You know how in high school the best time to clean your room was the night before the exam when you were supposed to study? This is the most cliched example of procrastination that I could think of. But actually it’s a better example of fear swapping. 

Fear swapping occurs when you do something you don’t like to do because at least it’s easier and less of a pain in the ass than the thing you should be doing. 

This technique is handy when trying to overcome procrastination. For example, I have two complete manuscripts just waiting for me to edit them. They’re just sitting there. And while giving your manuscript a while to rest so you’ll have fresh eyes when it’s time to edit, there’s a point when a conscious waiting turns into procrastination. I’ve definitely passed that point. 

While not wanting to edit the two manuscripts, I’ve been SUPER effective putting up websites and creating articles for online publications and writing another manuscript. So to get over it and start editing the two drafts, I need to figure out a deed compared to which the editing sounds like an easy, enjoyable task. 

So whatever it is you need to do but just don’t want to, figure out what you fear even more. Something so scary that it’ll rearrange your priorities instantly and evaporate the procrastination. 

For me, the idea of getting my mugshot just might do the trick.