From time to time, even the most conscientious and productive professionals procrastinate. For some, pushing off a deadline is a rare and anxiety-inducing situation; other people thrive best under the pressure of waiting until the eleventh hour. However, when your tendency to procrastinate is starting to make your overall quality of work and life suffer, it’s time to do a reality check and break yourself of the habit.

Taking small steps toward better time management will help you reduce your procrastination tendencies and get you on track to get more done. Here’s what Forbes Coaches Council members recommend doing to stop racing the clock.

 1. Take The Smallest Step Possible 

When you don’t feel motivated, take the smallest step possible toward your goal. After taking that step, you’re more likely to continue taking more steps toward that goal. Instead of telling yourself to workout for an hour, say you’ll go for 10 minutes. You naturally want to stay in the status quo. Taking a step bypasses that part of your brain that is alerted when you’re trying to make a change. – Rosie Guagliardo, InnerBrilliance Coaching

2. Identify A Positive Outcome From Your Action 

To overcome your tendency to procrastinate, focus on what the reward is when you take action. This assumes the outcome is something you want. Be very selective about what you let into your experience and surround yourself with to keep your energy as clean as possible to achieve the goals you want. – Christine Hueber, ChristineHueber.com

3. Give Yourself A Hard Deadline, Then Schedule It 

The best way to overcome a natural tendency to procrastinate is to create a hard deadline for yourself and then put it on the calendar. Having a scheduled deadline that you commit to will make it easier to get tasks completed. Treat the deadline the same as if your boss created it, and then honor it the same way you would if your boss were waiting for you to complete the task. – Kitty Boitnott, Boitnott Coaching, LLC/Teachers in Transition

4. Be Kind To Yourself 

Forgive yourself. If you have the tendency to label yourself a procrastinator, make your first effort one to drop the name calling. For whatever your past experience has been, refocus on doing 5% more toward your goal and give yourself permission to be human at the same time. – Cindy Stack, Whole-Life Leadership

 5. Understand The Underlying Reasons You’re Procrastinating

Become a detective or a scientist about your pattern of procrastinating by noticing your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and the situation when you feel like procrastinating. Write these down. Often perfectionism, which we may experience as anxiety, underlies the tendency to postpone action. Once you understand your pattern, you can hold yourself accountable in a positive and self-compassionate way. – Christine Allen, Ph.D., Insight Business Works