# How to stop procrastinating and start taking action instead

> How to stop procrastinating and start taking action instead

- Canonical: https://neurohackingly.com/how-to-beat-procrastinating-and-take-action-instead/
- Published: 2023-09-03
- Updated: 2023-10-06
- Author: Lukas Zangerl
- Tags: productivity

Success doesn't come from knowledge; **it comes from action.**

> “If [more] information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.” - Derek Sivers

## 🎯 These pieces of advice have helped me to overcome procrastination and take action instead

**#1.** Do not aim for perfection. Instead, take a small first step toward your goal and build upon it.

> "A remarkable, glorious achievement is just what a long series of unremarkable, unglorious tasks looks like from far away."

**#2.** Use the [RPM (Rapid Planning Method)](/audio-programs-self-improvement-tony-robbins/) by Tony Robbins instead of To-do lists. Ask yourself:

*   What **result** do I want?
*   Why **must** I achieve it?

**#3.** Set up your **work environment to minimize distractions** or go to a location dedicated to work. Christ Bailey wrote a significant portion of his book [The Productivity Project](https://amzn.to/3YZS5WH) on an airplane.

**#4.** Set a **5-minute timer** whenever you feel the urge to distract yourself from work. Mostly, you will notice that the urge has already faded when the timer goes off.

### 🧾 Ressources

**If you want to learn more on how to beat procrastination I would highly recommend checking out [**Tim Urban's blog.**](https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/11/how-to-beat-procrastination.html)**

> "The procrastinator's problems run deep, and it takes something more than "being more self-disciplined" or "changing his bad habits" for him to change his ways-the root of the problem is embedded in his storyline, and his storyline is what must change." - [How to Beat Procrastination, by Tim Urban](https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/11/how-to-beat-procrastination.html)

#### 📖 The top 3 books on how to overcome procrastination are

*   [The Procrastination Cure](https://amzn.to/45TwTUh), By Damon Zahariades
*   [The Procrastination Equation](https://amzn.to/3qX62YH), By Piers Steel
*   [Procrastination](https://amzn.to/3Emwhen), By Jane B. Burka And Lenora M. Yuen