Help for procrastination

Tips and Techniques for Overcoming Procrastination – Solving Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily postponing decisions or actions. It’s a common problem, which can cause many issues, like missed opportunities and increased stress.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably struggling with procrastination, or are trying to help someone who is. You’ve probably also tried to overcome procrastination before, and found it hard to do so.

This guide is a definitive source on how to stop procrastinating, which will help you finally solve this problem. It’s based on hundreds of scientific research papers, and contains a systematic approach you can use to overcome procrastination, together with a list of anti-procrastination techniques, and tips for using them effectively.

How to stop procrastinating

To stop procrastinating right now, identify the smallest possible step you can take to make progress toward your goals, and try to start with just that tiny step, while giving yourself permission to make mistakes during the attempt. For example, if you need to write an essay, you can decide to start by writing just a single word, while accepting that it won’t be perfect, and might even be quite bad at first.

In addition, you can make it easier for yourself to get started first, for example by preparing your tools without yet trying to start working, and also make it harder to procrastinate, for example by removing distractions from your environment.

To overcome procrastination in the long term, do the following:

Set specific and realistic goals. For example, if you want to start exercising, a good goal might be “be able to run a full mile by the end of the month”, while bad goals might be “do some running” (unspecific) and “run a marathon by the end of the month” (unrealistic).
Assess your procrastination. First, identify cases in which you delay unnecessarily, to figure out what exactly you procrastinate on (e.g., studying) and how you do it (e. g., by browsing social media). Then, think about those situations to also figure out where and when you procrastinate (e.g., at home or the library, on starting or finishing tasks, in the morning or evening). Finally, figure out why you procrastinate (e.g., due to perfectionism, fear, anxiety, depression, ADHD, sensation seeking, or abstract goals), potentially after reading about why people procrastinate.
Create an action plan. It should involve using relevant anti-procrastination techniques, which account for the goals that you set and the nature of your procrastination problem.
Implement your plan. Make sure to reflect on your progress and refine your approach, primarily by figuring out which techniques work for you and how you can implement them most effectively.

The following are key anti-procrastination techniques you can use, which are presented in more detail in the next section:

Break tasks into manageable steps (e. g., into sub-tasks that you can easily complete).
Commit to a tiny first step (e.g., to working for just 2 minutes).
Give yourself permission to make mistakes (e.g., by accepting that your work won’t be perfect).
Make it easier to do things (e.g., by preparing everything you need in advance).
Make tasks more enjoyable (e.g., by listening to music while you do them).
Make it harder to procrastinate (e.g., by removing potential distractions).
Delay before indulging the impulse to procrastinate (e.g., by counting to 10 first).
Set deadlines (e.g., by deciding that you’ll complete a certain task by noon tomorrow).
Plan how you’ll handle obstacles (e.g., by deciding that if X happens, then you’ll do Y).
Identify and address your fears (e.g., by considering what advice you’d give to a friend).
Increase your motivation (e.g., by marking streaks of days on which you achieve your goals).
Increase your energy (e.g., by taking necessary breaks).
Improve your environment (e.g., by adding reminders of your goals).
Use social techniques (e.g., by emulating a role model).
Use time-management techniques (e.g., by alternating consistently between work and rest).
Create starting rituals (e.g., by counting down from five before taking action).
Start with your best or worst task (e.g., with your easiest or hardest one).
Develop self-efficacy (e.g., by reflecting on your successes).
Develop self-compassion (e.g., by reminding yourself that everyone makes mistakes).
Treat underlying conditions (e.g., ADHD).

You can use any combination of techniques that you want, but should start by focusing on a few that seem most relevant to you given your specific situation.

You’ll likely benefit from writing things down, such as your goals and plan. This can have various benefits, like helping you think more clearly and making your decisions feel more concrete.

You can use a similar approach as an intervention to help someone else stop procrastinating, by doing the above on their behalf, doing it together with them, or encouraging them to do it themselves.

Finally, remember that imperfect action is generally better than no action, so you’ll benefit more from trying to do just a bit of the above, than from getting stuck doing nothing at all. Also, the longer you delay, the more likely you are to do nothing, so you should start right now, while understanding that you’ll probably get some things wrong at first, but that you’ll be able to improve your approach over time. If you feel overwhelmed, just start with the first technique in this section (committing to a tiny step), until you feel ready to do more.

Anti-procrastination techniques

Break tasks into manageable steps

For example, if you need to write a paper, you can break this down into steps like choosing a topic, finding sources, and writing the introduction.

This unpacking technique can have various benefits, including helping you plan your work and making large tasks feel less overwhelming. When using it, it might help to:

Unpack only part of the task at a time (e.g., only your next 3 steps).
Identify steps that you can complete in a single session (i.e., without requiring a break).
Remind yourself that “the way to eat an elephant is a bite at a time” (i.e., that you can handle big projects using a step-by-step approach).

Commit to a tiny first step

For example, you can sit down intending to only write a single sentence on your thesis, or go to the gym intending to work out for only a few minutes.

You can use various criteria to decide what’s considered a “tiny step”. Two popular ones are the 2-minute rule and the 5-minute rule, which involve committing to the specified amounts of time.

Give yourself permission to make mistakes

For example, if you’re writing a paper, accept that your work won’t be perfect, especially when it comes to the first draft, and remember that you can always revise your writing afterward.

This can be particularly beneficial if your procrastination is driven by perfectionism, in which case you should also make sure to set reasonable goals and standards for yourself (i.e., ones that are attainable and good enough).

Make it easier to decide

For example, you can:

Improve your decision-making environment (e.g., by removing distractions).
Rely on your intuition.
Aim to make decisions that are good enough (rather than perfect).
Use a structured approach to decision-making.
Eliminate weak options from your available choices.
Create decision pairs, by comparing only two options at a time rather than multiple ones.
Get feedback from someone else, and potentially ask them to choose for you.
Use a random tool (e.g., coin flip).

Doing this is especially important if you procrastinate primarily due to indecisiveness.

Make it easier to do things

For example, if you’ll need to work on a document later, you can leave it open on your computer, so it will be immediately available when you start working.

Essentially, you should make it as easy as possible to start and keep doing what you should be doing, primarily by removing any friction that might hinder you.

Make tasks more enjoyable

For example, if you need to clean the house, you can make this boring task more fun by listening to music while you do it, and seeing how much you can get done in a 10-minute cleaning sprint.

Make it harder to procrastinate

For example, you can use the following precommitment devices:

Eliminate temptations (e.g., by leaving your phone in a different room with someone else).
Make temptations harder to choose (e.g., by turning off the internet on your phone).
Make temptations more unpleasant (e.g., by putting a timer on your phone that makes an annoying alarm go off once your scheduled break is over).
Associate negative consequences with temptations (e. g., by betting your partner that you’ll do extra chores if you touch your phone in the next hour).

Delay before indulging your impulses

For example, if you want to check your phone for notifications when you should be working, make yourself count to 10 first; if the urge to procrastinate persists after you finish counting, then you can follow through on it, but if it disappears, then you can work instead.

You can count to different numbers (e.g., 5 or 20), but it’s important to actually count, and to avoid procrastinating until you’ve finished doing this.

Set deadlines

For example, if you want to write a book but keep postponing it for years, you can set a deadline to finish the first draft of the first chapter within 2 weeks.

Deadlines should be:

Appropriate, so they shouldn’t give you too much or too little time.
Concrete, so they should specify an exact point in time.
Meaningful, so they should involve an effective incentive for abiding by them (e. g., someone who will hold you accountable).

You might benefit from setting intermediate deadlines, which correspond to specific steps (or proximal goals) that you need to complete along the path to your final (distal) goal. For example, if you need to write a book, you can set a deadline for finishing each chapter.

You might sometimes also benefit from setting ultra-short deadlines, which are measured in seconds or minutes, for example by using a timer to give yourself 1 minute to make a decision.

Deadlines can help avoid procrastination in various ways, including making tasks feel more concrete, and creating a sense of urgency. However, you should make sure that the deadlines are indeed helping you, and if they cause issues—like stress or added hurdles—then you might want to modify or avoid them.

Form implementation intentions

Implementation intentions are concrete plans regarding when, where, and how you’ll pursue your goals. They primarily involve establishing if-then rules (i.e., “If X happens, then I’ll do Y”), which describe how you’ll overcome obstacles and temptations using goal-directed behavior (to support your goal intentions). Good rules are often ones that you can apply automatically (i.e., with minimal deliberation), which increases the likelihood that you’ll use them.

For example, if you need to study without being distracted, you can decide that you’ll do so at the library while wearing noise-blocking headphones. You can also decide that if someone comes over and starts trying to talk, you’ll respond by saying “sorry, we can chat later, but I really have to study right now”.

Identify and address your fears

People often procrastinate because they’re afraid of something, like failing or being criticized.

If this might be the case for you, then you should think through your situation to figure out what you’re afraid of. Then, you can use various techniques to address your fears.

For example, you can use self-distancing, by considering what advice you would give to a friend if they were in your situation, or by talking to yourself using self-distanced language (e.g., “what should you do?”). Doing this can also help with other things, like creating your action plan.

Increase your motivation

The following are key ways to do this:

Gamify your behavior. This involves incorporating elements from games, like competition with others and the accumulation of points, into other types of activities. For example, if your New Year’s resolution is to have no zero days (on which you make no progress toward your goals), then you can give yourself a point for each day you achieve this, and get a reward after every 10 points.
Create streaks. Streaks are chains of days in a row on which you achieve your goals. You should track them in a way that’s motivating and convenient. For example, you can use a dedicated app, or the Seinfeld strategy (by marking a big X in a calendar on each day you achieve your goals).
Reward your accomplishments. For example, you can take a short break to watch TV for every chapter that you read in preparation for a test. You can also find ways to make your progress feel more rewarding, like going over your to-do list at the end of each day, to feel good about how much you got done.
Set immediate outcomes. For example, you can eat a piece of candy as reward for every task that you complete while working on a project. That’s because the closer in time outcomes are, the more you care about them (both positive outcomes for acting on time and negative ones for procrastinating).
Visualize your future self. For example, if you’re procrastinating on an assignment because its grade will only come in a few weeks, you can imagine your future self getting that grade. This episodic future thinking improves the connection between your present and future selves (i.e., your temporal self-continuity), to make you care more about your future self, the future consequences of your actions, and the perceived value of future outcomes. The visualization can focus on positive or negative future outcomes, can take place from a first- or third-person perspective (i.e., through your own perspective or through someone else’s), and should generally be as vivid as possible.
Decide whether to focus on outcomes or tasks. Sometimes, like when you need to complete an unpleasant task that will lead to a substantial reward, it may be better to have an outcome focus. Other times, like when thinking about an outcome stresses you, it may be better to have a process focus instead, by concentrating on the task instead.
Reflect on the value of your outcomes. For example, write down why an outcome that you’re pursuing is important to you.
Remind yourself of your goals. For example, if you want good grades in order to get into a certain college, you can put a sticker with its logo on your laptop, to remind you what you’re working toward.
Associate outcomes with tasks. For example, you can write down how the task that you’re working on will clearly lead to the outcome you’re interested in.

Increase your energy

For example, you can:

Listen to energizing music.
Take a short break (e.g., go outside to breathe some fresh air).
Take a long break to ensure you get sufficient rest.
Improve your lifestyle (e.g., by eating better, exercising, and getting enough sleep).
Minimize unnecessary energy drains (e.g., by setting heuristics regarding the default clothes you’ll wear each day, to reduce the number of unimportant but taxing decisions you make).

Doing this is especially important if you procrastinate primarily due to low energy (e. g., because exhaustion is making it hard for you to exert self-control).

Improve your environment

A bad environment pushes you to procrastinate, while a good environment pushes you to act. Accordingly, the following are key ways to improve your environment:

Remove distractions and temptations. For example, disconnect your phone from the internet or leave it in a different room.
Make the environment more pleasant. For example, clean clutter from your desk.
Eliminate bad cues. For example, move the icon of your favorite social-media app (e.g., Reddit) away from your phone’s home screen, so you won’t see it every time you open your phone.
Add good cues. For example, put a sticky note on your favorite gaming platform, reminding you to finish your work before playing (this is a nudge—a small change to your environment that encourages you to act in a beneficial way).
Switch to a better environment. For example, go study in the library instead of your room, to separate the area where you work from the one where you rest.

Use social techniques

These include the following:

Emulate a role model. For example, if you’re procrastinating on a task because it’s hard, ask yourself what a person you admire would do if they were in your situation, or pretend this person is watching you now.
Have someone hold you accountable. For example, you can ask a close friend to check on your progress once a week, or find an accountability buddy to work with.
Build a social-support network. Such network is comprised of people (e.g., friends and study partners) who can help you in various ways, like providing emotional support when you face your fears.
Improve your social environment. For example, avoid negative peer influence (e. g., people who glorify procrastination), and seek positive peer influence (e.g., people who care about their work).

Use time-management techniques

Such techniques include the following (in addition to others that are discussed in this guide, like setting deadlines):

Use a to-do list. For example, you can write down a list of upcoming tasks in a notebook or an app.
Prioritize tasks. For example, you can use the Ivy Lee Method, by writing down—at the end of each day—six tasks you want to complete tomorrow, ranked in order of importance. Similarly, you can use an Eisenhower matrix, by determining how important and how urgent your tasks are, and then using that to decide what to work on.
Set reminders. For example, you can put a sticky note next to your laptop if there’s something you need to do tomorrow, or you can use an app to send you a notification when there’s a task that you need to complete soon.
Alternate consistently between work and rest. For example, you can use the Pomodoro technique, by working on your tasks for 25-minute long stretches, with 5-minute breaks in between, while taking a longer 30-minute break after every 4 work sets.
Schedule dedicated blocks of time in advance. For example, you can allocate 30 minutes in the afternoon to making an important decision that you’ve been postponing (a technique called timeboxing).
Schedule work according to your productivity cycles. For example, if you struggle to concentrate for an hour after lunch (i.e., that’s your slump time), then try to avoid scheduling work for that time, or try to schedule less important work that you’ll be able to focus on more easily. Alternatively, if you find it easier to concentrate on creative tasks in the morning (i.e., that’s your peak time), then try to schedule such tasks for that time. When doing this, you should often aim to reach a flow state, where you’re completely immersed in the activity you’re engaged in, and are consequently highly productive and unlikely to procrastinate.
Establish consistent routines. For example, have a dedicated time each day when you work on a specific type of assignment, or a dedicated day each week when you do a specific chore.

Create starting rituals

For example, you can use a countdown, by counting down from some number (e.g., 5), while telling yourself that when you reach zero you’ll do what you need to, and then prompting yourself to do so once you finish the count (or earlier). This is sometimes called the 5-second rule.

Alternatively, you can use other rituals, like clapping your hands once, listening to an energizing song, or going through some routine.

You can condition yourself to use these rituals through easy tasks, which will make it more likely that you’ll follow through on them with hard tasks.

Start with your best or worst tasks

People sometimes find it beneficial to start with their best (e.g., easiest or most fun) task first, for example because this increases their confidence or helps them mentally get into work mode.

Conversely, people sometimes find it beneficial to start with their worst (e.g., hardest or most unpleasant) task first, for example because this helps them get it out of the way quickly while they’re fresh. This approach is also called eating the frog or eating the elephant beetle, where the animal in question signifies the worst task.

A task can be considered the best/worst out of various groups of tasks (e.g., tasks in a day or in a project).

Immediately complete small tasks

It can sometimes be beneficial to complete small tasks as soon as you encounter them, for example because the motivation for them is still fresh, because scheduling them will require more work than just doing them, or because this prevents them from piling up into something that feels overwhelming.

You can decide what’s considered a “small” task, based on what works well for you. A popular definition is any task that takes less than 2 minutes to complete (this is known as the 2-minute rule, and is distinct from the similarly named rule about committing to a tiny first step).

Deal with bottlenecks

A bottleneck is a task that’s causing you to delay on other tasks, for example because you need it for bureaucratic approval or emotional closure.

Bottlenecks can cause substantial issues, so you should prioritize dealing with them. In addition to doing this using general anti-procrastination techniques, you might also be able to do this by changing the situation so the task is no longer a bottleneck (e.g., by finding ways to make progress on other tasks), or by eliminating the bottleneck (e.g., by delegating it to someone else).

Switch between tasks

For example, if you’re stuck on a certain task, you can switch to a different task for a while, and return to the original one when you feel “unstuck”.

This can involve procrastinating productively on the original task, by doing beneficial but less important things. For example, if you should be studying for a test, you could procrastinate by doing homework instead (rather than browsing social media). You can even do this in a structured manner, by scheduling unimportant tasks that feel urgent, and then using the desire to procrastinate on them as motivation to work on your original tasks. However, be cautious about the potential issues that this can cause, like procrastinating on your most important tasks for too long.

Take a break

For example, if you just finished writing a paper, and are now procrastinating on your computer, then rather than trying to force yourself to work on your next assignment, go to take a proper break in a different room for a few minutes.

This can often be the most effective choice for your long-term productivity and wellbeing, for instance if it’s crucial in order to let you clear your head and recharge mentally.

Improve your emotion regulation

Learning to regulate emotions better can help you avoid procrastination, primarily by improving your ability to cope with the presence of negative emotions and the absence of positive ones. This generally involves using beneficial (or adaptive) emotion-regulation techniques, like addressing your fears, rather than detrimental (or maladaptive) techniques, like ruminating over concerns.

For example, one technique you can use is to acknowledge the presence of negative emotions, while reminding yourself of your mental toughness and commitment to finishing your work. Other emotion-regulation techniques you can use include inquiry-based stress reduction and mental contrasting with implementation intentions.

Develop self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is your belief in your ability to perform the actions needed to achieve your goals, which is important in order to avoid procrastinating. You can increase your self-efficacy using various techniques, like reflecting on your successes, and identifying strategies you can use to achieve your goals.

Develop self-compassion

Self-compassion involves extending sympathy to yourself, particularly when you struggle or suffer. To increase your self-compassion, you can:

Remind yourself that everyone struggles and makes mistakes.
Forgive yourself for past procrastination.
Remind yourself that messing up doesn’t mean that you’ll never change.
Think about how you would help a friend in a similar situation.
Practice mindfulness (by paying attention to yourself and your environment as they are in the present moment, while accepting your thoughts and emotions in a non-reactive and non-judgmental manner).

Treat underlying conditions

If your procrastination is caused (even partially) by conditions like ADHD or depression, try to those conditions, using professional help (e.g., a therapist) if necessary.

Closing words

This guide gave you the main tools you need to stop procrastinating; now, it’s up to you to use them.

If you already know what you need to do next based on what you’ve read, do that.

If you’re unsure where to start, do the following:

Write down a specific and realistic goal relating to something you’ve been procrastinating on.
Write down how, where, when, and why you’ve been procrastinating on it.
Pick 1–3 anti-procrastination techniques that look like they might be relevant (if you’re unsure, go with breaking tasks into manageable steps, committing to a tiny first step, and making it harder to procrastinate).
Start implementing these techniques.

Remember that you don’t need to get it perfect; for now, the important thing is to just get started. Later, you can refine your approach, for example by adding goals and techniques.

The longer you wait, the less likely you are to act on what you’ve learned, so start now, instead of telling yourself you’ll do it later.

5 Ways to Stop Procrastinating

by Dean Bokari (from an email on April 20, 2021)

Most of us procrastinate.

Correction: ALL of us procrastinate. Heck, I even procrastinated writing this article. Then I procrastinated recording the podcast version.

We’ve all been there at some point.

Here are 5 tips for avoiding procrastination that can help you break out of paralysis and start producing at your peak.

Tap below to start listening, scroll down to continue reading, or open 5 Tips for Avoiding Procrastination in your browser.

1. Reduce the Number of Decisions You Need to Make Throughout the Day.

Every decision we make has an energy consequence. If you wake up in the morning, and you need to ask yourself, “What do I need to do today?” — well, you’re about to procrastinate the shit of today. If you approach each new day without having given thought to what you want it to look like ahead of time, then you’ll waste a large portion of your energy thinking about what to do and what not to do.

Should I hit the gym today, or go tomorrow?
Should I say Yes to lunch with Barry Boombatz from Accounting, or should I do a quick lunch solo so I can get back to the office and finish up this presentation?
Should I wear this or wear that? Eat this or eat that? Reply now or later?

We’re asking ourselves questions like this all day long.

Problem is, questions compel us to respond with answers, which compel us to make decisions… This drains you of your self-control and makes you tired—which leads to you procrastinating on whatever matters most in your life.

Tip #1 for avoiding procrastination is to reduce the number of decisions you need to make during a given day by making those decisions ahead of time and/or creating habits around certain areas of your life to boost your effectiveness and prevent you from draining your energy by thinking about whether to do them or not. Some examples:

decide in advance exactly which days of the week you’ll exercise, instead of deciding the day of;
pick out your clothes the night before rather than the morning of;
choose the most important thing that needs to get done tomorrow, and schedule time to do it;

These are just a few simple examples, but it’s usually the simple things that matter most. What are some examples you can think of to reduce the number of decisions you make in your own life? Doing this will free up the energy you’ll need in order to stay focused on doing the big + meaningful stuff, rather than procrastinating on it by doing the little + meaningless stuff.

2. Finish Your Day Before It Starts.

This tip picks up where tip #1 leaves off. The best decision you can make towards avoiding procrastination is to plan your days in advance.

Rather than frantically figuring out what you’ll do on any given day, a better way to approach your day would be to take a few minutes at the end of each day to quickly map out the following day.

For example, every night, before bed, I write down/review my plans for the next day, which include:

My One BIG Thing (OBT) that needs to get done that day. This could be a big task, a goal, or a project I need to make progress on.
My No Matter Whats (NMWs) — these are my non-negotiable daily habits: exercise, my nature walk/daily meditation, reading (30 minutes minimum), mastery-related work, and time spent with the people I love.
Whatever else needs to be done the following day. This way, my most important goals, and projects are given ample time to be crushed—and to not be procrastinated on.

3. The Nothing Alternative.

“The Nothing Alternative” is a tip for avoiding procrastination that was coined by an influential crime-fiction novelist named Raymond Chandler. He used it as a way to avoid procrastinating on his daily writing. Chandler had difficulty sitting down at the keyboard and cranking out a predetermined word count every day like some successful writers. So, he developed another method for overcoming procrastination and getting himself to do the work—he would set aside 4 hours every morning and give himself an ultimatum: “WRITE, OR DO NOTHING AT ALL.”

And Chandler advises writers—and presumably people of all professions—who suffer from procrastination to do the same: “He [the writer] doesn’t have to write,“ says Chandler, ”and if he doesn’t feel like it, he shouldn’t try. He can look out of the window or stand on his head or writhe on the floor, but he is not to do any other positive thing, not read, write letters, glance at a magazine, or write checks… Write or nothing. ” That was Chandler’s philosophy, and for him, it worked. The rules are pretty straightforward:

A) You don’t have to write or work on whatever you need to work on.
B) But you can’t do anything else.

With these two options in mind, at some point, you’re gonna start working—even if nothing else but to keep yourself from getting bored! And although your own work might not be as simple and clearly defined as Chandler’s, you can certainly benefit from the clarity that comes from setting aside the time to either: Do nothing, or focus on your ONE most important thing.

To try this out for yourself, figure out your most important goal for tomorrow morning and set aside 90 minutes of totally uninterrupted time to focus on that goal.

No email. No smartphone. No Facebook. No non-sense. Shut down your wifi if you need to. This is your time to turn it up to high gear and fucking focus.

4. The Next Action Habit—focus on something doable.

In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen discusses the power of intelligently “dumbing down your brain” by figuring out your very NEXT ACTION for any given thing you’re working on. It’s one of the most powerful ideas in the book — just figure out the next specific action you need to take in order to move closer to completion, then DO IT…

Now, it’s no secret that procrastination causes lots of stress and pressure… but the way in which we relieve this pressure is where the secret comes in.

The key to this tip for avoiding procrastination is to figure out the very next physical action—no matter how small—you need to take to move something forward, be it a task, a project, a phone call, or whatever else.

Want to learn how to stop procrastinating? Learn how to shift your focus. Shifting your focus to something your mind perceives as doable makes the difference that makes a difference. Let me explain:

Think about something you’ve been procrastinating on, like, finishing a presentation for work. Now FOCUS on how it makes you FEEL whenever you think about how you have to do that presentation. Think about all the work involved. Sucks right? How’s it make you feel? Overwhelmed?

Now shift your FOCUS to ONE SIMPLE thing you can do right now to move this presentation even the tiniest bit closer to ‘done.’ Maybe you need to google some images to include in the presentation. That’s doable, right?

Make that you’re NEXT ACTION. Do it.

The rationale behind this Next Action method is simple: when you do something your mind perceives as doable, your energy will go up, your sense of direction and drive will increase dramatically, and you’ll be able to motivate yourself to get whatever you need to get done—DONE!

Actionable insight: Anytime you feel the procrastination creeping back up again, you should take it as a trigger to CHUNK down whatever you feel like procrastinating on into something simple and do-able… Even if it’s something as small as opening KeyNote and naming your presentation…

One small step leads to another… and another… and another… and before you know it, you’ve got momentum.

5. Adjust Your Environment.

If you’re an alcoholic, you don’t keep booze in the house, and you stay away from bars and people who can’t respect your decision to lay off the whiskey.

In a similar vein, my final tip to avoid procrastinating all over yourself is to remove the cues that trigger your procrastination habits in the first place.

If you can’t work in public places because of the constant movement and noise, then find a quiet place to sit down and focus.

For me to be able to avoid procrastinating and focus on what I’ve decided to focus on, I need to remove every possible distraction from my work environment—both physical and digital…

I used to switch my iPhone to ‘Do Not Disturb’ and put it on my desk while I worked, but the temptation to glance over and check it led me towards the path of procrastination more often than the path of productivity. Now, I take my iPhone, put it on ‘Do Not Disturb, and then put it in a drawer that requires me to physically get up in order to check it…

This keeps me focused.

My notifications and alerts are also disabled on all my computers, too. I’ve also stopped wearing my Apple Watch any time other than when I workout.

Basically, I need to unplug before I can plug in and focus.

NOTES:

Sometimes procrastination can be a good thing—allowing an idea or important piece of work to percolate for a certain length of time can spark new, creative insights. Try it—start something, walk away, and come back to it later… While you’re away, you may notice an idea pop up for whatever you were working on before. There’s a term for this; it’s called the Zeigarnik Effect.

About the author

Hi, I’m Dean Bokhari. I’m a speaker, writer, and entrepreneur.

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Procrastination and how to deal with it

The compound word "procrastination" has firmly entered the everyday life of modern man. But what is behind this buzzword, and most importantly, how to deal with procrastination?

Procrastination is the tendency to put off important things for later in favor of less important ones, which leads to life problems and is accompanied by unpleasant feelings of guilt and shame.

Imagine: you have to write the most boring article. It comes out in an online edition with such a small number of readers that you write it, consider it in vain. But the boss ordered, and you have no choice. You are sitting in front of your laptop and… Instead of writing an article, you are already watching the last episode of The Witcher, finishing your third mug of coffee with cookies.

Another example: you want to expand your business, you have found investors, new premises, employees, you just need to make up your mind and start implementing. But you're so scared that you'll burn out that you're postponing your expansion until next year

Another example: you've decided to change housing, you have a place to live, but you plan to have a second child in the near future. It would be great to find an option in a house under construction. It's cheaper and more choice. It will be possible to think over the design, knowing the layout. But this is such a distant prospect. Today there is something to do, and tomorrow, and in a month. As a result, you start buying an apartment at the 5th month of pregnancy. Housing is more expensive, all the steep floors and layouts were snapped up in the first place.

All these examples vividly illustrate the familiar state of procrastination. Let's take a closer look at the causes and how you can cope with this condition.

Procrastination: Causes and Methods

One of the main causes of procrastination is perfectionism – belief in the need to achieve 100% of the result. Perfectionist attitudes generate fear of failure, and procrastination acts as a means of coping with anxiety, as a defense mechanism.

But not only the fear of failure can cause procrastination, but also the fear of success . Or rather, the changes that this success will bring. It can be a change of job, moving to another city, problems with a husband who will earn less than a spouse, etc.

Low motivation and as a delay in remuneration (an example of finding an apartment - you need to make efforts now, and the reward will not be very soon).

There are many ways to procrastinate - go out to eat or do household chores, surf the internet, check your email, and many other options.

Procrastination and methods of working with it

The fight against procrastination begins with studying the problem: “catching” and fixing the moments of procrastination, analyzing its causes and consequences. It is important to understand what activities are causing you to procrastinate and what enabling thoughts you have.

Allowing thoughts are those thoughts with which you convince yourself of the need to eat, drink or watch a series, that is, those thoughts with which you "allow" yourself to procrastinate.

Resolving thoughts can be different, for example: I can't work without inspiration, I still have a lot of time, I can't do anything in a mess.

After identifying the triggers, it is important to investigate the consequences of such postponement - in the family, at work or school, in the form of unpleasant emotions, the impact on self-esteem. In addition, procrastination has an important feature - the time that you allocate to it cannot be considered rest, even if at that moment you are doing what you do during rest . This is because guilt, shame and anxiety darken this time, cause tension and do not allow you to relax.

A clear understanding of the causes and consequences of procrastination increases the level of awareness of the problem and the motivation to overcome it.

It is important to start the fight against procrastination with planning your day: making a to-do list and strictly following it, while it is important that the schedule includes time for rest and self-care. Lack of resources to complete tasks can also lead to procrastination.

Rules for dealing with procrastination

The rules below will help you get things done on time and not procrastinate.

The worst is immediately. As they say, a frog should be eaten in the morning, i.e. it is better to do the most difficult or unpleasant thing right away so that it does not darken the mood with anxious expectation.

Don't try to make everything perfect. Often the job should be done well enough. The pursuit of unattainable peaks will lead to a decrease in motivation.

Use a timer. There are special applications to combat procrastination - Flat Tomato, Focus To-Do. Their essence lies in the technique of the tomato. This technique got its name from the kitchen timer in the form of a tomato. The essence of the method is that you set the timer for 25 minutes, after - 5 minutes of rest. So 4 circles, after which there is a big break. The main condition is not to be distracted by anything during these 25 minutes!

Set deadlines for everything. If a case doesn't have a deadline, it can go on indefinitely.

Observe the regime of work and rest. Rest provides an opportunity to restore resources. No resources - no strength - the body sabotages the work.

Estimate your time objectively. If you take on everything at once, at some point there will be so many things that you doubt the realism of completing them all and ... go to watch the series.

Break big goals into tasks. The big goal seems unattainable, the anxiety rises and… here you are already watching episode 2.

I remembered - go and do it. There are a number of small things that all the time do not reach the hands of - calls, answering a letter, small purchases. This principle helps to solve these problems here and now.

Remember about praise and reward. Positive reinforcement is better at shaping new behavior. Stop beating yourself up when things don't work out. Start praising yourself for your success!

What to do if you can't handle procrastination on your own?

If you cannot cope with procrastination on your own for a long time and this leads to serious difficulties in life, then it is better to consult a psychologist.

You probably need more knowledge about the reasons for your procrastination. A specialist will help you understand the origins of the problem and, together with you, develop a strategy for helping - work out dysfunctional ideas, dispel myths about procrastination, and draw up a plan for shaping behavior without delay.

Procrastination is a common reason for visiting specialists. The good news is that this problem is highly fixable.

If you notice a tendency to procrastinate, but you can't deal with the problem on your own, then call +7 (3532) 45-95-03 or leave a request for a call in the feedback form. Just do it right now, don't delay!

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How to get rid of procrastination before it destroys your career - Career on vc.ru

!" In fact, procrastination is a dangerous problem, akin to an addiction that causes a lot of guilt and shame, and can destroy a person over time.

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Why is it so dangerous, rarely cured by trying to "pull yourself together" and how to overcome it?

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is expressed in the fact that a person puts off important and urgent matters and replaces them with pleasant activities: drinking tea, watching TV series, hanging out in social networks, petting cats. Therefore, an article about the procrastination of a chronic procrastinator looks something like this:

But since I'm not a chronic procrastinator, there are a lot of letters waiting for you (and if you decide to postpone this article, I understand :)).

It must be said that very different states are hidden behind the word “procrastination”: from “I have to stop twenty minutes on Facebook before the start of the working day” to “I can’t take on any important business at all.” If you make a “procrastinator scale”, then it will look something like this:

0: False procrastinators . These are people who do a lot of things and are terribly worried when they managed to do only 47 things in a day instead of the planned 50. It seems to them that they are terrible procrastinators, but their problem is different.

1: Ordinary people . They love breaks, but it's always been... Well, frivolous... well, well... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... social networks and streaming services have only spoiled them.

2: Deadliners . These people are motivated only by tight deadlines and sad consequences if they miss the deadline.

3: Chronic procrastinators . And these people are no longer motivated.

Causes of procrastination

What do most people do with behavior they don't like? They are trying to fight him. But the problem is that this behavior occurs for a reason. This is the currently available way to adapt to the situation and help to somehow cope with it. What is procrastination trying to protect us from? From many things.

Anticipation of problems

For example, a manager or a client is very critical of you, and you know that as soon as you show him the result of your work, he will definitely find something to dig into and arrange a solemn spanking. Postponing the execution is a perfectly reasonable strategy, and procrastination comes to the rescue.

Fear of success

Interestingly, the premonition of success can be just as disturbing as the premonition of failure. To become successful means to become visible, to take on more responsibility and risk. All of this can be scary as hell. It is much easier to put off important things that can bring to a new level and create new problems.

Riot on ship

Procrastination may indicate hidden anger. Imagine that you were promised to be appointed the head of a promising project, you had been preparing a strategy for a month and were looking forward to how you would implement it, and suddenly everything changed. The project will be headed by another person, and you will have to implement someone else's plan, which frankly loses to yours.

You will probably feel that you have been treated unfairly and seethe with anger and resentment. It's good if the situation can be discussed directly with the management, but if not, there is a wonderful way out - to sabotage a hated project, for example, by reading the entire Internet from cover to cover.

Perfectionism

This is my favorite. Perfectionism often hides the fear of failure, but wrapped in a noble wrapper. A perfectionist says: “I want to do this task perfectly” or “I am only ready to take on large and complex projects” or “I am only inspired by outstanding results.”

A perfectionist sets the bar so high that he has a well-founded fear of screwing up. And screwing up is deadly for him, because it will hit his self-esteem, and he will drown in shame from his own worthlessness. And here procrastination comes to the rescue, because “it’s better to do it perfectly, but never, than somehow, but today. ”

Loss of meaning

People like me are disgusted by meaningless tasks. A couple of times I changed my profession, because the old one lost its meaning for me. But before he made this radical decision, he forced himself with great difficulty to complete work tasks, postponing everything that could be postponed.

Overwork

Another reason for procrastination is simple overwork, since it is difficult to complete tasks when there are no resources for this.

By the way, there is an interesting phenomenon here. Not every person can allow himself to honestly relax if he has not completed the tasks that he has planned (this is especially true for entrepreneurs and the self-employed, who have more opportunities to manage their time). Instead of taking an hour's nap or leaving work early, a person reads articles or surfs social networks to be "in business" and not feel guilty.

You can list other reasons, but the essence is clear. Procrastination has good reasons to exist, and therefore all sorts of exhortations and shouts of “Pull yourself together!” work badly.

Although they work

Various causes - scenario one

Regardless of the reason that caused procrastination, it unfolds according to one scenario. At first, some business (going to the doctor, the need to make a report or talk with neighbors who are tired of smoking in the stairwell) leads to unpleasant thoughts and emotions (anxiety, fear, shame, anger). A conflict arises - you need to do it, but you don’t want to do it.

If you scatter conflicts over four areas of life (I wrote more about this model here), you get the following picture:

Normally, we solve the problem in the area of life where it appeared. However, because of the conflict “I have to do it, I don’t want to do it”, we either run away to other areas and process the conflict there, or stay in the same area, but switch to other things, but do not solve the problem.

The conflict arose in the sphere of activity, and is processed in the sphere of fantasy. For example, instead of making a declaration, an accountant sticks to social networks.

The conflict arose in the sphere of the body, and is processed in the sphere of contacts. For example, instead of going to yoga, the girl is chatting with her friend.

The conflict arose in the sphere of contacts, and is processed in the sphere of activity. For example, the wife wrote “we need to have a serious talk,” and the husband sits up to the stop at work.

The conflict arose in the field of activity and is processed there. For example, you need to make cold calls, and the manager diligently puts things in order in CRM.

Why are these models useful? We run away to certain areas for a reason, we run to where we are most comfortable, familiar and safe, where positive emotions await us. For example, we replace a difficult conversation with a wife, where there is a high risk of experiencing a bunch of unpleasant emotions, with simple work matters, where it is easy to tick off “I'm done” and feel proud about it.

In other words, it is useful to analyze not only why a person puts off certain things, but also what kind of things he chooses as a replacement, what emotional need he satisfies thanks to them. Suppose a person, instead of writing a commercial proposal (and possibly getting rejected, which will mean defeat for him), plays a shooter, successfully kills enemies and feels like a winner.

Since substitutive activity not only saves us from negative emotions, but is reinforced by positive ones, this creates an additional problem.

If retribution for delayed tasks is delayed, the brain seems to have invented a brilliant strategy - not to do what you don’t like, and even enjoy the process

What kind of fool would refuse this? This is how procrastination gets reinforced and, with regular repetition, can develop into addictive behavior that is very difficult to get rid of.

And one more important point. Although substitution activities are pleasurable, procrastination is accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame. Moreover, the more a person procrastinates, the more he is disappointed in himself, the more he feels shame, the more he has a desire to escape from these unpleasant emotions. Such is the vicious circle.

Is procrastination always bad?

Although procrastination in its chronic form is clearly harmful and dangerous, there are benefits from it. Here are some examples.

When procrastination is the key to survival

Situations are different. Tyrant bosses, a toxic team, controversial introductory questions and questions from the series “Why in a hat? Why no hat? create an atmosphere in which the less you reflect, the better.

In such an atmosphere, a procrastinator equipped with a thousand and one excuses can feel much more comfortable than an enterprising employee.

You replace unpleasant things with useful ones

It happens that you need to fix the locker door (take apart the rubbish in the country house, buy a scratching post for the cat), but instead you sit and file an interesting project (play sports, go on a date with a girl). In other words, replace unpleasant things with pleasant and more important ones.

Looking at procrastination from this angle, procrastination is a skill of an effective person. It is the ability to put aside the unimportant things and prioritize the things that really matter. In the end, a bunch of breakthrough ideas were realized because someone gave up doing laundry, ironing, cleaning, or studying at Harvard (hello, Bill Gates).

Better and more creative

Experiments have shown that if people need to solve a creative problem, then they will show the best result if they take a short pause, and not immediately take up the solution (by the way, if the pause is too long, the solution will also be worse).

Read more about this effect and experiments at TED by Adam Grant

I also use this method - I let the problem lie down, and the subconscious mind to work, and often a good solution comes by itself.

However, much more often procrastination creates difficulties, and the question arises, how to get rid of it?

How to get rid of procrastination

People with chronic procrastination resemble people with depression (and often these conditions are interrelated and one may precede the other). It is difficult for them to take on even simple tasks, it seems to them that they will not succeed, they experience a sea of guilt and shame for their worthlessness.

Therefore, if for mild forms, the appeals “Just do it!” Can help. and a magic pendel, then you have to get out of running procrastination in small steps, holding on to the wall. So what can help you overcome chronic procrastination?

It is important to recognize the problem

Often procrastinators are convinced that if they just want to, they will easily overcome procrastination. The matter is aggravated by the general opinion that does not perceive procrastination as a difficult problem. Therefore, to begin with, we must admit that it will be difficult to cope on our own, you may need the help of a psychologist, and besides, this is not a quick process that will require effort.

Start small steps

Chronic procrastinators begin to put off even small things. Therefore, for starters, it is important to accustom yourself to perform at least them. If necessary, crush into small pieces. If the task of "taking a shower" seems unbearable (and this is not a joke), then it is decomposed into stages: 1) sit on the bed; 2) get up; 3) undress; 4) get to the shower; 5) take a shower.

The successful completion of small things will help you gain at least some control over your life, and then you can take on larger things.

Create support environment

When your leg is broken, you walk with crutches. For a procrastinator, such crutches can be artificial deadlines and reminders that a task needs to be done. For example, I couldn’t write a fiction novel for several years and asked my friend to kick me if I didn’t email her the next page of the novel every two days. This got the process off the ground and I wrote the novel.

Understand causes and motives

It's always worth dealing with the reasons that motivate you to procrastinate, as well as the bonuses that procrastination brings. To do this, you can use the exercise that psychologist Maria Zhigan offers. You need to explore all the pros and cons of procrastination by answering these questions:

Moreover, it is useful to run the answers in four areas of life (body, activity, contacts, fantasies) so as not to miss anything. In addition, you may wonder how your life will change if you continue to procrastinate for a month, six months, a year. What will your life be like: will you keep your job, your family, your health?

On the one hand, such an analysis will help to see hidden motives and fears, on the other hand, to find reasons for changes. After all, if the benefits of procrastination outweigh the disadvantages, then there is no motivation to change something.

Learn to track your condition

Chronic procrastination is a daily challenge, and to learn how to cope with it, you need to develop the habit of monitoring what is happening to you "here and now." What circumstances, thoughts, emotions trigger procrastination?

For example, you were in a great mood, you were going to work, but you heard a skeptical remark from a colleague about your idea. This made you think “I won’t succeed, the idea is stupid”, you got upset and offended by a colleague, and have been scrolling through Facebook for an hour now. It is very useful to learn how to catch such triggers before they start an automatic chain: emotions-thoughts-Facebook. Then you can take control of them.

Likewise, it's worth tracking down everything that helps you stop procrastinating. It can be thoughts, emotions, some actions or circumstances. For example, music that sets you up for work, or, conversely, the lack of social networks at hand.

Although it is difficult to be constantly aware of your actions, it is a very powerful tool for change. Why? The fact is that any person can be considered as a stable system, which is organized in the best way available to it at the moment. When we try to change ourselves, ignoring the established order, resistance arises. Moreover, it will be the greater, the more significant values are affected.

Therefore, often serious changes occur not when we try to remake ourselves, but when we begin to take an interest in ourselves: how we think, act, feel, what decisions we make.
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