How to stop procrastinating: the first step is tiny.

How do you stop procrastinating? Shrink the thing you're avoiding to its first concrete move, so small it takes two minutes, and do it in the morning, before you open your inbox. Procrastination is rarely laziness. More often it's the brain dodging an uncomfortable feeling, and it gets worse when your energy is low.

The call to the client who hasn't paid has been waiting three days. You open the board plan, glance at page one and close it. I see it often in my clients: the more something matters, the longer it sits at the bottom of the list.

The signs you're putting it off

• You rewrite the list. Reshuffling feels like control, and the top item stays put.
• You keep preparing. One more figure before you start.
• You move it to this evening. 'Once the office empties out.'
• You think about it more than you do it. It goes round your head untouched.

Why do I always put off important things?

Because putting them off pays you instantly: relief. You dodge the fear of getting it wrong or the effort of starting, and your brain notes that it works.

It's a habit with a reward. Procrastinating means delaying what you know needs doing today. The brain can't tell a good habit from a bad one, so it repeats whatever brings relief. And between 40 and 45 per cent of the choices in a day are habits.

Mulling it over makes it bigger. Hovering between 'I should' and 'not yet', weighing pros and cons, has a name, chronic contemplation, and you can stay there for ages while the task grows in your head.

Your brakes are weaker at night. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain behind your forehead that lets you resist an impulse, works less well when you're tired, stressed or it's late. Leaving it for tonight often means leaving it for tomorrow.

How do you stop putting things off, starting tomorrow?

By lowering the bar to start and choosing the time. The brain nearly always takes the easy route, so make the hard thing easy and the escape route awkward: phone in another room, only the file you need on screen.

The first move, two minutes long. Next to what you're avoiding, write the first physical action: dial the number, type the email subject line. When you feel the resistance, make that move without debating it. Once you're going, you usually carry on.

The hard stuff between 9 and 12. In that window your mental sharpness rises, peaking around midday. After lunch, digestion asks you to slow down. And do it before email: if you wait, the day finds a way to stop you.

Decide in advance what you'll do. With a cool head, write: 'When I feel like opening my email, I'll write the first line.' Then there's no bargaining with yourself in the moment.

Energy in the tank. Putting things off can also signal stress, and after a short night you usually do it more: seven or eight hours' sleep come first. Building stamina raises your fatigue threshold too, mental fatigue included.

Finish with a reward. Once the first chunk is done, tick it off and give yourself ten minutes outside. Leave sweets out of it. That way the brain links relief to doing.

Tonight, pick one thing and write down its first move. Tomorrow, two minutes will get it going.