Effective Way to End Procrastinating

A friend of mine introduced me to this technique. It's very simple, but works and goes as follows:

* Have a timer or regular clock in front of you.
* Set up your workstation to do your homework, programming, writing, etc.
* Take note of the time, and for only five minutes focus on your work or the task at hand.
* After those five minutes, you can stop and take a five minute break.
* Then work for just five more minutes, then take another break.
* Continue, possibly expanding the work times to ten minutes, half an hour, and onward.

This may seem silly, but it works well for a lot of people. The idea is that we procrastinate projects or assignments because as a whole they seem daunting. When we know that we're only required to focus on a problem for five minutes at a time, it's easier to approach. It prevents a person from feeling like their about to plunge into an ocean of work.

Often, a person will eventually get absorbed into their work and will cease to use the stop and go method. Lots of individuals tell themselves, "I should be able to just sit down and get this done," which isn't necessarily true. Give this method a try, start that thing you're putting off and do it for just five minutes. See what happens.