Reduce task impulsiveness

“Create a plan which outlines your goals and how you are going to achieve these. Break down your lofty goals into smaller, actionable tasks which you can tailor to your own schedule and work well within your daily routine,” says Barnes.

“Another thing to consider is whether your environment is set up in an optimal way to see you succeed?” For example, if you always end up procrastinating by logging in to your emails or lying in bed for longer, you might need to find ways to actively get away from your laptop or out of your bed.

Reduce delay for completion

“Focus on how you will feel at the end of the workout – in the next 60 to 90 minutes,” says Barnes. Rather than thinking of how tough it will be, think about how much you will have achieved when it’s over.

Do it before things get busy

The old trope of doing it first thing is actually very useful (if you’re not procrastinating by staying in bed, of course). “I do it first thing because I don’t know what’s going to happen in the rest of the day. My ‘but’ and ‘if’ responses are always stronger in the evening once I’ve started other tasks and don’t want to stop to start moving,” says Vanessa Gebharet, training and mindset coach at Freeletics.

Tell yourself you can quit

This might not sound motivating, but it can be useful the days you really, really want to put off your session. “If it hurts or if something is just not feeling quite right, you can always say ‘I tried’. But often we don’t know if we are ready to push through or not before we start,” says Gebharet.

Pre-workout procrastination: why do we put off exercising for so long?