The normal pattern for procrastinating on something that is due in, say,
two weeks is to put it off for maybe a week and a half or even more, feeling
anxious and guilty the entire time. Then we work in a panic for the rest of the
time to get it done--or we miss the deadline.
Here's an alternative:
Consciously decide to procrastinate for the first week. During that week, don't even give the project or deadline another thought. Do whatever you want or need to do, unrelated to the project. Enjoy being free of the usual anxiety or guilt.
When the procrastination period is up, get to work!
Of course in each case you will have to estimate how much time you have to enjoy procrastinating and how much time you will need to actually do the work, but in my experience we usually have a pretty good intuitive feel for how long something will take when we focus on it fully.
This tip is one part of my free 8-mini-lessons course on overcoming procrastination. To get the complete course, one mini-lesson per week, go to www.TameYourInnerCritic.com and sign up there.