Do It Today: Overcome Procrastination, Improve Productivity, and Achieve More Meaningful Things

How To Beat Procrastination
(backed by science)
Procrastination has been around since the start of modern
civilization. Historical figures like Herodotus, Leonardo Da
Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt,
and hundreds of others have 
talked about
 how
procrastination is the enemy of results. One of my favorite
quotes about procrastination is from Abraham Lincoln:
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by
evading it today.”
The funny thing about procrastination is that we all know
that it’s harmful. Who actually likes to procrastinate? No one
enjoys doing that. Me neither. And yet, procrastination was
the story of my life. When I was in college, every semester,
this would happen:
In the beginning of each semester, I was the coolest dude
on the planet. Relaxing, going out, enjoying myself. Big
time. I experienced no stress whatsoever. However, about a
week before my exams, I would freak out.
“Dude, why didn’t you begin earlier?” 
I would tell myself.

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And what would follow is an ugly sight of me, with a bunch
of Red Bull cans, locked up in my room — freaking out while
I was studying. And research shows exactly that: When you
procrastinate, you might feel better on the short-term, but
you will suffer in the long-term. It doesn’t really matter why
you procrastinate. Some love the pressure of deadlines.
Some are afraid to fail so they put it off until the very last
moment.
One thing that all procrastinators have in common is that
procrastination has a price. 
This highly cited study
,
published in the American Psychological Society journal, by
Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister discusses the cost of
procrastination. It is related to:
Depression
Irrational beliefs
Low self-esteem
Anxiety
Stress
Procrastination is not innocent behavior. It’s a sign of poor
self-regulation. 
Researchers
 even compare procrastination
to alcohol and drug abuse. It’s serious. And I’ve experienced
that for many years.
The years after I got out of college were also a struggle in
terms of starting and finishing work. Procrastination is a
habit that just sneaks into your system. It’s not something
you can shake easily. Every time I had a business idea or
wanted to start something, it went like this:

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Every time I had an idea or a goal, I would start, but along
the way, things would go wrong. I went from start to total
chaos. Distractions, other ideas, other opportunities, failure,
negative self-talk, etc., would get in the way. And the results
are always the same: You never get anything done.