Here’s a system you can beat up procrastination and find your motivation.

I know a thing or two about procrastination. I know what it means to get stuck in thinking about the act of being productive but getting trapped in the loop of procrastination.

I mean, there’s always a little bit of Netflix available.

I can always tidy up the house or wash some dishes.

Or, that moment when you end up in the Facebook tab and you don’t know where time has flown?

The system I have created for myself started because I was spending too much time in my mind, thinking. I wanted more action to see results, but I was wasting all my energy in my head. I did not have a system to help me accomplish what I wanted.

The moment something is in your mind, and you don’t decide what to do with it, it’s just stuff that will distract you, thinking that it is important to at that moment. It’s a stress factor that is ever-present and puts pressure on you. And much is just a story, but you don’t have a clear image of what is happening.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. – James Clear

You know that moment when there is a noise in the room, and you realize how much has been bothering you only at the moment it stops? Precisely this is what happens when the stuff in your mind doesn’t get your structured attention in deciding what you’re going to do with it.

I’ve been reading and implementing so many productivity tips in the last months. The books that inspired and made me take action are:

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Getting Things Done by David Allen

What I’ve learned is that everything that all we can manage are our actions. Here’s the system I use to clear my mind and get things done.

1. Clarify what is going through your mind.

Our mind needs decluttering.

Start by writing down everything that keeps your mind busy – the personal and work or business-related. Having your thoughts written down will help you get clear about what exactly is happening in your mind.

Keep this list at hand, and always write down the thoughts coming up to revise them later.

2. Decide what actions you have to take.

Now that you have them on paper or your computer is time to transform them into actions, and it’s essential to make them specific and actionable.

If your list looks like this: read, shopping, social media, hair, study, let me tell you why you forget about it. Everything is on the list doesn’t invite you to do anything.

• Instead of social media, you can write create social media calendar for December by November 30.
• Instead of reading, you can write while commuting, play an audiobook in the car, or read 20 pages before bed.
• Instead of hair, you can write call the hairdresser and set up an appointment.

For those that are not actionable, you delete them or transfer them to a new list to focus on later.

For the actionable things, set up the steps and actions that are required immediately. If one item has multiple steps, turn it into a project.

If the item will take less than 2 minutes, complete it right away.

This step gives you the clarity to see if some of the tasks are for you to be done, or you have to delegate them.

3. Everything goes to the sacred territory – the calendar.

The moment you add them to your calendar, you know when the action is going to happen. No more unnecessary brain chatter is draining you, and your mind is free and ready to focus on the task at hand.

If earlier you delegated some of the tasks, you can add to your calendar when to check their status.

Also, set up a weekly task to revise your list.

You know the feeling you have when you see your house clean and everything in the right place? That’s the feeling I have since I have started implementing this system.

Right now, I’m in the middle of the process of implementing one productivity tool. In the past, I have been using many tools, and I was getting lost. At the moment, I’m using Notion because it gives me the option of having everything in one place. Like this, there are no tasks or lists unchecked. I’m going to give you an insight into how this is going in a later blog post.

Alexandra