For a long time, I struggled to get things done.

I was a chronic procrastinator. This behavior impacted my life in many ways. My grades, relationships, and even my mental health suffered a lot.

Luckily, I overcame this problem with a combination of 3 things. Whenever I had these 3 things, it was almost impossible to procrastinate.

I think this strategy can help some of you as well, so I want to share it here.

Here are the 3 things you need:

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1. A deadline.
2. An accountability partner.
3. A painful consequence of not doing the thing.

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I would tell a friend something like this:

“If I don’t go the gym at least 3 times this week, I will go everywhere by bike for the rest of the month. Please hold me accountable.”

If you want to make it even more effective, you can set up a contract between yourself and your accountability partner that both of you sign.

We tend to procrastinate because of negative emotions around a task. We believe the task will be painful in some way. So we avoid it.

The strategy I just described works so well because it leverages urgency, social pressure, and your aversion to the consequences to make procrastination more painful than doing the thing.

So you take action.

I hope this strategy helps. You got this.

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P.S. If you want to learn more about how to overcome procrastination and become more productive, check out this free newsletter.

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