today, but never fear: you can win the battle.

Close doors

Probably the biggest offender, the reason it’s hard for us to finish what we start is because we just start too much stuff. We have a hundred ideas for novels, a million ideas for potential blogs and every other thing that we might be slightly interested in. We keep adding to our list when we haven’t even started them.

When you have so much stuff, you don’t have the hours or energy to put into all of them. You need to close down all these open doors and focus on the important things. You need to ask yourself…

“Do I really want it?”

Evaluate in your head the things that are the most important to you. Start weeding things out. You may thought something was great when you first thought of it, but think it over. Do you still feel the same about it? What are you the most passionate about amongst your list of shit to do? Rather, out of everything, which one do you see yourself actually finishing at a reasonable time?

Make a list of things you REALLY want do and another list of things you might want to. Which ones are most desirable? Which has more priority?

You don’t always have to leave all your goals behind—you can always shelve them. The point is that you need to create a small set of tasks that you will be completely focused on. Once you finish those, you can always come to finish the rest.

Create small goals

Small goals are an excellent way to keep up motivation. Segment your ultimate goal into a ton of tiny ones, each of which will help reach the finish line. This way, you get used to the idea of finishing something and are motivated to keep on going.

You want to write a novel? Make a goal of writing a page a day. Want to learn the guitar? Tell yourself that you’ll learn a certain amount of scales and chords a day. These small things will eventually build up onto larger short-term goals and before you know it, you finally made it.

Stick to it, no matter what!

It’s fun to daydream about finishing what we want and the kind of end results we’ll get. That’s great but remember: none of that will happen unless you keep it up. There are days that I’m not motivated to write posts or anything, but I do it anyway because it’s important to me.

The hard truth is that if you want ANYTHING in life, you need to work your ass off for it. You need to work hard and make sacrifices. It’s been said a thousand times but it’s the truth. Stick to your plan to matter what. Force yourself if you have to.

Focus, focus, FOCUS!!!

Don’t get distracted. Don’t lose focus. If you do and you start to wane, read this post again. I will beat some sense into your brain until you are indeed energized enough to get back to your goals. Honestly, think about it: If you can’t even accomplish small goals, then how can you accomplish anything in life? How will you get anywhere?

Fear is an excellent motivator.

I was in this rut as well.

My friends used to refer to me as “The Guy That Started Shit”. I always made plans, but I never followed through with anything, let alone finish them–I was notorious for this shit. But I got off my ass and started to work and soon enough, things have started to fall into place.

Nothing feels greater than the feeling of accomplishment. Just stick to it and don’t give up, and you will also be able to taste this sweetness.

If asteroids or nukes won’t destroy humanity, it will probably be procrastination. Something about just sitting down and doing work makes us want to do anything, except our work. Sometimes I feel like a million different things pop up in my life whenever I actually have to do something productive and I end up getting distracted. Here are a couple of methods to boost productivity and get you doing things.

Get your mind fresh

Get rid of all the junk in your head and get cracking. Wash your face with cold water, take a quick nap, or take a walk outside. Whatever it takes just rid your mind of all the thoughts and feelings that have nothing to do with your work. The less useless shit you have to think about, the more focused you will get.

Rid yourself of all distractions

Set yourself in a place where you can be alone and there is some nice peace and quiet. Want to know if you got any new notifications on your Facebook? Delete the bookmark. And if your work doesn’t require any use of the internet, disable it so you won’t keep opening up your browser to post comments in forums or read your favorite blog between work. Get away from televisions, music, food, and especially your bed. Just being anywhere near a bed will distract you as you’ll be inclined to lie down for a bit, and we all know what is “a bit”. She’s quite the temptress.

Set short time goals

A nice way to feel like you’re doing something with your life is to set short term goals. That way, you can use them as building blocks to complete your main, overarching goal. They’re easier to attain and they give you a sense of accomplishment, which will inspire you to keep going at it.

Initiate “The Fear”

Depending on the severity of your goal or the work that needs to be done, a great motivator is fear. What are the consequences of you not finishing your work or accomplishing your goal? Will you be okay screwing up? Sometimes, it isn’t that important. But other times, such as studying for finals or paying your rent, the need to getting your shit together becomes crucial. Fearing failure and its consequences makes you tense and really gets that adrenaline going.

Learn restraint and exercise self control

Basically, if you can’t control yourself, you will never succeed in life. Now that we have that out of the way, you need to tell yourself that you have priorities. I know it’s really tempting to go out with your friends on a Saturday night, but if you have a queue of things that need to be done, finish that first. No amount of advice will change you unless you tell yourself that you need to get yourself together. Force yourself, or get a friend to hold authority over you. Saturdays will always be here so is it really worth the consequences of not meeting your goals?

If you can do it today, do it today

My grandfather always said to me, “Why put something off for tomorrow when you can get it done today?” Stop making excuses of finishing something another day if you can clearly start and finish right then and there. There are 24 fucking hours in the day and unless you’re a hot single mom with 3 jobs and 2 kids to feed, there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to get your work done.

Don’t think: Just do

Okay, I’m going to shower, then eat a snack. After I’m done digesting, I’m going to take a quick  trip to the store. Then when I’m back, I’m going to organize my closet and workspace. Then I’ll get to work.

Sound familiar? When you plan out work like that, you will rarely if ever get ANY of those done. It’s best to just do it. If the thought of the work or goal comes to your head, set yourself up and get to it.

What other methods do you use to get yourself focused and ready to go?