I'm writing a short story. What steps do I need to take to get it published? (When I quite procrastinating, and write!)?

By your own admission, you are a procrastinator. Amateur authors who really and truly aspire to produce well-crafted pieces worthy of publication don't seek advice about the ins and outs of doing so from anonymous strangers on the internet. The world of publishing is one that is in a constant state of change, not to mention that the specifics regarding self-publishing and traditional publishing vary from one place to another. Suffice it to say that any writer worth his or her salt would wholeheartedly agree that it would be a total and complete waste of time and effort to outline the steps involved in publication for someone who has yet to even begin on a piece as of yet. Wannabe writers that dream of producing something readable the first time around are appallingly ignorant of the sheer magnitude of competition. You're going yourself up against people who whittle away at their dream daily and you think you stand a chance when you can't bring yourself to write or do your own research?

WRITE it first.

Then go down to your local library, go to the reference section and pull down a book called Writers Market 2018. Check the short story section, follow the publisher's directions on how to submit to them, but ONLY send to the places that are looking for the genre of story you're writing in. If they specialize in murder mysteries they're NOT going to be interested in a vampire or dog story.

You can self publish through Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summar...