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Focus better with a “Don’t Do” list. With Making a “Done” List With the “don’t do” list, you can write down the things that you know sabotage your productivity to remind yourself not to do them. But, then how do you know what you should be spending your time on? By writing down all the tasks you complete, you see where your time goes. So, this method is a two-fer: You can make better decisions when you have hard data on your work, and you’ll be motivated to keep at it when you can actually see your progress.

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Take more breaks with the Pomodoro Technique. With Breaking Between Completed Projects The Pomodoro Technique involves working in 25-minute intervals with five-minute breaks in between. You might find that this gives you fantastic focus. But, it might not be possible for you to get everything done in such a short time period. When you’re more the type who likes to do tasks from start to finish in one sitting, you should adjust your plan to fit with your focus. So, feel free to sometimes stick with a task until it’s completely done, and then take a break. (No really, take that break! Studies say you need it.)

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Motivate yourself to get started with the Eisenhower Matrix With Starting Easy and Working Up The Eisenhower Matrix method of classifying tasks by urgency and importance and doing them in that order can definitely work for some. But, if you struggle with getting started, the pressure of having to work on high priority and high urgency tasks can scare you into procrastinating. Keep a list of tiny to-dos that you can finish in just 10 minutes and run through them first. You’ll feel motivated by the win of knocking out a couple tasks quickly and ready to handle more serious work. Plus, you’ll probably have the cleanest desk and the most organized inbox in your office.

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Prioritize better with the Brian Tracy’s “Eat That Frog” strategy. With Finding Your Own Golden Hours The Eat the Frog concept, created by author Brian Tracy, is all about doing your most important task first each day. While it can help make sure your top priority is taken care of, getting down to business first thing in the morning might not be the most convenient time for you. So if you’re not at peak performance until later in the day, try scheduling your top task for the time that suits you best. So, whether you’re most energized after your coffee break or more motivated just before leaving the office, do your most important work then.

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Schedule your chores. Write down your chores in a weekly basis with matching day and time when you should be doing these. For the artsy folks, you can create fun chore charts like theseor simply stick the list somewhere visibly annoying e.g. mirrors, doors, TV. The trick is listing as many chores as you can for the week and including unfinished chores the following week. Who likes seeing a long list of chores first thing in the morning?

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Ready your snacks. You know that trip to the pantry? It’s just seconds away but it took you several minutes just to get your fruit snacks in the fridge. Before starting a task, prepare your nibbles on your desk to avoid zoning out and losing yourself on the way to the pantry.

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Create an inspirational board or reminder. I found these mini desk chalkboards from Etsy you can use to write motivating quotes like the ones from Pinterest. Or you know what? Just simply write “Do it now!” and stare at it for 10 seconds every time you feel like dropping by on Reddit.

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Redecorate your room. Redecorating my room motivates me to maintain that ‘new’ look for some time until I get use to it and eventually stop. So I redecorate again and again, it became a monthly habit really. Here are some DIY ideas you can do to any room without spending much.

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Set-up mini tasks. If you’re given a big project, break it down into mini tasks. Create a checklist and start with the easy ones until you finish. Got an article to write? Just start with the title and the first sentence. Or perhaps you have a visual presentation to make? Spend 15 minutes on your outline, take five minutes coffee break, then finish the first two slides. Accomplishing something, no matter how tiny, still gives you that sense of fulfillment.

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Do a 10-minute workout in the morning. Exercising is proven to increase productivity and stimulate release of endorphin or “Happy Hormones”. Take a jog outdoors and get warmed up for the day. Don’t feel like running outside? Hop on a treadmilli. It’s a great investment and there are a lot of ways you can use a treadmill like endurance running and metabolism training. On a budget? Here’s a 10 minute, no-equipment needed workout you can do at home.

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Prepping the night. Before hitting the sack to oblivion, prepare everything you’ll need the next day. This will probably take you 15 minutes tops, saving you more time for coffee in the morning. Spin class at am? Pack up your gym clothes, shoes, socks, etc. or better, create a checklist so you don’t miss anything. You can also prep your food into containers and just grab one before leaving.

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Consider a gadget-free desk. According to a study by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, average users check on their phones 150 times per day and having your phone just an elbow away just creates sizzle to this habit. Removing mobile devices and gadgets allows you to focus on your work without the constant interruption from notifications, calls, and text messages. It eliminates the very distracting ambiance and the urge to unlock your phone just because.

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Assign a ‘Task Deputy.’ It could be your colleague, your supervisor, or your significant other, anyone who has the unforgiving guts to reprimand you when you procrastinate. You could go the extra mile by paying up unfinished tasks or times you open your Facebook or watch a funny cat video on YouTube. Let’s see how five bucks every time you procrastinate will change you.

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Become productively lazy. Instead of finding all sorts of ways to unproductively procrastinate, use your habit to look for shortcuts and new ways to finish your tasks. Staple multiple papers at a time or master the 3-second t-shirt folding technique. A strong drive combined with laziness sometimes bring out the productive and creative side you never knew you have!

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Take it outside! Do yourself a favor and don’t ruin the comfy vibe of your home. If you need to work on a stressful project, do it in a library or coffee shop. You’ll never finish it anyway. Your cozy sofa and toasty bed will just lure you into napping yourself to doom.

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Set a timetable for your tasks. Like any other habits, procrastinating is a tough wall to break. Replace this habit with another habit. When you’re assigned a task, set a timetable for each step. Let’s say you have a big research task. Here’s a sample timetable: 9:00 – 9:10 am – Set up all your tools, browser tabs, emails, coffee, etc.. 9:10 – 10:00 am – Internet research 10:00 – 10:45 am – Look through existing files 10:45 – 11:00 am – Break time! 11:00 – 12:00 pm – Outline the research report

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Create a break agenda. List all the things you want to do on your break be it surfing the web, checking your emails, snack time, taking selfies, Facebook/Twitter—everything. Like the (10+2)*5 hack, squeeze these in between work time but the difference is you schedule these activities for ONLY 20 minutes. Eventually, you’ll take your break minutes wisely. You’re finishing tasks while sidetracking to doing the things you enjoy.