Procrastination is a ruthless time killer. For business entrepreneurs, time is a precious commodity. In the new economy – a fast-paced and competitive marketplace – you literally can’t afford to procrastinate. To “Double Plus” your income and build a Legacy Business, you need to take advantage of the limited time you have.

Your most successful competitors understand that time is one of their most valuable resources. Often, their success can be attributed to the investment they’ve made in learning how to stop procrastinating and start capitalizing on their time.

If you’re a business entrepreneur with a dream, you wake up with good intentions and are determined to seize the day. What differentiates successful people is their understanding that people are creatures of habit. Without a plan and clear goals in place, even the best-intentioned business entrepreneurs inevitably fall into bad habits and continue procrastinating.

Here are 4 strategies to help you stop procrastinating and accomplish more at work and in your personal life!

1. Eat Your Frog. In Brian Tracy’s international best-seller, Eat That Frog!, he introduces a powerful concept by Mark Twain designed to help people stop procrastinating and start producing. If the first thing you do every morning is eat a live frog, you can go on with the rest of your day knowing that the hardest thing you had to do is already behind you.

Ask yourself what important task you’re least looking forward to? It’s probably the one you’ve been putting off. Challenge yourself to take action and conquer that task first thing tomorrow morning (after you’ve had your caffeine boost, of course!). Once you do, you’ll have the confidence and momentum you need to tackle all your other responsibilities, which will seem easier by comparison.

2. Break It Down. Many people procrastinate because it’s very overwhelming to try to take on a large job all at once. Tackle complex tasks more effectively by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable jobs. When you do so, the job becomes less daunting. As you tackle one small piece and then the next, you’ll develop momentum, making it easier to conquer the rest of the project step by step.

For example, if you want to run an email marketing campaign but aren’t sure where to begin, break it down. First, develop an email database, create a list of topics, find a writer to produce your email blasts, and so on. Allocate a set amount of time to work on each task, and schedule it in your day planner. Suddenly, the big job is transformed into a list of concrete tasks.

3. One Small Step. The philosopher Lao Tzu once said, “A journey of 1000 leagues begins with a single step.” Many people procrastinate because they’re overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work ahead. What they don’t know is that getting started is often all you have to do to create momentum. When you begin with just one manageable step, you often realize it’s not as difficult or time-consuming as you thought it would be.

Let’s say you want to write a book. Commit to writing just one page per day. One page may not seem like much, but if you write one page a day for a year, you’ll have a 365-page book. That’s much better than telling yourself you’ll write a book in two months but never getting started because you’re overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenge.

4. Know the Consequences. People are generally motivated by two things: fear and desire. Use human nature to your advantage by thinking about the negative consequences you’ll have to face if you don’t accomplish the task at hand. For example, if your plan is to make 5 prospecting calls a day, think about the financial penalties you will face if you don’t make the calls and earn new business every week. Desire is also a powerful motivator. In the same example, if you find yourself putting off making the calls you need to make, consider how they are the gateway to earning the annual income and building the legacy you so badly desire.

I empower my clients at Celeste Giordano Coaching to set goals, develop step-by-step plans, and create the habits necessary to see those plans through. I help them integrate time management strategies into their daily routines so they can produce outstanding results this year.

If you want to “Double Plus” your income in 2016, invest in busting your bad procrastination habits, and you’ll become the efficient, prosperous entrepreneur I know you can be!

-Celeste Giordano