Happy New Year everyone! I hope your year is already off to a great start!

With a new year comes new goals and resolutions. How can we avoid procrastination and get started on and accomplish our goals in 2014?

I’ve put together 8 tips for you that have helped me to avoid procrastination.

1) Stay Organized.

For whatever reason, I don’t feel like I can get anything done unless everything is organized. Whether it’s my house, my car, my notes – when everything is clean and organized I feel so much better. It clears my mind and I feel like I can get started with a clean slate. I’m much more productive working in a clean and organized environment. Make sure to choose a work area that is organized and where you can stay inspired.

2) Keep To-Do Lists.

I LOVE “to-do” lists. I especially love the part of crossing of items on my “to-do” list. It helps me to create a daily list every morning for anything I need to get done that day – work and personal. I also like to make the list according to priority and list first the items that I want to do least – which leads me to my next point…

3) Tackle your least desired task first.

The dreaded items on my list I like to get out of the way first. That way I’m not thinking about it all day long and procrastinating until the last possible moment. I’ve found that it’s easier to just do it and be done with it. There’s nothing worse than fretting over something that you can knock out at the beginning of the day so the rest of your day is more enjoyable.

4) Stop second guessing yourself and just do it!

I have to admit that I second guess myself a lot. And sometimes the answer is to just do it and stop over analyzing everything. Chances are is that your gut instinct will lead you in the right direction and everything will turn out just fine. I can’t even count how many hours I have wasted doubting myself when in reality if I would have just done it to begin with I would be finished and have great results!

5) Avoid distractions.

It can be so easy to get distracted these days. Between smart phones, the internet, tv, and so on, it’s no wonder that we can’t get anything done! For me to stay focused, I like to put my phone away in my purse or put it in the next room so I’m not tempted to check out the latest on my Facebook and Instagram feeds. If I’m doing work on the computer, I don’t allow myself to open up my internet browser until I’m done with my task or need a break. Often times I open up my browser in the morning to only “read a few news articles” on CNN and the next thing I know it’s two hours later and I’m watching a You-Tube video of a newborn puppy learning to bark. It’s so easy to get distracted on the internet and the endless entertainment there is – so stay away until your work is done!

6) Give yourself rewards for finishing projects.

This is my favorite tip 🙂 . I love saying to myself – “Ok, Raquel, if you get this project done, you can go surfing this afternoon.” It’s good to give yourself motivation and a reason to get your work done as early as possible. I can guarantee I’d much rather be at the beach than at my desk on the computer! Any kind of reward will work. Sometimes my reward for getting something done is allowing myself to read celebrity gossip for the next hour. 🙂

7) Create deadlines for yourself.

Make sure to give yourself a deadline. Using a planner or putting reminders in your phone will help you to stay on schedule and ultimately complete your tasks.

8) Be vocal about your goals to others.

When we tell others about our long term goals, it helps hold us accountable for our actions to get things accomplished. The next time you talk to that person, they’ll ask you how it’s going and what progress that you’ve made. And you definitely don’t want your answer to be… “Uh… well, I haven’t really started that yet!” 🙂

I hope these tips help you out and you accomplish all of your goals and dreams for 2014! Here’s to a fabulous year!