• Eating an Elephant Beetle at the start of your workday is the best way to ensure that you will not have to tackle anything worse that day.

You know what your Elephant Beetle is, it’s that task that you keep putting off – the one that haunts you and sits on your shoulder all day long, reminding you that it needs to get done no matter how much you don’t want to do it.

If you make it your priority to get it done first thing, the sense of relief at having gotten rid of the burden will carry you through the rest of the Day regardless of what else is thrown at you. Productivity breeds productivity, and the self-satisfaction you get from it can’t be beat.

TIP: Start everyday by completing that task that you know you have to, but just don’t want to. After that, everything else you do will seem so easy in comparison.

• Don't fill your day with low priority tasks from your To Do List.
• Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do, and filling your time with these instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list.
• Waiting for the “right mood” or the “right time” to tackle the important task at hand.
• You may be alarmed to see the amount of time you spend doing low value jobs!
• Understand what you can realistically achieve with your time;
• Plan to make the best use of the time available;
• Leave enough time for things you absolutely must do;
• Preserve contingency time to handle 'the unexpected'; and
• Minimize stress by avoiding over-commitment to others.
• Start by identifying the time you want to make available for your work. This will depend on the design of your job and on your personal goals in life.
• Know how long you have for each task.
• Remember that one of the most important ways people learn to achieve success is by maximizing the 'leverage' they can achieve with their time. They increase the amount of work they can manage by delegating work to other people, spending money outsourcing key tasks, or using technology to automate as much of their work as possible. This frees them up to achieve their goals.
• Make up your own rewards. For example, promise yourself a piece of tasty flapjack at lunchtime if you've completed a certain task. And make sure you notice how good it feels to finish things!
• Identify the unpleasant consequences of NOT doing the task.
• Keep a To-Do list so that you can’t “conveniently” forget about unpleasant or overwhelming tasks.
• Set yourself time-bound goals: that way, you’ll have no time for procrastination!
• Focus on one task at a time.
• Many procrastinators overestimate the unpleasantness of a task. So give it a try! You may find that it’s not as bad as you thought!
• Hold the unpleasant consequences of not doing the work at the front of your mind.
• Reward yourself for doing the task.
• Schedule your most challenging tasks for the times of day when your energy is highest. That way your work will be better and it should take you less time.
• Try to focus on one task at a time to the exclusion of others, as far as you can.
• If you get stuck with a certain part of your task, don't succumb to self-distraction and hurry off to get a cup of coffee. Instead, remind yourself that you have the skills to break through the problem, and maintain your focus on finding a solution.
• Effective scheduling