Procrastination can get the best of us, even if you think you’re an expert in productivity. 

According to Erin King, with Medium, the following five strategies helped change her procrastination habits into productive ones.

Realize that most jobs only take 5-10 minutes.

The longer you put off your chore, such as folding that basket of laundry, the harder it gets to complete that task. You need to realize that folding and putting away that laundry will only take a couple of minutes to complete. 

Another example King gives us, is her writing an outline for this article. If she spends 10 minutes on it, she can return to it later in the day and continue to work on it. 

“It’s so much easier to go back to something than starting from scratch, especially when everything else is done.”

Do the quickest job first.

When you have a list of items to complete for the day, King suggests doing the quickest things first. 

“That way, if I only have a little bit of time, I get more checked off my list. If I start with the most time-consuming task, I may only get one job done. If I start with the fastest things, I might get 3 or 4 done in the same amount of time.”

King states it creates a “peace of mind and sense of power” over her circumstances.

Think in terms of layering instead of multi-tasking.

“When I have multiple jobs to do, I figure out how I can layer them most effectively. I might do this by getting laundry started, then putting on a pot of water to boil, sticking a chicken in the oven, soaking the dishes, beginning an article, and then reading some tips on writing.

When you layer jobs, many things get done at once. When you are productive, you feel more in control, and that makes you more likely to want to get at it.”

Don’t get overwhelmed.

Always remember that when you accomplish something, you are still farther ahead than you were. 

King says this mindfulness exercise helps her realize that she is still moving forward, even if she didn’t get everything she wanted to get done. 

She also suggests saying this mantra out loud: “I have more than enough time to do everything that I need to do.”

Just start.

“I know it sounds too simple, but that’s all you sometimes need to get the ball rolling. All you need to do to open a jar is to break the seal, and then the lid comes off easy.”

When you overthink what you need to get done, it leaves you with no mental energy left to complete that task. If you just start on it, without overthinking it, you will most likely finish it more quickly than anticipated.