Procrastination is a challenge as old as time itself.
The philosophers of Ancient Greece even had a term for it: ‘akrasia’. It describes the act of doing something despite it going against our better judgement.
These days, procrastination can feel more challenging than ever. We’re surrounded by countless digital distractions and we struggle to get things done.
When we procrastinate, we’re encountering a concept called the Present Bias.
The present bias is this idea that we can easily set whatever goal we want for our future selves. But it’s our present self sitting here who actually has to get up and do it.
Unfortunately, our present self tends to prioritise immediate short-term rewards, even if the alternative future rewards are more beneficial.
So, when it comes to either going to the gym or binge-watching our favourite tv series, we’ll almost always ****pick the latter, even though we know that the gym will benefit us more in the long run.
This present bias makes the idea of watching tv more appealing in the short term and our future self will never get around to making the gym a habit.
So, in this article, we’ll discuss what causes procrastination, and we’ll share some tips and tricks for overcoming it, so you can get the most out of your day.
What Causes Procrastination? 🔎
Dr Tim Pychyl, a procrastination expert, highlighted in a 2013 study that the cause of procrastination often stems from a desire to avoid the negative emotions associated with a task.
If a task feels daunting, challenging, complicated, we try and escape the negative feelings of stress and confusion by avoiding the task altogether.
Put simply, we procrastinate to manage our feelings in the short term, rather than focusing on completing tasks that we know will contribute to our long-term goals.
Rationally, we all know that procrastination is bad for us, yet we still do it.
Our drive to avoid the negative emotions outweighs our desire to get the task done.
These negative feelings can be really difficult for us to confront. So instead we’ll avoid the task entirely, and distract ourselves by watching TV, scrolling on our phones or finding any other short term escape.
When we procrastinate in this way, we create an internal conflict between the immediate rewards of idle activities and the challenges of difficult tasks**.**
We choose the short-term highs of the video game rather than the slow progress towards our longer goals.
This results in a frustrating grey area where we understand that our procrastination is harmful, but we constantly find ourselves doing it.
The good news is that we can do something about it. There’s a simple formula to overcome procrastination that I’ve discovered over the last couple of years.
The Procrastination Prescription 💊
This is The Procrastination Prescription. It’s 4-step formula I’ve found to help you remedy procrastination for good:
- Seek Clarity
- Treat Yourself Like a Robot
- Overcome the Emotional Hump
- Find a Community
Each step includes two practical tips to help you beat your procrastination.
1. Seek Clarity ☀️
The strange thing about procrastination is that sometimes we simply can’t afford ****to do it. So we don’t.
If we’re faced with something urgent or life-threatening, the idea of procrastinating won’t even cross our mind.
The importance of certain tasks seems to override any thoughts of delay.
Whereas, in less critical scenarios, we’re more likely to put tasks off until the next day. We’ll tell ourselves “I’ll just do that later.”
This is down to something called uncertainty paralysis.
If we’re certain that the task is absolutely vital, we won’t procrastinate.
But if we’re not really sure why we’re meant to be doing something, it’s much harder to motivate ourselves to get it done.
So to overcome our uncertainty, we need to seek clarity, to understand the purpose of the task at hand.
A second way that we might feel uncertain is surrounding the details of the task itself.
If we don’t fully understand what we need to do, or if the next steps we should take aren’t obvious, we’ll start to feel uncomfortable. We don’t always like heading into the unknown.
This discomfort can then cause us to procrastinate. We don’t want to start a task that we don’t know how to finish.
By seeking clarity over both the reason why we’re doing a task and the next steps needed to complete it, we can remove the negative feelings that were causing us to procrastinate.
Tip 1: The 5 Whys ❓
If we find ourselves struggling with uncertainty paralysis, one effective way to reduce our anxiety is to use something called the ‘5 Whys’.
It’s a problem-solving method where we ask ourselves “why” repeatedly – usually five times – to get to the root cause of what is really bothering you.
Let’s say you’re procrastinating on a project. Instead of blaming yourself for being ‘lazy’ or ‘unmotivated’, start by asking yourself why you’re avoiding the task. For example:
- Why am I avoiding writing this essay? Because I feel really anxious about getting started.
- Why do I feel anxious about starting it? I’m worried it won’t be perfect.
- Why am I worried about it not being perfect? Because people might laugh at me if it’s bad. I’m scared of what they might say..
- Why do I fear their criticism? Because I’ve received negative feedback multiple times in the past which has really knocked my confidence.
- Why did that negative feedback knock my confidence? Because I try really hard and I’d like to be recognised for it.
By asking these questions and peeling back these layers, we managed to get to the real issue.
Our fear isn’t around writing the essay itself. It’s around not receiving any recognition.
Once we understand this, we can address the core issue rather than just the symptoms.
Then we can develop a solution. In this case, you could celebrate your hard work yourself or close friends or family without relying on feedback from others.
Tip 2. Develop a Growth Mindset 📈
The second way to seek clarity is to align your whole mindset, including your thoughts & feelings.
Overcoming procrastination isn’t just about pushing through your to-do list regardless of your emotions. It’s about having a completely aligned approach to how you think and feel about tasks and their outcomes.
The way we can do this is by developing a growth mindset: the belief that we can use our thoughts and experiences to grow and learn.
Our mindset can be broken down into a simple formula:
Thoughts & Feelings > Decisions > Actions > Results
Our thoughts and feelings determine our decisions. The decisions then influence our actions. And finally our actions generate our results.
The real game-changer here is understanding the role that your thoughts and feelings play in this process.
Our thoughts and feelings are deeply connected to our actions and decisions. But they can also cloud our judgement.
By first acknowledging all of our current thoughts and feelings, we can focus on aligning our emotions towards our long-term goals.
For example, if you find yourself saying “I can’t do this”, focus on addressing your feelings until you manage to reframe it and give it a positive spin. Perhaps you tell yourself that you can’t do it yet. Or you try and see the upcoming task as an opportunity to learn.
Once you’re feeling positive, you’ll then be able to make better decisions. In turn, this generates more effective actions, which are more likely to achieve our desired result.
Adopting a growth mindset can entirely reshape your productivity. If you’d like to take a deeper dive into this topic, you might like to check out this video here.
2. Treat Yourself Like A Robot 🤖
Once we’ve gained clarity over why we might be procrastinating, our second step is to start treating ourselves like a robot.
Whenever tasks aren’t going as planned, we need to start resisting the urge to get frustrated.
Instead, treat yourself like a malfunctioning robot. Try to find the logical solution.
Analyse what’s going wrong and try to adjust your approach. If something isn’t working, identify the issue and tweak your strategy without criticising yourself.
Through this lens, we can start to see procrastination as a positive. It gives us a chance to upgrade our productivity system.
Instead of viewing it as a personal failure, we can use it as feedback.
By keeping our approach objective and logical, we can focus on problem-solving rather than getting bogged down and frustrated.
Tip 3: Build an Algorithm 🧑💻
Think of yourself as a robot – one that you personally get to program.
You wouldn’t let a robot randomly choose what it does every day. You would give it a set of rules to follow to make sure it performs at its highest level.
That is exactly what you need to do for yourself.
By building an algorithm, you can create a routine that helps you show up as your best self every day.
Your personal algorithm could be anything:
- Making your bed in the morning
- Journaling for five minutes
- Drinking a glass of water while your coffee brews
It can be whatever you think would benefit your robot.
The key point is, that the more you can automate the things that set you up for success, the less likely you are to procrastinate.
By following your algorithm, you’re no longer waiting to feel motivated before you take action. We’ve created a system that makes showing up and doing the work an automatic process, like a robot following its code.
Tip 4: Change “and” to “or” 🔀
Once we’ve built our algorithm, we can take things to the next level by implementing this next tip.
When we’re procrastinating, it can feel like we’re stuck waiting for the ideal conditions. “I’ll start when I’ve slept enough and I’ve had a coffee and I’ve tidied the house.”
But in reality, that ‘and’ is killing your progress.
Instead, we can start to swap out the ‘and’ to ‘or’.
Rather than saying “I’ll exercise when I feel energised and the weather is nice and I have time”, it’s now “I’ll work out if I feel energised or the weather is nice or I have time.
This tiny shift makes it much easier to get started because you now have multiple ways to win.
You’re no longer waiting for all the stars to align – just one is enough.
This way, you’re giving yourself more opportunities to take action. This means you’re already winning half the battle with procrastination.
3. Overcome the Emotional Hump 🏔️
Sometimes in life, we won’t be able to avoid procrastination.
We might be given a task that we just don’t want to do, but we have no choice in the matter.
No matter which way we look at it, we can’t reduce our negative emotions. It feels like there’s a huge emotional hump that’s stopping us in our tracks.
The hardest part isn’t the task itself; it’s getting over the emotional hump that’s stopping you from even starting.
It’s that little voice inside that says, “I just don’t want to do it right now.”
We’ve all been there, stuck in that emotional quicksand where everything feels heavy, and motivation is hard to come by.
In these situations, the key is learning to outsmart those emotions, so they don’t keep you from doing what you need to do.
It’s about finding a way to get over that initial resistance so you can get moving.
Tip 5: A 5-Minute Sand Timer ⌛
Newton’s law of inertia states that objects at rest tend to stay at rest, and objects in motion tend to stay in motion.
The same goes for us when we’re procrastinating. If you’re sitting on the sofa endlessly scrolling, it’s way easier to stay in that rut than to get up and just do the thing.
This is where the magic of a 5-minute timer comes in.
The idea is simple. Flip the timer and commit to just 5 minutes of the task.
No strings attached and no commitment beyond those 5 minutes.
When you do this, more often than not, you’ll find that once you get started you’ll completely forget about the 5 minutes and you’ll find yourself focused on your work.
You realise it’s not as bad as you thought. You’ll be able to keep going. The object in motion stays in motion.
It’s all about tricking yourself into action without expecting that initial burst of motivation.
Use this to tip to build momentum, and before you know it, those 5 minutes have turned into an hour or two.
Tip 6: The Reitoff Principle ❌
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, the emotional hump is just too high.
This is where the Reitoff Principle comes in. It’s all about allowing yourself to take some unproductive downtime when you’re struggling to get over that mental block.
Beating yourself up for not being on your A-game doesn’t solve anything. Instead, embrace the unproductive time and use it to recharge.
Rather than trying to power through on an empty tank, think of this time as taking a well-needed pit stop.
Watch an episode of your favourite show, go outside and take a walk, or even take a quick nap – whatever helps you relax.
Acknowledge that it’s okay to rest and that downtime is never wasted time.
We need to be kind to ourselves when we’re not feeling it. Sometimes stepping back is the best way to move forward.
4. Find a Community 👋
We’ve all been there – stuck in our thoughts, feeling like we’re the only ones who just can’t piece it together.
When it comes to overcoming the emotional problems of procrastination, we sometimes need emotional solutions. The best place to find them is from other people.
Trying to face everything alone is like trying to pull yourself out of quicksand by tugging on your own shoelaces.
The real game-changer? Finding a community.
Whether it is a few trusted friends, your colleagues at work, or an online group of like-minded people, surrounding yourself with others can make a world of difference.
A place where you can vent, share your wins and losses, and hear other people’s opinions is vital. A community is a great way to find that emotional boost when you’re running low on energy.
Tip 7: Accountability Buddy 👯
Our first tip when it comes to benefitting from other people is to find an accountability buddy.
Have you ever noticed how we are way better at keeping promises to others than to ourselves?
Humans are social creatures, which makes us desperate not to let one another down.
This is where the benefit of an accountability buddy really comes in.
By pairing up with someone and making a promise to keep each other accountable – even if it’s a friend, colleague or a complete stranger with similar interests – you can help each other overcome procrastination.
But, you’re not just holding each other accountable. You’re also tapping into what’s called the comrade mindset.
When we’re working as part of a team, when we know someone else is relying on us, our mindset changes. We’re no longer working purely for ourselves – we’re working for them too.
A 2014 study showed that when students felt a sense of obligation towards another teammate, they would work on a task for up to 48% longer.
By finding an accountability buddy and adopting the comrade mindset, that task you’ve been putting off no longer feels so impossible. You have some support in your corner.
Tip 8: Productivity Lab 🧪
Joining a community of people who are all on the same journey helps create what’s called vicarious mastery.
Studies show that by swapping tips and sharing what’s working and what’s not with the people around us, we can actually learn from other people’s experiences.
By watching someone overcome a similar struggle to the one we’re currently facing, it increases our own self-belief and improves our chance of success.
Finding a community of like-minded people has such a significant impact on your productivity that I’ve created my very own online community: Productivity Lab.
Productivity Lab is like a personal dojo for productivity, where you can test out new strategies, track your progress, and figure out exactly what works for you. Plus, you’ll be supported by our online groups along the way.
If you’re truly ready to stop procrastinating and start experimenting, you might like to head over to productivitylab.com and join hundreds of other like-minded students.
So, there’s my Procrastination Prescription. I hope it helps you cure your procrastination – for good.