Procrastination—we’ve all done it. Some of us are repeat offenders and some of us find ourselves backed into a corner because of stress.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve read book after book, told yourself you would get better at time management, and worked hard to set clearer goals. But despite all the effort, discipline, and cranking down, nothing seems to work.

For me, it wasn’t until I met a woman on my travels in Bali that I discovered I’d been going about trying to beat procrastination all wrong.

You see, despite what you may have been told, the fight against procrastination isn’t a mental one. No amount of reasoning and willpower will make any difference—in fact, they’ll leave you feeling burned out and worse off than before.

The key player in defeating procrastination is actually a behavior pattern you can program yourself to do in just a few short weeks…

Sound too good to be true?

Don’t take my word for it—meet the productivity expert I met in Bali, Carey Gjokaj. She’s the founder of Lifehack Bootcamp, an 8-week online program that teaches you how to end the vicious cycle of procrastination and become an expert at time management. Through Lifehack Bootcamp, Gjokaj has helped thousands of people worldwide to become immediate action-takers who optimize what they get done in a day.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, Gjokaj shares her tips for making procrastination a thing of the past and embracing productivity.

“We try to reason our brains into productivity but it doesn’t work,” Gjokaj says. “‘Wake up, let’s do this today, let’s get stuff done,” we tell ourselves. We have to realize that productivity is controlled by a completely different part of our brain. It’s not an intellectual concept. It’s a habit run by the animal part of our brain and we’re the animal trainer.”

Are you ready to train your brain to make a habit out of productivity?

Studies show the average person can form a new habit in just 66 days. Reclaim your time and peace of mind by applying Gjokaj’s method for maxing out your productivity below.

Distraction-Proof Your Work Space

Referencing research by Gallup, Gjokaj says, “some type of distraction is getting us off of our workflow every three minutes and five seconds. But it also takes our brain time after we’re distracted to ramp back up to the level of productivity we were at before—so you’re not just losing the time it took to answer that text message. It’s that time plus the amount of time it takes you to ramp back up.”

You can reclaim lost time by making your work space a distraction-free zone. Gjokaj recommends setting your phone and computer to “do not disturb” mode, working in a small room with the door shut, and decluttering your desktop by dragging scattered files into folders. You can also set your desktop background to an inspirational quote that reminds you of your larger mission and keeps you committed to focus.

Take Frequent Breaks

If “getting in the zone” and cranking down for long periods of time is how you work, you’re actually being less effective. Studies show if we break down our work time into smaller blocks followed by short breaks, we actually get more done because we allow our brain to replenish energy and focus.

“It’s the difference between a sprinter and a marathon runner,” Gjokaj says. For maximum productivity, she advises breaking down your work into smaller tasks and taking a short break every thirty minutes or so.

Work Towards A Weekly Goal

Identify one goal each week that would be a cause for celebration if you attained it. Gjokaj calls these goals “champagne moments” because they call for opening a bottle of champagne when they’re completed.

Make sure this goal is attainable but also requires you to challenge yourself. Break down the goal into daily action steps that will keep you on track to finish by the end of the week.

You can turn each day into a game by racing against the clock and trying to beat your best time on each of your tasks. When you’ve completed each day’s tasks, let yourself be done with work for the day and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Reward Yourself

Science shows that when we reward ourselves for doing a particular behavior, we become more motivated to do that behavior and are more productive at it. Essentially, the reward triggers the pleasure neurotransmitter dopamine to flow into our brains, so we associate the behavior with pleasure. You can use your biology to your advantage by programming your brain to associate work with pleasure.

Each time you complete a small work task, reward yourself with something small, like an m&m or a few minutes of free time.

“We need to reward our brain for doing good work,” Gjokaj says. “It doesn’t have to be big—just something big enough that it gives your brain a jolt of pleasure that burns those cognitive patterns deeper and deeper each time. That’s how you create habits that are gonna be there for you 24/7, especially when it’s really hard.”

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This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

Perfectionism—it can be paralyzing.

On one hand, it holds you to high standards and ensures you only create exceptional work. But on the other hand, those same standards bind you, causing you to procrastinate, avoid action, and be less effective.

Millennials struggle with perfectionism more than any other generation. Coincidentally, we also have the highest rates of depression and anxiety, which go hand-in-hand with perfectionism.

Psychologically, we chase perfection because of the safety it provides. It’s easy to hide your flaws behind the veil of perfectionism, and only reveal or act when you feel you are guaranteed success. But in doing this, you often end up limiting yourself and your career.

Take it from one former perfectionist who says overcoming the need to be perfect was the key to unlocking exponential growth in his career and scope of impact.

Meet Cam Adair, the founder of Game Quitters, the world’s largest support community for video game addiction, with members in over 70 countries worldwide. Game Quitters provides hundreds of free videos geared to help gamers ditch the screen and fall in love with life again. Adair is also an international speaker who has spoken to college audiences about overcoming adversity and has given two TEDx talks.

On the latest episode of the Unconventional Life Podcast, Adair shares practical advice to help you beat perfectionism and become more effective.

Take Action Before You Feel Ready

One of the biggest obstacles perfectionists face is impossibly high standards. Because you expect so much of yourself, you’re often unwilling to take action on anything that won’t meet those standards—which leads to procrastination and inaction.

Don’t let your high standards paralyze you. The quickest way to overcome them is to take action before you feel ready.

Adair says you can flex this muscle by launching projects in areas you have no experience. You might launch a podcast if you struggle with speaking, or a blog if writing isn’t your strong suit. Besides getting more done, you’ll develop new skills and generate value for others in the process.

Adair once raised five thousand dollars for a trip to volunteer in Tanzania with no fundraising experience. The point is, you might surprise yourself and be successful in ventures you’d never imagined. Be willing to step outside your comfort zone and challenge yourself for the best results.

Be Vulnerable

Getting everything right all the time is just plain unrelatable. As humans, we make mistakes and we fail sometimes. When you let go of trying to appear perfect, you allow other people to see themselves in you and connect to you.

“The more we embrace the imperfections in our own life, the more we’re actually able to connect with other people and it’s through that connection that we can have transformation because we have rapport. But when we try to be perfect, we create a disconnect between us and our audience,” Adair says.

When giving a TED talk in front of thousands, Adair forgot his lines twice but instead of trying to cover it up, he said, “I forgot my lines. That’s embarrassing,” and the audience laughed. Afterwards, several people came up to him and thanked him for being so relatable.

Be transparent about your flaws and don’t try to hide anything about yourself. When you’re raw and you own the human part of you, you open yourself up for genuine, meaningful connection and impact.

Share Your Story

The stories most of us are comfortable sharing about ourselves tend to be polished and construed to paint us in a positive light. We omit the moments where we struggled, felt defeated, and couldn’t see hope.

Adair says it’s these moments of adversity that are actually the most important to share of all. “We have all gone through an experience in our life that has the ability to impact millions of people. But for us the experience feels very isolating, whether it’s depression, or anxiety, or addiction. In stepping up to share that we can impact the world,” Adair says.

Your greatest struggle is actually your greatest asset. Because suffering is universal, we can all relate to it—yet it occurs behind closed doors. If you can be brave, honest, and openly share about what you struggled with, you can leverage your story to impact millions.

Adair recommends using Facebook Live, YouTube, or online support communities as platforms to share your story and get the conversation started. Pay attention to feedback to discover where people relate and how you can serve them by creating content to support them.

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This article originally appeared on Forbes.com