How to Avoid Procrastination

I am a terrible procrastinator and have issues getting things done on time, so I end up racing to get stuff done the day before or, in extreme cases, the day of. This excessive stress is not very fun, so I have developed some strategies to avoid procrastination. My strategies are not perfect, and will not work for everyone, but they are at least a place to start. So without further adieu, here are some strategies to avoid procrastination.
The first strategy that I would suggest is simply to relax. I do not mean this in the sense of being on the phone. I have found that participating in activities that involve the use of a screen, such as video games or social media, makes me more tired and serves as a distraction and a method of continued avoidance. What relaxation actually entails is taking a nap, doing some cooking, or some sort of work that is relatively mindless and allows one to relax for a bit. This method is the lowest impact method of getting a mind ready for work and is preferable, but requires one to be proactive and willing to get their work done.
There are several reasons why one could be procrastinating, but one of the most common, in my opinion, is the catatonic screen usage that leads to wasting the day away. This state is very hard to escape, but there are several ways to escape it and fix a mindset. I will commonly forget to eat so I can cook some food, the strategies above only work well if one can drop the device.
If an individual is struggling to get out of that state, the best way to get out of it is to shock yourself back into a thinking mindset. One of my personal favorites is a cold shower and a quick nap. This reset strategy helps my brain wake back up and resets my judgment.
Another strategy includes running a distance until one is out of breath. This will force an individual to walk back to their house and have time to think and reset without being on a device. The key to these strategies is impulsivity and just doing something without thinking. If one thinks, they will return to that catatonic state.
The final strategy is a hail mary; it is similar to an intervention on oneself. Oftentimes, one procrastinates on something that one does not want to do by doing something one wants to do. If an individual cannot refocus using any of the strategies above, I would suggest surrendering control to someone that they trust and giving up the source of distraction, whether that is an electronic device or something else.
Overall, an individual must develop their own strategies to avoid procrastination. These strategies are not for everyone, but are instead a starting place to develop one’s own techniques. Stopping procrastination can be a daunting task but the first step is always to start.