[[:encoded, "Productivity versus procrastination is the ever-present angel and devil on our shoulders. The one voice in your head telling you that you should be more productive, and the other voice whispering devilishly to go ahead and watch another episode of your favorite show, that task can wait. But procrastination doesn’t always have to be a negative thing, despite its bad rap. In fact, there are ways you can use it to your advantage!\n\nJohn Perry, an emeritus philosophy professor at Stanford, proposed an idea in 1995 called structured procrastination. His belief was that people who procrastinate are still doing useful things—they just need to learn how to be intentional about the little things they do to put off larger tasks. He argued that by putting structure around everything you do, important or not, you could trick your mind into getting the larger tasks done.\n\nLet’s explore 7 simple ways you can utilize structured procrastination to turn procrastination into productivity.\n\n1. Put Off Morning Tasks by Time Blocking\n\nIf you aren’t a “morning person”, it can be hard to get started in the morning, especially if you start your day early. Instead of diving into a larger task right away, try doing some time blocking as your first small task. Time blocking is blocking off time on your calendar for all your tasks, even breaks! It helps you to structure your day, so you know exactly what to work on in a given time block, so you don’t need to waste your mental energy thinking of what to do next.\n\nYour time-blocked calendar could look something like:\n\n•\t6:00am to 6:30am – Work out\n•\t6:30am to 7:00am – Shower\n•\t7:00am to 7:30am – Coffee and light breakfast\n•\t7:30am to 8:00am – Time block calendar\n•\t8:00am to 9:00am – Make prospecting calls\n•\t9:00am to 9:15am – Prep for client meeting\n•\t9:15am to 10:15am – Client meeting\n•\t10:15am to 10:30am – Finish any actions from client meeting\n•\t10:30am to 11:00am – Respond to emails\n•\t11:00am – 12:00pm – Make prospecting calls\n•\t12:00pm – 12:30pm – Eat Lunch\n•\tEtc.\n\nHaving a laundry list of to-dos can be overwhelming, so setting aside a specific time for each activity takes away the burden of deciding when to do that task and makes you more intentional with how you utilize your valuable time.\n\n2. Break a Larger Project Down into Smaller Tasks\n\nAs you’re blocking time on your calendar, you can break larger projects down into smaller tasks which makes them much easier to do and you feel lik

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I’m the author of many books, including, Excuses Don’t Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, The Guide to Stopping Procrastination, The Power of Visualization, My Gratitude Journal, the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, and The Roadmap To Success with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, and more.

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Anne Bachrach

The Accountability Coach™

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