How to Kill Your Procrastination and Absolutely Crush It With Your Ideas

As a full-stack developer, I‘ve lost count of how many amazing app ideas I‘ve dreamed up. An AI-powered virtual closet organizer, a crowdsourced lost pet finder, a gamified language learning platform – my idea journal overflows with the next world-changing projects.

There‘s just one tiny problem: I hardly ever actually build them.

Can you relate? Coming up with ideas is the easy, fun part. But when it comes time to put in the long hours to bring them to life, we hesitate. We procrastinate. We delay starting, or lose steam after a strong Level 1 start.

Months later, we sheepishly admit to friends that the app idea "didn‘t pan out" or we "got too busy." The spark fizzles and we move on to dreaming up the next big thing.

If this sounds familiar, don‘t feel bad. According to a 2007 meta-analysis by University of Calgary psychologist Piers Steel, PhD, a whopping 80-95% of college students procrastinate on a regular basis. The numbers are just as bad for the general adult population, with an estimated 20-25% being chronic procrastinators.

Humans are wired to procrastinate, especially on large, long-term projects with no clear deadline. Our brains crave immediate rewards. Starting a project gives us a burst of feel-good dopamine. Announcing our intentions makes us feel productive without having to do any real work. No wonder we love collecting half-finished projects!

It‘s like playing the first level of ten different video games. Trying new things is fun, but you‘ll never experience the rewards and emotional payoff of seeing the story through.

In gaming and in life, the real victory comes from pushing past Level 1 hype into Level 2 and beyond. While everyone else collects "Game Over" screens, you‘ll be racking up saved kingdoms and treasured memories.

So how can you kill your procrastination dead and become an absolute beast at finishing what you start? Here are some tips.

Understand the Root Causes

Many psychologists categorize procrastination as an emotional regulation problem. We put things off to avoid negative feelings like boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, and self-doubt.

In a 2013 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, researchers Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl found that procrastination is essentially "prioritizing short-term mood regulation over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions." Put simply, procrastinators would rather feel good now than do the hard work that will pay off later.

Perfectionism also plays a big role. Many procrastinators are perfectionists who fear their finished product won‘t live up to their impossibly high standards. Rather than face potential disappointment, they avoid the task altogether.

Understanding these emotional triggers can help you stay on track. When you feel the urge to put something off, interrogate the feeling. Are you anxious about getting started? Dreading a tedious task? Worried it won‘t be perfect?

Identifying your mental blocks puts you back in control. Instead of getting hijacked by your emotions, you can address them head-on with the following techniques.

Break It Down

Mark Twain once said, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."

When a project feels too big and scary, breaking it down into bite-sized chunks makes it less daunting. This is why having a clear roadmap is essential for tackling complex projects.

Start by listing out all the major features and components. Break those down into smaller technical tasks. Keep going until you have a granular list of actions that each take 1-4 hours to complete.

Now instead of one intimidating mega-project, you have a neat stack of micro-tasks you can knock out one at a time.

I like to take it a step further by scheduling tasks into my calendar. Assigning deadlines and time blocks creates structure and helps me prioritize my coding time. When a task has an "appointment," I‘m much more likely to show up and complete it.

Gamify Your Process

All but the most monk-like among us struggle with discipline from time to time. Between distracting notifications, urgent emails, and funny cat videos, it‘s a wonder anyone gets anything done!

This is where gamification can be a huge help. By turning your tasks into a game, you give yourself extra motivation to keep showing up.

One popular method is the Pomodoro Technique, invented in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo. Set a timer for 25 minutes and race to complete as many tasks as possible before it dings. Then take a 5 minute break before going again. Trying to beat your high score can quickly turn work into (slightly stressful) play.

Another gamification hack is to visualize your progress bar ticking up. When I was building a Pokedex app, I drew a literal progress bar and filled it in with every milestone reached. Watching it creep closer to 100% was incredibly motivating.

Habit trackers can also be powerful accountability tools. Apps like Habitica and Forest turn your goals into colorful digital trees and creatures you nurture with each completed task. It‘s amazing how much more motivated you are to code when there‘s a cute virtual puppy counting on you.

Reward Yourself

Treating yourself for a job well-done can do wonders for your motivation. Small rewards trigger your brain‘s reward system, giving you a surge of feel-good dopamine. Over time, you actually start associating the task with the treat, which boosts your drive even more.

One of my favorite rewards is an hour of guilt-free gaming time. I also like to keep a stash of fancy coffee and chocolates as tasty motivation. Bigger milestones like feature complete or a tricky bug resolved earn bigger rewards like a nice meal or a fun night out.

Rewarding yourself regularly trains your brain to associate your side-projects with positive feelings instead of stress and dread. Choose incentives you genuinely enjoy and switch them up often to keep things interesting.

Rally a Support Squad

Few things kill procrastination faster than having people counting on you. Knowing others will be checking up on you is a powerful motivator to stay on target.

Seeking supportive accountability can be as simple as declaring your goals publicly. Post on social media or blog about what you aim to achieve. Join an online community of developers and post regular progress updates. The extra scrutiny makes it harder to slack off or silently quit.

You can also recruit an accountability buddy to check in with daily or weekly. Commit to sending each other progress reports, discussing challenges, and celebrating wins. Knowing you have someone to celebrate or commiserate with makes the whole process feel less isolating.

If you thrive on external deadlines, consider signing up for a hackathon or coding challenge. Having a hard stop date to work towards can do wonders for motivation. Plus, the energy and excitement of shipping alongside others can be majorly inspiring.

Never Stop Learning

Regularly sharpening your skills is key for sustaining motivation long-term. The more capable and confident you feel, the less likely you are to procrastinate.

When you get stuck on a tricky problem or catch yourself slipping into bad habits, seek out new knowledge. Watch a tutorial, read a blog post, dive into documentation. Use your procrastination time proactively by filling it with learning.

Top developers have a growth mindset. They view challenges as opportunities to expand their knowledge. Where others see roadblocks, they see exciting new problems to solve.

If imposter syndrome has you putting off projects, combat it with capability. Identify your weaknesses and turn them into strengths through deliberate practice. The more equipped you are to tackle your task list, the less scary it feels.

Conduct a Post-Mortem

Once you finally finish that app or crush that feature, take some time to reflect. Conduct a personal project post-mortem to analyze what went well, what didn‘t, and what you can improve next time.

Treat missteps as learning experiences rather than failures. If you found yourself procrastinating at certain points, examine why. Were there external distractions you can eliminate? Mental blocks you need to work through? Skills you need to level up?

Most importantly, celebrate your successes! Marvel at how far you‘ve come since the beginning. Let the high of a job well-done carry you into your next project.

Fighting procrastination is a lifelong journey full of ups and downs. You won‘t always be perfectly disciplined. What matters is committing to constant iteration and improvement.

With time and practice, starting gets easier. Finishing gets easier. Your project graveyard stops haunting you and your shipped projects bring you pride.

So dream big, plan well, and keep on coding. With the right mindset and techniques, you‘ll be crushing your development goals in no time.