I like collecting things like this, so far throughout my life this has been a pervasive problem for me causing me years of depression and suicidal thoughts when I start to feel like I just can't get anything done. It's my hope that at least some of this can be useful to others. I don't expect anyone to read all of this, because I certainly wouldn't (I'd skim, ha) so let's throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.

Stress, Anxiety, and Mindset:

The first and most important thing is to not beat yourself up too much about this. It will only serve to discourage and de-motivate you, when what you need most right now is movement in your life. It's not productive.

— As always, easier said than done.

It's most important during these times to keep perspective. Don't compare yourself to other people, instead compare where you were to how far you've come and where you are today. Don't say, "this isn't as good as what [Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, successful friend on Facebook, etc.] is doing." Say, "this is WAY better than what I was doing 2 years ago!" (I recently had run-ins with several old friends from HS. It was very surprising that despite always feeling 'behind schedule', I seemed to be doing better than all of them.)

For me, usually it's a single source of stress that's preventing me from doing the rest of the stuff I need to get done. e.g. "I'm broke, I need to get to the bank to deposit this check... CRAP, I forgot my car still won't start!..." A major source of stress like this can sometimes put me in a loop.

Realize that as stress and anxiety builds around the objective, the actual work required will begin to seem overwhelming. It's not. The only way to make an overwhelming project seem less overwhelming is to actually start working on it. When this happens, you experience a nice benefit of being able to say, "...that wasn't so bad!"

Tips and tricks you can actually 'do':

• Small-chunk the work. (and let the Zeigarnik Effect take over)

  1. Say it's a stack of papers that you must process. Take a small stack off the top, and place it in front of you. Now tell yourself, "all I have to do is finish this small part then I can go on to something else."
  2. What if it's just one big chunk of work, say like a software project? Pick a close stopping point – a spot easy to reach and easy to continue from – and tell yourself the same thing, "At this point I can move on to something else if I like."

  This is because the hardest part of any task is starting. Once you've committed to starting, the rest pretty much handles itself. You must "always be starting" as Neil Foire puts it. Start on the finishing touches, start pt. 8 of the long grind, just keep starting.

• Include small breaks. — For example, set a timer for 25 mins. After 25 mins of wrok, take a 5 min break. After four 30-min cycles, you've earned a full 30 min break. (this compliments the Zeigarnik Effect) (Pomodoro Technique)

• Tell other people about it, (or not) (After some more months of personal experience I've realized how powerful this is. Essentially, over time I get an energy buildup inside me that can be expelled two ways: socially, or on the source of the problem. If I purposely refrain from socializing about it, the pressure from the energy buildup pushes me to expel it the only other way possible: working the problem itself.)
• Remove distractions. If there's people talking, wear headphones. If too many people walk by, find a space where people normally don't go.
• Take a walk – take the time to air out your lungs, air out your mind, change the scenery a little bit, get your body and your brain out of being stuck in the same place. The spiritually-calming effects of the most simple stroll around the block are so profound and subtle that it must be tried to be believed.
• Play time is sacred – schedule it into your day. Do not let work or any other project violate your well-deserved daily guilt-free play. Making play time sacred will give perspective on work time and actually make you more productive. (The Now Habit by Neil Foire, "Unschedule")
• Dress for the occasion — I've never read this anywhere, but have noticed it through personal experience. Say when you make a commitment to working out after you get home, you rarely feel like doing so when the time comes. But if you only promise yourself to put on your workout clothes... well after I've donned my 'getting sweaty' clothes, I kinda feel like getting sweaty. Sometimes I have friends over who want to go out, though I don't feel like it... but if I don some nice 'going out' clothes and clean up, well I start to feel in the mood to go out. When I feel it's time for relaxin' to the maxim', I put on sweat pants. Now all I've done is expand this to the work setting: If I'm working my budget, I put on a clear green visor cap, yellow lens glasses, get ready an ashtray and chew some bubble gum. If I'm studying for certifications or working my server lab, I always prefer wearing a lab coat and putting my hair into 'mad scientist' mode. If it's just regular ol' work, put on a nice work shirt – something you'd interview with.
• Change locations. — If you're not getting anywhere, try changing scenes to a new room, or say to a coffee shop. If a busy coffee shop has too many distractions, maybe a nice quiet park or library will do. Make it a place you want to work at, and once you've found a good one keep it consistent. I've read a study about rooms having a persistent 'vibe' to them, such as a room where a group meets every day for a week to have a group meditation session, and a control room where nothing takes place in it for a week. When a brand new group with different people tries to have a meditation session, they have more success in the room used for it before than in the control room. I imagine it works the same for study and work, i.e.: don't do it in the living room, where TV and videogames dominate a "play" scene, and not in your bedroom where you may instead want to cultivate a "lounge, sleep, rest" vibe. Whatever room you choose to make your 'work area', keep it consistent, and the more you pay into the 'vibe' of the room with a strong work effort, soon you may be able to just walk into the room and be overwhelmed by a sense and urge to get s*** done.
• Clean. — Mostly, clean your desk. Try make it as blank as a minimalist would, give everything else a place. If your desk is already clean but you really should clean your bathroom, go clean your bathroom. Anything is forward progress at this point, but more importantly, I notice human beings seem to act happier in clean spaces. Happier human beings are usually more willing to work.
• Lighting – Happy human beings again. I dunno much about being human, but I've noticed bright outdoorsy spaces seem to leave most people in a cheery, relaxed mood, even myself. If it's daytime, try to work near a window with a view (and if the more primitive outdoor life looks more tempting compared to your work, maybe turn your back or try to flank it). If working into the night, make sure you have a desk lamp and a floor lamp in addition to your regular lighting. Make your space look very occupied, in-use. Not (only) so much for the eye-strain, but just to make your job that much easier and that much more comfortable to do, so you can get it done quicker.
• Meditate. — If you haven't read any of the several studies out there about the positive benefits of meditation on the mind and body, you should. Doing meditation is simple – yet as always easier said than done, it's harder than it looks. The purpose is to clear your mind and remain at a blank slate, no stray thoughts flying about – easy, right? If you find them creeping in, simply let them pass; don't fight it. "Whatever you resist, persists." Experiment and find out what you like. You can meditate sitting in a chair, lying down, sitting against the wall, etc. Try to remain present and in the moment. And overall, screw anybody who tries to tell you 'this how you're supposed to do it,' listen to your body and do what you like.

Good luck be unto you!

Edit:

I will update this and change things continually as I experiment with strategies, maybe even remove some things. Mainly I started with rehashed points from other online articles, but as I've had time to experiment with these things, I now have first-hand experience with the results of certain strategies myself. Experience > Theory is what I've been taught (and proven, ha) so I want to mainly keep this about real-life results.

In his March 2016 TED talk Tim Urban explains how the Instant gratification monkey only cares about "easy and fun". This works very well in the animal work, and even may have worked for us in ancient times. But today this no longer works. Your Rational decision-maker gets in conflict with the monkey.

At the latest moment the Panic monster kicks in, and often saves the day: you work your *ss off right before the deadline and get away with it.

But Urban distinguishes two kinds of procrastination:

1. There's the one mentioned above, where the effect of procrastination is contained by a deadline. It's short-term.

2. And there's the situation where there is no deadline. We all have plenty of these: going to see your family, working on your health, etc. This long-time procrastination is much less visible and much less talked about.
   It can be the source of long time unhappiness and regrets.

One of the things he advizes, especially for the second kind:

Draw a grid with cells for every week of a 90-year life. That's 52 * 90 = 4680 cells (so 52 wide and 90 deep would be good format). Color the weeks that have passed and hang it on your wall as a reminder of 'where you are' in life.

Notes:

1. Tim Urban is the co-author of the Wait but why blog (together with Andrew Finn), which is all about his psychological shortcomings, especially procrastination. You may find much more helpful stuff over there.

2. The real procrastinator test is: do you print this grid and use it, or do you first watch that video, or do you click on the full dramatic nightmare story link just above it?

Anyone who truly knows probably won't be on this forum answering the question in the first place, but I'll still throw out a few tidbits.

The ability to get stuff done seems to come from deep within. I've been in moods where I want nothing more than to blast through my to-do list. Other times, I've felt that refreshing my inbox repeatedly was the most important thing in life. Dumb, obviously.

Tidbit 1: You can force yourself to behave by focusing on the satisfaction of getting something done, but in the end you still don't feel like it, and you'll probably fail again very soon. So, focusing on the reason for doing the task can work in the short term.

Tidbit 2: To do better in the long term, you need to identify the time-suckers such as Facebook, and admit that they are robbing your life of meaning. Then, just delete the accounts. If you cannot bring yourself to do that, then watch the documentary "Terms and Conditions May Apply". Then you'll want to delete it. Basically, making distractions a part of your past (rather than present) is the only way to make them stop.

Tidbit 3: As I was saying, true motivation comes from within. I've had good luck using Yerba Mate, which has stimulants known for elevating mood and increasing motivation, and Aniracetam worked pretty well, as well. In addition to that, check your diet for things that cause lethargy, such as MSG, too much junk food, sugar, fast food, etc. Check out http://www.bulletproofexec.com/ for some great diet and life tips.

There's a saying that goes:

You cannot make anyone to do anything. You can only make them want to do it.

The key, overall, is to make yourself want to do it. Nobody can make you want something. That drive must come from you. If you don't have it then you must find it. If you can't, then scratch your youtube itch and look up Jim Rohn on youtube. He's the motivational speaker that taught and inspired all the big names that you know today, such as Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, and others.

I gotta get back to work.

I think that people procrastinate for different reasons so there is no one-size-fits-all answer . (I am also always surprised as to how many people suffer with this - trust me it's not just you! )

Some excellent points have been made in all of the posts above for sure.

Here's my take : To find the cure I think you need to identify WHY you are procrastinating. It actually maybe for several different reasons.

The way to identify the reason is to force yourself to stay in the moment of discomfort - that moment that happens right before you go and click on Youtube..

I am not saying 'force yourself to be good' - instead say to yourself - ok I AM going to spend some time on Youtube - I am going to allow myself to avoid for a little longer BUT before I do that, what is it about the task (the one you are not doing) that is making me want to avoid it?

so take the pressure off yourself re the task but don't avoid examining yourself either - just start to think about your behaviour like an outsider looking on - in a 'firm but fair' way.

Allow yourself to assume you are a good hardworking and genuine person - so there must be a REASON you are avoiding the task. Assume you are not 'just lazy' nor a bad person.

Typical reasons for avoiding something are:

• the task is boring

• the task is evaluative - you will be judged on the outcome (and you are worried you are not going to do it well enough)

• the task is actually unclear - mentioned above

and plenty other reasons that can be more subtle eg I realised eventually that I was avoiding doing a task because the first part of the task involved getting information from a really unpleasant person - I just did not want to have contact with that person. But it was unavoidable. And once I realised what was delaying me , I just dealt with it and then the rest of the task was fine and got done.

Once you have identified the reason for your avoidance, it much easier to figure out a practical way to resolve the sticking point.

e.g. if it's boring task can you do it while listening to an interesting podcast? e.g. if its evaluative go and talk to the person who you feel is evaluating you and explain your anxiety - usually their expectations are way lower than you think and this will take a great load off your shoulders

I think this book is a great resource too:

http://www.amazon.com/Procrastination-Why-You-What-About/dp/0738211702

Apart from the other great answers:

• Use implementation intention: Make plans in advance and imagine how you will face them. "Tomorrow I will be tempted to open facebook but I will make a tick in a paper everytime y feel the tempation and keep working until I have X hours of work".
• Remember your values: "As attractive as this distraction might be, I am a profesional. I value hard work. I am not the kind of person that gets distracted so easily and I won't like to be it" (Fake it even if you are a real procrastrinator until you feel it).

There are great resources in procrastination.ca (But remember that you may procrastinate reading about procrastination instead of doing real work)

I have exactly the same problem. I couldn't solve this completly yet, but I have one small technique that helped a little: set a time range stupidly easy to keep focused, for example: keep 100% focused on a task (that should take a whole day to accomplish) for only 5 minutes. Don't do anything but the task for this 5 minutes. Think that you're gonna stop in 5 minutes, do this little effort. Then sometimes it helps you to work for more 5 minutes untill you finish the first step which is commonly the hardest part.

There is also this very good text: http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html

Hope that helps

Why you don't need to feel guilty because "you procrastinate too much"

A quick search on the internet may confirm your hunch: there are a lot of people talking about procrastination, and the questions asked often involve personal tales of guilt, regret and remorse. Here's how (and why) these feelings can be overcome.

Procrastination - Not the problem we think it is

The word "procrastinate" is a heavy one. It brings up negative feelings from people who suffer from its effects. Perhaps we are wrong about it and it's not what we think it is. Webster's Dictionary defines the word as follows:

To put off from day to day; to delay; to defer to a future time

Anyone who is skillful at managing their time will tell you that acts of "putting off from day to day," "delaying" and "deferring to a future time" are required habits in a world in which we place more demands on our time than ever before. (A "time demand" is a technical term - an internal, individual commitment to complete an action in the future. In other words, it's a self-generated task.)

A number of enabling opportunities (i.e. mobile computing, the Internet and information availability) have converged for the first time in human history, leading us to create more time demands than our ancestors ever did. We simply receive more triggers to forge new time demands on a daily basis, based on the fact that we see more information in a day than our grandparents ever saw in a month.

Plus, we experience far more interruptions than ever before. Advertising, reminders and notifications are just some of the ways we are tempted to stop what we are doing in order to pay attention to something new. The only way to survive is to either delay or create fresh time demands... we just can't do everything now... or even most things. We also have realized that trying to do more thing at one time is a recipe for trouble.

For example, consider the simple example of checking your email Inbox. In fifteen minutes it's possible to scan 100 new items, while making 30 instant decisions to take further action. However, it's impossible to act on all 30 items immediately. Instead, it's a much better idea to focus on a single item at a time, and not to multitask.

In other words, it's better to "put it off from today," "delay" or "defer to a future time." It's better to procrastinate, according to Webster. Why is procrastination deemed to be such a problem if, by its dictionary definition, the action is such a necessary and useful one? My research shows that we are using the word improperly - to describe an unwanted feeling rather than a particular action. The word "procrastinate" is being used to label the wrong problem.

The Real Problem To understand the real problem, let's look at some cases in which actual failures occurred, and why they had nothing to do with procrastination.

Failure #1 - A Missed Due Date Sam's homework was due on Monday morning, and she waited until late on Sunday evening to get started. After she began, she found out that the assignment required at least 20 hours of work, which she could not complete in time. The assignment was handed in late, and her tardiness cost her a full letter grade according to the rules stated in the syllabus. Analysis: Most might call Sam a procrastinator, but another interpretation is that she is missing the skill of effectively scheduling her time. The failure started by not properly estimating the size of the task, and continued when she didn't use her calendar to determine the best time to start the assignment.

If she's like most of us, the problem didn't come about because she lacks enough time demands in her life. On the contrary, it's likely that she suffers from one of my research findings: her current methods are no match for the number of time demands she is trying to manage. She's not alone... most of us experience a drastic increase in time demands in early adulthood which we try to manage our lives using teenage, self-taught skills. The result is that we drop the ball.

The solution is to keep monitoring our personal systems for failures like Sam's which indicate that we need to upgrade our skills to the next level in order to align with the increase in time demands we intend to manage.

Failure #2 - Several Delays Mike has made an internal decision to cut the lawn on Saturday, an activity he despises. On the appointed day, other events intervene, and he decides to cut the lawn on Sunday instead. Sunday rolls around and once again he decides to postpone his date with the lawnmower until Wednesday. On Wednesday he decides that next Friday would be better, and he once again foregoes the much needed chore. On Friday he finally cuts the entire lawn in one effort. Analysis: Was Mike procrastinating? Many would say "Yes!", further accusing him of being lazy.

But wait.

What if I add in the fact that it rained on Friday, Monday and Tuesday nights rendering the ground soft and unsafe. Would you still say he was being a lazy procrastinator?

If I add in the fact that his neighbor cut his lawn under identical weather conditions would you change your mind? And if I add in the fact that the neighbor is known to be a drunkard who sometimes does crazy things... would that help you change your mind once again?

This story outlines the problem we have of accusing someone of procrastination, including ourselves. We are often harsh.

The dictionary definition implies that all we are doing is re-scheduling. If we were to stick to it, 'we say that Mike is simply deferring the activity, which the dictionary says is "procrastinating."

However, there is a modern tendency to judge and accuse him or procrastination. Deeper insight shows that it all depends on which version of his story we believe.

"Procrastination" has become a way to cast blame, but it doesn't need to be seen that way. Users of powerful auto-scheduling programs like SkedPal reshuffle their calendars multiple times each day with the click of a button. As they use the program and get accustomed to its features, they unlearn the old habit of feeling guilty every time they must delay tasks. They become desensitized to all the negative blame to which we attach ourselves when we realign and re-optimize our calendars to match the latest reality.

But you don't need to be a SkedPal user to make a small step in this direction.

Instead, notice that delaying a task is a neutral act. The negative feelings are not mandatory.

Instead they come from our judgmental minds which have decided that something is wrong, and therefore someone is to blame. A close look at the examples above reveal that it's actually our own negative thoughts that are producing the guilty feelings and the blame, and NOT the actual rescheduling. But what if that insight isn't enough? What if you already know this fact but it hasn't made a difference? What can you do about the recurring negative thoughts if they continue to persist? How can you be free? Here is my favorite method used in situations like this.

I use Byron Katie's methods of dealing with stressful thoughts outlined in full on her website (The Work) and in her books. Her approach is simple. Write down the unwanted, stressful thought, preferably in simple, childlike terms. Then ask the following questions, taking time to write down the answers slowly and carefully, meditating on the answers: 1. Is it true? 2. Can I absolutely know that it's true? 3. How do I react when I believe that thought? (i.e. how do I feel?) 4. Who would I be without that thought? (i.e. how would I feel if the thought had not occurred, or if I had no belief in it.)

Once that part is done, find 3 factual, evidence-based examples where the opposite thought is as true, or truer than the original, unwanted thought. For example: If the original thought is "I am a lazy person who gets little done," the opposite thought (called a "turnaround") might be "I am NOT a lazy person." Evidence -- I have two degrees, I raise three children successfully, I have never missed a deadline on a project.

It's a simple process, and for more details, Katie has books and free worksheets, plus a lot of videos of other people doing "The Work" - see www.TheWork.org

Over time, my experience has been that using this process causes recurring, habitual stressful thoughts to lose their emotional sting. This is especially true when different variations of the unwanted thought arise e.g. "my mother should never have called me lazy." The cumulative effect has been remarkable for me.

Summary

Procrastination has become more than the bare reality: the need to reschedule your calendar in a world of increasing more time demands, interruptions and information overload. Instead, procrastination is a heavy blame-filled feeling.

This feelings can disappear with a single insight. However, for many people, the unwanted thoughts that have become a habit pattern that is real, but thankfully not mandatory. One way to interrupt the habit is to intercept the thought when it occurs with a pen and piece of paper/laptop/smartphone. Complete the four steps + turnaround process as quickly as possible and repeat the steps for all variations of the thought.

If it sounds a bit like mind-training, well yes... it is. But it's about engaging more than the mind.

Now, when I have a stressful thought, my fingers start itching... they want to jump into writing or typing right away so that I can recover my peaceful mind... especially when I think I should be doing something now, and not procrastinating.

P.S. I wrote an earlier version of this article for the Stepcase Lifehack website.