How To Finally Stop Procrastinating: Oliver Burkeman

1. Embrace Your Finitude

Acknowledge and embrace your finite nature and limited control over time and life, as this can lead to a more relaxing and focused approach to how you use your time.

2. Pursue Meaning, Not Happiness

Focus on engaging in meaningful activities rather than directly aiming for happiness, as happiness often arises as a byproduct of such pursuits.

3. Say No To Desired Things

Learn to decline opportunities or activities you genuinely want to do because there are more things that matter than you have time for, preventing distraction from top priorities.

4. Avoid Middling Priorities

Identify your top five priorities and actively avoid the next 20 “middling” priorities, as these are distracting because you care about them just enough to pull you away from your most important goals.

5. Accept You Are Already Enough

Internalize that it’s impossible to do everything, and recognize that your self-worth is not dependent on endless accomplishment; you are likely already enough.

6. Realize Self-Worth Fuels Ambition

Understand that realizing you are already “enough” is the true foundation for authentic ambition, allowing you to pursue goals for expression rather than to justify your existence.

7. Embrace Imperfection In Creation

Accept that imperfection is an inherent part of bringing anything into the world; rather than procrastinating for perfection, proceed with your imperfect work knowing everyone faces this reality.

8. Resist Clearing The Decks

Resist the urge to “clear the decks” or get everything perfectly organized before starting important work, as the decks will never be fully clear; instead, just begin.

9. Expect Discomfort In Meaningful Work

Anticipate and accept that tasks and activities that truly matter will often involve a certain level of discomfort, rather than expecting them to always feel easy or flow effortlessly.

10. Cultivate Willingness For Discomfort

Develop a willingness to experience mild discomfort, especially in cognitive activities like deep listening or focused work, as this can be a powerful skill.

11. Slow Down To Natural Speed

Experiment with slowing down to the natural speed things take, rather than constantly rushing, to achieve deeper engagement and resist the addiction to urgency.

12. Steward Your Attention Consciously

Consciously manage where you direct your attention, recognizing that what you pay attention to fundamentally shapes your life, and avoid letting it be hijacked by distractions.

13. Limit Social Media Access

Remove social media from your phone and access it only on a laptop or desktop to reduce constant distraction and regain control over your attention.

14. Practice Radical Incrementalism

Adopt a strategy of “radical incrementalism” by making small, consistent progress on tasks daily, rather than binging, to sustain effort and avoid intimidation.

15. Stop When On A Roll

When working on important tasks, commit to stopping after a modest, set amount of time, even if you are on a roll, to make the work sustainable day after day.

16. Focus On One Big Thing Sequentially

Train yourself to work on one major task or project at a time, completing it before moving to the next, as this sequential focus is more effective than dissipating energy across multiple projects.

17. Embrace Negative Emotions

Be open to and willing to feel negative emotions like anxiety, insecurity, and uncertainty, as this approach is a more resilient way to navigate the world than constantly seeking positive thoughts.

18. Evaluate Choices: Enlarging or Diminishing?

When making choices or evaluating life paths, ask if the activity is enlarging or diminishing you, as this helps identify truly meaningful pursuits even if they aren’t always fun.

19. Reconnect With Ancestral Activities

Incorporate activities into your daily life that your ancestors would have done, such as exercise, spending time outdoors, and collaborating with others, to align with fundamental human needs.

20. Ground Work In Physical Actions

Frame your work and goals in terms of physical actions and tangible outputs, like printing a document, to counter the abstract nature of digital work and connect with essential human activity.

21. Don’t Over-Invest In Future Outcomes

While setting goals is important, avoid exclusively investing the entire value of your current actions in future outcomes, as this can diminish the meaning of the present.

22. Avoid The Efficiency Trap

Be wary of becoming overly efficient, as increased efficiency often leads to a greater volume of incoming tasks and demands, rather than freeing up time.

23. Abandon Limitless Expectations

Release the impossible quest to meet every expectation the world has of you, as this frees you to focus on what truly matters and reduces feelings of inadequacy.

24. Tolerate Neglecting Good Opportunities

Be willing to experience the anxiety of neglecting many good opportunities or tasks to intensely focus on the one or two that are most important.

25. Be Transparent About Imperfection

If you have a public profile, openly share your imperfections and struggles to liberate others from unrealistic expectations and the pressure to appear flawless.

26. Redefine “Writer’s Block”

Understand that “writer’s block” is often just the natural feeling of difficulty inherent in the act of writing, rather than a unique problem or disorder.

27. Embrace Cosmic Insignificance

Embrace the idea of your cosmic insignificance and that most things won’t matter in the grand scheme, which can be liberating and encourage taking bold risks because the stakes are lower than perceived.

28. Find Meaning In Mundane Tasks

Recognize that even very everyday, mundane activities like caring for a sick relative, cooking meals, or improving your neighborhood can be deeply meaningful.

29. Act From Gratitude, Not Justification

Approach your work and achievements as an expression of gratitude for your abilities and opportunities, rather than as a means to justify your existence or self-worth.

30. Recognize Unconventional Learning

Acknowledge and appreciate learning that occurs through life experiences, such as parenting or moving, which are not traditional book-based education but still contribute significantly to your growth.