How to stop procrastinating

Brooke Schwartz
2 min readMay 13, 2020

I’m guessing you clicked on this because there’s something you’re supposed to be doing and you’re not doing it.

Write down every excuse you have for pushing it off.

“There are things I want to do more than what I need to do—like reading this Medium answer.”

“I can’t motivate myself to do it.”

“I’m tired.”

“I can just do it tomorrow.”

“I can just do it in five minutes.”

“Five more minutes.”

“One more answer.”

“I can do it later. It’s not pressing that I do it now.”

“I don’t want to do it right now.”

Look over your reasons. Read them aloud.

Your reasons are bullshit. (Excuse my French.) The real reason you’re procrastinating is because you don’t want to do it. Take away the “right now.”

But here’s the secret: you’ll never want to do it. There’s no time like the present. Do it now.

Right now. Close this answer. If you can do it later, you can do it now.

The best way to stop procrastinating is to say, “I will do this right now.” And just to do it.

There is no way to motivate yourself, no magic trick that will suddenly introduce a fountain of hidden work ethic and determination that’s hidden inside.

You just do it.

Go do it. Right now.

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Brooke Schwartz

Professional writer, editor, and tutor; social justice advocate; Orthodox Jew; dedicated Grammar Auror