How can I stop procrastinating and get started on important tasks?
Goal: Make your very first step easy and friction-less. Choose one next step with no ambiguity. Make the task smaller. Get rid of one distraction. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Begin your task. Start now. You might be able to continue to work after that but the goal is to get started. You won't always feel ready so you'll learn that it's possible to begin before you're ready.
How to stop procrastinating and get started
You make it much more difficult to procrastinate on large tasks when you define a specific task that will only take a few minutes. Instead of saying you will "work on my report," define your next action step as "open the document and draft the first paragraph." Now the goal is extremely clear and specific and not as intimidating. You can start right away.
Try the five-minute rule: commit to working on the task in question for five minutes, then give yourself permission to stop. It's almost always harder to start than it is to keep going, but starting will often take the edge off what feels like a difficult task. And if you do quit after five minutes, you've still practiced acting rather than avoiding, so it's a win either way.
Adjust your environment. Leave your phone in another room, shut tabs that don't matter, collect anything that you will need, and choose a particular place to do your work. All these minor adjustments reduce friction and can eliminate the need for willpower.
Decide a period (for example, 15 or 25 minutes) of working and set the timer. During this period, concentrate only on one task. If some irrelevant idea comes, write it down and continue your task. Take some break after each working period.
Stop waiting to feel motivated (action often breeds motivation), or for the right mood. Be as crude as you like in your first attempt; don't aspire to finish the thing. You can always edit. You can't edit nothing.
The task "find the sales figures" is more helpful than "continue the project." Write down something physical you need to do at the end of a work session, and make your re-entry into a project easier next time.