--- title: 5 Tricks for Beating Procrastination description: Do forgive yourself when you do procrastinate canonical: https://time.com/3674789/tricks-for-beating-procrastination/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-26T17:00:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:08:26.762Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 5 Tricks for Beating Procrastination og:description: Do forgive yourself when you do procrastinate og:url: https://time.com/3674789/tricks-for-beating-procrastination/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33e034052fb7f8ee/69877aca06f2c16b733337d8/man-playing-with-newtons-cradle.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: man-playing-with-newtons-cradle og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Tricks for Beating Procrastination twitter:description: Do forgive yourself when you do procrastinate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33e034052fb7f8ee/69877aca06f2c16b733337d8/man-playing-with-newtons-cradle.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Tricks for Beating Procrastination by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 26, 2015 5:00 PM UTC  Office worker playing with newtons cradle Office worker playing with newtons cradleGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 26, 2015 5:00 PM UTC * Make [more specific plans](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-can-you-stop-procrastinating-and-make-pla). Just setting a date and a time when you’re going to do something makes you more likely to follow through. Or just [write down the steps necessary to do the work](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-a-good-way-to-trick-yourself-into-getti?). * Use [short, painless dashes](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-to-beat-procrastination-quickly) of effort. Just have at it for five minutes and feel free to watch the clock. Chances are you’ll realize it’s not so bad. * [Forgive yourself](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/could-forgiveness-be-the-cure-to-procrastinat) when you do procrastinate. It will help you get productive. Hey, even procrastination researchers [have a sense of humor](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/proof-that-procrastination-researchers-have-a) about it. * No, you [won’t do better work](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-procrastinators-score-higher-in-school-tha) by procrastinating. And you will not have [more time next week](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/should-carpe-diem-be-our-motto). In fact, leaving things unfinished [makes you stupid](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-leaving-things-unfinished-make-you-stupi). * [Rewarding yourself](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-the-trick-to-beating-procrastination) for doing things you don’t want to do can be a powerful motivator. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/07/5-tricks-for-beating-procrastination-67104/)**_._** **Join over 150,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/06/most-productive-people/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3674789/tricks-for-beating-procrastination/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3674789/tricks-for-beating-procrastination/"},"headline":"5 Tricks for Beating Procrastination","datePublished":"2015-01-26T17:00:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:08:26.762Z","description":"Do forgive yourself when you do procrastinate","url":"https://time.com/3674789/tricks-for-beating-procrastination/","keywords":["Psychology","advice","procrastination"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33e034052fb7f8ee/69877aca06f2c16b733337d8/man-playing-with-newtons-cradle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33e034052fb7f8ee/69877aca06f2c16b733337d8/man-playing-with-newtons-cradle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"man-playing-with-newtons-cradle","caption":"man-playing-with-newtons-cradle","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3674789/tricks-for-beating-procrastination/","name":"5 Tricks for Beating Procrastination"}}]}] ```