How To Overcome Procrastination
You know what you need to do. And there’s a clear route to getting it done not now, but right now. However..
“Later”. That’s what you tell yourself.
Because what you want to do brings an instant reward you’re willing to sign up for. Regardless of how the thing you should do has greater overall impact. You aren’t too concerned with that, that gratification is too far down the road. A decision sometimes made consciously, oftentimes subconsciously.
Procrastination.
You know you could and should handle business, yet for whatever reason you find a reason to not bring yourself around to doing it.
Procrastination.
According to Frontiers In Psychology, 75% of college students struggle with habitual procrastination [1]. I guess there’s no pro without procrastination then huh? 🥁. If college students that are paying for an education have a hard time with procrastination imagine what percentage of the rest of us this applies to.
Now imagine how much more you could accomplish, or how much further you could be or will be professionally, personally, and socially if you downgraded yourself from procrastination expert to procrastinator part-timer.
That’s what this article is about. Decreasing your procrastination skills.
I want you to get worse at it, I want you to be the least competent procrastinator with opposable thumbs.
In this article you’ll find: procrastination defined, what the types are, what would be considered procrastination, what leads to chronic procrastination, why it’s a problem, and how to intervene.
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How To Overcome Procrastination
What Is Procrastination
I like getting technical here and there and I came across a technicality while writing this journal entry.
The word procrastination derives from the Latin verb procrastinare, meaning to put off until tomorrow. Straight up and down to procrastinate means to put something off.
Putting off tasks until later that could be done now. Often until the last minute.
Procrastination isn’t as simple as laziness. You could be putting effort elsewhere, just not in the place the effort needs to be placed.
You may have a deadline for revising the final copy of your blog post.. a quickly approaching deadline. But instead of getting your revise on, you decide to put two coats of wax on your ‘86 Montecarlo.
But make no mistake, procrastination can be from and is often linked to laziness. Laziness has many of the same roots as procrastination.
Speaking of roots, there’s also an ancient Greek word procrastination roots from, akrasia. Doing something against better judgment. That’s self-sabotage..
That’s where guilt sets in, you know you’re being irrational. So when the irrational time passes you beat yourself up mentally and emotionally.
Often because you allowed a mood or unfortunate perspective to overtake burning desire.
I say that because procrastination is mostly an emotional endeavor, doesn’t mean hysteria is involved. It just means to allow a mood to dictate your moves, IE “I’m not motivated right now”..
But the fact is, if you procrastinate on the regular you’re like most people. Again, 75% of college students label themselves as habitual procrastinators [1].
This could be a good thing for you.
Why?
The bright side is once procrastination is under your full control, you’ll have a leg up on most of the competition.
Types of procrastinators
“Procrastinator” isn’t a title bridled to one path, one category, or one type of person or personality trait. Whoever you believe created us has been kind enough to program many “I should do this now, but I’ll do this later” variations. But these variations tend to fall into 1 of 2 categories.
Of course there’s overlap, but generally speaking. The categories are..
Passive procrastinators: those that delay an act because on some level they have trouble with decision making, the actions a decision may require, and/or the potential results of an act.
Active procrastinators: those that want the pressure of last minute activity, they see it as a source of motivation. It lights their fire consciously or subconsciously.
We all have moments of passive or active procrastination. On the active side, I can think of times I had a healthy time slot available to type a sizable portion of an article.. only to not use that healthy time slot..
Because I “knew” I wouldn’t allow myself to go to bed without getting it done at some point. The problem is, even though I’m usually right about that.. more often than not it leads to me going to bed later than me and my body would prefer.
So not doing what needed to be done when it could’ve been done cuts into my sleep.
And you know the impact of that: less energy, less enthusiasm, sluggish demeanor, falling asleep throughout the day on accident, and so on - all because I procrastinated.
But those are the generals, hold your salute 🥁. More specific types of procrastinators are:
Perfectionists – those that delay out of fear of not meeting a flawless standard.
Dreamers – those that put off the duty because their attention to detail isn’t on par with their vivid desires.
Worriers – those afraid of the change that will result from the task’s completion. They are more comfortable with what they know or are familiar with in the moment.
Crisis-makers – people that relish in creating a pressure filled work environment.
Overdoers – the ones that bite off more than they can chew. So starting and completing a task is a doozy.. way too many tasks. It gets overwhelming.
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What qualifies as procrastination
If I was a defense attorney I’d say, “my client doesn’t even realize procrastination is taking place half of the time”. I’d definitely get you a lower sentence.
The word micro-aggression has become popular as of late. Procrastination can in some ways come across so subtly you wouldn’t notice.
Like when you busy yourself with precursor work that supports the real work. So much pre-real work prep that you just delay and delay the real deal.
I’ll likely mention writing a lot in my examples because that’s what I’m doing here.
Research is one of those things you need to do, yet can veer into procrastination after the crescendo. You could in reality cover each angle of your subject with a few sources of solid material and then boom. In the game.
But it’s not uncommon to find yourself scouring source after source after source.. all repeating the same sentiments. It turns into you delaying putting your words in font.
All of that extra prep is slightly helpful at best, it morphed into procrastination 30 sources ago. Leaving you with less time for the actual article.
Here’s a list of what you can go ahead and start accurately labeling as procrastination:
“Busy” work
Busy work is sneaky petroleum for procrastination.
By busy work I’m talking about doing something for the sake of doing something, sometimes to appear - busy.
You can start making up insignificant tasks to say you were too busy to do the real task at hand. Dangerous, but it happens.
Like if you planned to spend the next 2 hours thinking of marketing ideas. But the office is messy.
You quickly straightening the office out is one thing.. but if you find yourself color coordinating your pens, pencils, and highlighters you’re losing the way 😆.
Doomscrolling
Making yourself a victim to the “doom scroll” will have you rethinking if all social media should be deleted from your phone or not.
Doomscrolling is spending an exorbitant amount of time looking at user generated content (UGC).
And it’s not sneaky.
Although you can mindlessly end up here, you know very well it’s procrastination.
But the worst part is losing track of time.
2 videos turn into 200 at the drop of a hat and just like that it’s bed time.
When you have business to handle it’s clearly a form of putting off until later what should be done now.
Unrelated Entertainment
The doomscroll could’ve been filed under this category, but its prevalence deserved a solo spot.
General non-task related entertainment is another “I know I’m procrastinating” move.
I say non-task related entertainment, because if you’re doing something you love or are interested in.. the research or learning process could and should be entertaining for you.
It’s passion.
So when you have a to-do you should do and decide to watch a movie, show, listen to a distracting podcast, start practicing cartwheels, or watching the grass grow and paint dry.. you are indeed procrastinating.
Smashing The snooze button
When your alarm sounds and you don’t get up. It’s an issue. You have things to do, people to see right?
Hitting the snooze button is indeed procrastination. I know more people than I probably should that intentionally wake up early, so they can hit snooze a few times.
Intentionally cutting good sleep down when they could set the true wake up time and just get up.
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Doing nothing at all
This box gets a check from me. It’s like I’m frozen in time.. like I’m buffering.
You can almost hear the sounds of dial up internet.. waiting on it to power my next move. But these moments are obviously procrastination.
Probably feeling a bit of pressure if we tapped into the psychology behind it.
“I think I need a break”
Some procrastination hits in the middle of not procrastinating.
You’ll set up and start the productivity session, great start. Peak momentum..
You’ll finish the first leg of a project, then boom.. you decide it’s break time. But it shouldn’t be.
You really just got started.
Still in this form of procrastination you rub your hands together and congratulate yourself for doing the bare minimum.
And it’s not uncommon to call it a day afterward, you’ll justify to yourself you did “something”.
“Let me just relax for a few”
At last, the classic pre-game cool down 😆..
Instead warming up this version of procrastination is to relax you. As if kicking back will get the juices flowing. Been there many of times.
I’m not exempt.
If it wasn’t for the ironic pressure of typing a procrastination blog it would probably be happening right now.
Very tempting. Also very dangerous, could lead to ultimate inaction and at worst cuts into the amount of time you have to work.
Not eating the “frog”
Another tactic I relate to.
Part of my usual day is to have an extensive to do list, with 1 or 2 utterly consequential and/or time consuming items.
The frog.
That’s what the “frog” is. Your big most meaningful tasks. The ones that put butterflies in your tum.
I often push those bad boys to the bottom of the list.. sometimes leaving less than enough time to reach completion.
This is a procrastination tactic. Especially if there’s no logical argument to save the frog for last.
Don’t ignore the frog.
Eat the frog.
Not an exhaustive list by any means, but the picture has plenty of paint. You can be productive and still procrastinate. Don’t let that fact lose you.
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Reasons you procrastinate so much
It’d be a long day if we tried to top to bottom give a 100% diagnosis of why a person procrastinates. What triggers the impulse.. or whatever the opposite of impulse is in this case.. the aversion 😆. The aversions are so vast you’d have quite a few reasons to list. My online pen would run out of ink.
But we all find ways to procrastinate, sometimes while keenly aware doing so will cause greater stress later.
We as humans are well equipped to rationalize putting “needs to be done” deeds off.
Some of those reasons we do so are:
Affective forecasting
Affective forecasting is you doing a weatherman impression with your emotions.
It’s when you predict and relish in how you’ll feel once a task is completed.
You do this by abiding by the assumption you will without a doubt do the deed later.
It’s like a payday loan for euphoria. Removes the “not doing it right now” sting.
The problem is if you don’t get around to the task.. then you would’ve literally gotten an emotional high off of your own supply.
Indecisiveness
Indecisiveness takes many shapes, but a greater than easy time making choices will leave you inactive.
Add this to the “I relate” list.
Personal example:
I go through “triage” stages throughout a day. The goal is to put logical order to each activity.. that’s not the issue. The issue is when I become TOO logical.
So logical that if I don’t find logic.. I’m stuck at an impasse.
Or so logical that I spend more time creating an order than doing what‘s on the list.
Fear of perceived disapproval
Maybe your flesh crawls at the thought of appearing incompetent. You’d rather not do, than to receive negative feedback..
Subconscious thoughts and feelings.
Perhaps you’re overly invested in presenting yourself a certain way. So much so you’d rather stay in place than to potentially progress.
Because there’s potential you won’t.
LAck Of perseverance
No notable level of perseverance.
If you feel a hint of resistance and take that as your cue to not push through? You shall not do.
You’ll “try” another day when you think the road will be smoother.
Those rough patches give a feeling that “it’s not supposed to be right now” so you might as well throw in the towel right?
This reminds me of a short video I posted not too long ago:
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it Feels good in the moment
It feels good to do what feels good. I know, groundbreaking statement 😆.
Instant gratification is what I’m getting at. That’s when the personal “reward” shows up immediately. Your feel good hormones flow right away.
A leaning for instant gratification is one of the potential culprits.
Maybe you even know deep down that the delayed gratification of stringing together these long-term goal-based acts is better, maybe not.
But you do know what feels good right now.
And procrastinating may feel just a little bit better in the moment.
Fear of failure
Self-doubt is a monster. It’ll make you question everything.
It’ll create:
A fear you may screw up, especially if you have onlookers or colleagues counting on you. That’ll give you the jitters.
A fear you won’t live up to your intrinsic expectations will also give you the jitters.
A fear you’ll lose out on something guaranteed of lesser value in the pursuit of a passion with greater potential.. will undoubtedly give you the jitters.
Rampant enough jitters could become enough to cause inaction.
Depression
If you’ve ever battled with depression you understand its toll on productivity..
Across the board.
That sort of despondence leaves you without a care in the world. Of course you’ll procrastinate because you frankly don’t give a f**k.
Hopelessness
Depression is often a bridge to hopelessness, but hopelessness can sprout in the absence of depression..
Often an outlook on your life as a whole, or lack of belief in your skill level.
You believe there’s no point because you’ll screw up or fail anyway.
Poor health habits
Procrastination can be a product of turning your nose up at healthy habits.
You’re energized when you exercise regularly, when you choose quality foods, when you consume the right amount of calories, and clock a decent amount of sleep.
The reverse is also true.
When you neglect this side of life you lean into lethargy.. fatigue.. anxiety..
This is a clear route to procrastination.
No energy, no action.
Lack of sleep
Mentioned in the health point, but it deserves a double down because if you simply refuse to be active you can at least get Zs.
Sleep deprivation makes you a slug. That makes you procrastinate on its own, but add the reality that not enough sleep forces you to produce more than enough cortisol.
Now you’re low on energy, tired, sluggish, anxious, stressed, and procrastinating.
No bueno.
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ADHD
My personal theory is just about everybody my age and under (I was born in ’89) has some form of ADHD.
If I’m correct it’s a side effect of technological advances and I don’t see the tide turning anytime soon without personal intervention.
If you struggle with focus you will not struggle to procrastinate.. I can assure you of that.
OCD
If perfection is your baseline you’ll be sidelined for quite a while.
OCD is obsessive compulsive disorder. It basically means you need all ducks in a row at all times. Your attention to detail is so high that if a detail is out of order, you cannot function until order is restored.
And if you’re obsessed with all being aligned before acting it’s tougher for you to act.
My wife swears I have OCD.. 🤨 but I don’t.
Inspiration precursor
The need to be “inspired” or motivated to act. Instead of acting out of self-obligation..
The hard pill is inspiration may never come or may not come around often enough to gain true traction.
So you’ll just keep putting “it” off.
Instant gratification
A leaning towards being satisfied now alters the course. Instant gratification feels good right now.
Delayed gratification feels good, later.
Laying on my back with 2 feet in the air as I pick what show to watch next from the Hulu library gives me something I won’t get from the process of organizing my two-sided closet.
So feet in the air it is right?
(And yes this point was worth repeating.)
Creates an “alibi”
When you wait until the last minute, you start working at the last minute, and you run out of time.. that minute doesn’t extend for your sake.
Now your excuse chamber is locked and loaded with, “I didn’t have enough time”.
You in fact did not have enough time.
Don’t let yourself off the hook.
Thinking you’re too busy
It’s rare one is truly too busy to do what will push them in a positive direction. Not never, but rare.
There’s wasted space somewhere in your day, but without evaluation you may not notice and will allow yourself to live under the guise of a time deficit.
So you’ll procrastinate and/or decide not to take on what should be taken on.
Fear of success
At first glance fear of success sounds preposterous, how could you fear what we all dream about?
But it’s reality for many, maybe most if we dug deep enough.
Success comes with responsibility to do it again and again. Comes with expectations to excel.
Comes with the need to overcome self-doubt.
All of which can indeed cause task delays.
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Imposter syndrome
Imposter syndrome is when one feels they didn’t truly earn the right to hold a position, receive an accolade, be granted some sort of convenance, and so on.
That feeling of “I am not truly qualified to be here”..
If you speak internally that way, your fear of letting others down or embarrassing yourself is a built-in deterrent to action.
It’s a perfect alley-oop to procrastinate.
Poor planning
Maybe you didn’t plan to manage time in a realistic fashion. Maybe you didn’t plan according to what your needs for execution were.
Maybe you didn’t plan at all.. just figured you’d, do..
All above can force misplaced action, procrastination, or simply not doing at all.
Unpreparedness
A result of poor planning will render you un-ready for what the moment requires.
Maybe materials, maybe you didn’t write a rough draft and today is final copy day, maybe you’re supposed to respond to emails between classes, but you left your charger and your phone is dead.
So on and so on..
If you’re unprepared - mounting pressure could kick in and cause delays, or cause a permanent stop in action. Or maybe logistics can prevent action no matter how mentally ready you are.
Unsure what needs doing
Another offshoot of lacking preparation is not knowing what to do.
If you don’t lay a blueprint when it’s time to “do somethin’” you’ll “do nothin’”.
After you load the car for a road trip you fire up the GPS right? Can’t reach a destination without a route.
This happened to me yesterday. Rest day from the gym, I usually use that extra time to handle more business..
I didn’t plan what to do I just assumed it would come to me.. fool’s mistake 🤨. Kept finding myself back on Instagram.
Had to snap out of it and write a plan to finish the rest of the day in a more productive manner.
Don’t be me yesterday.
It Won’t be a “fun” time
I somewhat mentioned this earlier, but who doesn’t look forward to a little euphoria.
Delayed euphoria that you work for hits much harder, but it’s hard to convince yourself of that sometimes.
So finding some “entertainment” is what you do.
However..
As we all know, more play than work never works.
You Just Don’t want to do it
The simplest cause, and can be tied to a lot of procrastinatory reasons..
You just don’t want to do it.
We could get into why you don’t want to, but straight up..
Don’t ‘wanna’ do it.
Could be boring, could be hard, could be complicated could be painstaking. When it’s all said and done you just don’t want to.
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Dread
Maybe it brings you back to childhood. Flashbacks of your mother or father forcing you into the backyard for a leaf raking session..
Like you told them to buy property with a huge oak tree rooted in the middle of the yard right?
You dread the perceived painstaking nature of an upcoming task.
Lack of care
Can’t leave out an outright lack of care. If you have zero incentive or inner drive to not only act, but to have a desire to achieve in the first place.. we’re in trouble.
With that sort of lack of care, I’d put money on the fact you’ll habitually procrastinate.
Unmotivated
Maybe your “why” is lost. You forgot the reason for it all.
Or you aren’t “inspired”.
Some really really really need aggressive motivation to act.
Without it they don’t.
Developed Habits
What you do is what you’ll continue to do until you do a new thing.
Habits.
If you have a habit of putting things off, you’ll put things off.
And putting things off will continue to be your habit until you develop a new one.
A need for pressure
Some folks out there believe their under pressure performance trumps their proper use of time performance. So they purposefully wait until the 11th hour.
The truth is..
You may perform well under pressure, I like to think I do. But “under pressure” is a breeding ground for error.
Although you may pass the “good enough” test and may get that euphoric rise in your veins.. you didn’t do as well as you would’ve if you used time to plan and execute.
Forgetfulness
Here’s another of the many spots where preparation would prevent. If you’re unorganized you may unintentionally leave things undone.
Maybe not exactly procrastination, but the result is the same.
Didn’t even realize something was supposed to be done. Oops?
The bottom line is sometimes you know you’re doing the wrong thing and still do it anyway. Sometimes you’re a tad unaware even if you should be.
Let’s get into why it’s actually wrong though.
Why it’s harmful.
Why it’s detrimental to your current and older self.
Start with a plan TODAY
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Why procrastination is an issue
It’s safe to say we all have and will all always procrastinate to some degree. Hopefully a very low degree.
But we can acknowledge that perfection is off the table.
So sparse procrastination is not the biggest of deals. I’m not saying it’s without consequence, but it is par for the course.
On the consequences side, that’s what this block is about.
Here we get into all of the ways procrastination may harm the illustration you have in mind.
The ways it may blur your ultimate vision.
Sloppy work
When you force yourself into a time crunch you cut corners. That leads to a sloppy product.
You don’t have the time to give a full review.. to revise.
No time to put your all into it. A lot of winging it.
You also lower your bar.
You’ll accept less and feel satisfied with less because you “didn’t have time”.
That limits your potential.
Takes up mental space
I say it all of the time because it’s real. We have limited bandwidth.
You’re occupying your mind with the thing you should be doing. So the things you are doing that aren’t what you should be doing aren’t even being fully experienced.
Might as well go do what you need to do.. you’re wasting brain power.
Supports anxiety
If you enjoy anxiety.. if releasing cortisol gets your juices flowing??
Then procrastination is all for you.
But that would mean you enjoy brain fog, not focusing on the moment, giving half of yourself to all you do, higher likelihood of storing body fat, lowered quality of sleep, elevated blood pressure.. the ugliness continues.
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Induces stress
Now adding to all that comes with anxiety is stress in general.
Stress impacts everything.
Baseline demeanor, how long it takes you to get energized for the gym, how long it takes you to run out of energy at the gym..
Even how easily you get startled.
Yes, procrastination can contribute to you jumping because you thought the ceiling fan’s shadow was there to abduct you.
Stress takes you off of your game.
Then you’ll procrastinate even more.
Leads To Insomnia
Procrastination is a direct route to sleep avoidance.
Particularly if any sort of stakes are tied to the task. And they are if I’m bringing this up.
Yes procrastination can touch on needing to move the car off of the curb before it gets towed..
But I’m talking about acts connected to truly consequential elements of your life, whether the world sees them as such or just you.
If the thing you need to do keeps running in and out of your mind.. you won’t sleep.
And I can do a running side effects monologue on what happens when your sleep quality is compromised.
Opens You up To Overtraining syndrome
I mentioned procrastination’s assistance with the ultimate release of more cortisol. Causing more overall stress right?
Your central nervous system (CNS) would rather that not occur.
In fact if this stress is in addition to a heap of other life stressors and physical stressors.. for instance if you’re an avid exerciser?
You raise the chances of experiencing overtraining syndrome.
Overtraining syndrome is when the load on your central nervous system exceeds your ability to recover.
Side effects may include fatigue, more stress, dizziness, passing out, weakness, tingling sensations, and so on.
You’ll be forced to skip the gym no matter how much will power is inside of that soul of yours.
It’s a Symptom of depression
If you’re familiar with depression on any level you’re familiar with despondence.
Those with depression tussle with planning ahead and tend to turn to “what’s the point” at some point. They lose confidence in their personal ability, or frankly no longer care.
Procrastination could be a symptom of a greater problem as such.
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Limits potential
Reality check.
If at every consequential step you step back and gulp..
You pace.
Wait.
Delay.
Stress.
And wallow in anticipation as you watch the hourglass empty..
You’re limiting potential, you’re limiting production. You’re putting a cap on what you’re capable of.
Don’t sugar coat it.
Gives you Less time to think
This hits the actual construct of time being limited point. Math is math.
If you have 2 hours to get busy and waste 78 minutes, you now have 42 minutes to work.
That’s less time to gather, sift through, enhance, and or ditch thoughts. You have to just go.
Just going is a recipe for not going far.
You Miss deadlines
Sometimes you misinterpret the amount of time you have and miss a deadline altogether.
Other times you think you can squeeze the task in last minute, but that doesn’t always result in your favor. It’s a coin flip.
In both instances you could end up out of a job, out of the chance to advance a personal aim, or insert a blank..
I don’t like those possibilities. I’m sure you don’t either.
Now how long would it take you to get over the regret of that sort of result? Mess around and start making New Year’s resolutions for 2025 in November.
It becomes habitual
All procrastination is an issue on some level, but when it hits chronic territory.. aspects of your social life, of self-fulfillment, and even your financial status can be compromised.
Bills late.
Forgot about your anniversary, now you’re in the dog house (read The Man Rules and you’ll learn how to get out).
Missed the income tax deadline.. now Uncle Sam is laying late fees on you.
Tried to get a birthday gift day of, but didn’t realize retail stores close earlier post-Covid.
Flight tickets, job openings.. it goes on.
Increased stress
Stress is the silent killer.
Symptoms:
Lethargy
Insomnia
Disinterest
All of that and more comes from stress and procrastination contributes to your level of stress.
No bueno.
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Reputational hits
Your procrastination efforts don’t go unseen.
They go on your resume.. whether you put them there in ink or not. You develop a reputation for your tardiness. Your lack of preparation. Your lack of full forced effort.
That’s long-term damage in the real world.
Reputation is a large chunk of the battle for success.
You’ll Resent Others
Have you noticed that those with a less than favorable reputation for a trait, are put off when you treat them as though they have a less than favorable reputation for a trait?
I’ll give an example.
We all know a person or two or twenty that are notoriously late. In spite of how vehemently you repeat and emphasize the importance of being on time for certain occasions right? The ones you have to give a fake show up time hoping that’ll undo the miscue.
And regardless of how much evidence you have of the act, they take offense as if they aren’t always late??
Even with an earned reputation you start to resent others.. even with it being your fault.
The only ones exempt are the self-reflective types. And those types tend to not procrastinate as much.
Others will resent you
Just like how in the previous point’s example you don’t particularly like the late friend’s tardiness, they won’t enjoy yours.
Can’t help but start resenting a bit.
Anytime your acts or lack of acts impact another in a negative way one too many times - consequences will ensue.
Financial pain
When your pockets feel a procrastination blowback it’s a unique sort of pain.
Late fees and beyond. Completely self-inflicted.
As the head of my business I know this bullet point all too well.
Not being proactive will have your funds going in the wrong direction or not going in the right direction with haste..
When you’re in need of haste.
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How to stop procrastinating
I can’t imagine that there’s a robot, I mean person out there with a self-imposed zero procrastination policy. That would require a level of discipline I’ve only heard about in ancient scripture.
Even if it’s only a mere 7-minute ordeal of death scrolling on social media, we all put things off at times.
We all do.
But when you completely lose control it’s intervention time.
Time to accomplish a new mission that’ll force you to focus on all of the other missions.
Time to fix a habit of procrastination.
When you aspire to do things a certain way, to no longer procrastinate, take a page from the handbook of those that don’t procrastinate often.
Non-procrastinators focus on the task more than how people may view them upon completion of said task. Less anxiety with this disposition.
They care more about how they’ll view themselves if they do not handle business [2].
It’s an internal drive.
Those with such a stance tend to be high in conscientiousness, self-discipline, and personal responsibility.
Here’s how to push yourself in a similar direction:
Put the phone down and silence alerts
Why does putting the phone down and silencing alerts work?
If your mobile device and all that comes with it gets in the way of action. Move it out of the way of the action.
It’s a self-awareness tactic.
If you know what your weakness is, prevent it from being exploited.
However..
We run into a conundrum when the “action” involves the phone.
Here’s where you have to get creative.
Some combination of hiding apps, silencing alerts, setting time limits or blocking off certain times where you won’t be able to access unneeded apps, and so on is what you’ll have to do.
At least until you build enough discipline. Treat yourself like a child if you have to. It’s about what gets results.
Find the source of the problem
Why does finding the source of the problem help?
You can’t hit an unidentified target.
If you can identify and get to the root of the problem you have a chance to completely eliminate the problem.
Otherwise you’ll spend eternity reacting to the symptoms.
Fall in love with delayed gratification
Why does falling in love with delayed gratification help?
It shifts you to a bigger picture mindset. You’ll grasp and relish in the idea of a greater payoff down the road.
That may be in direct conflict with the usual instant gratification you get from successfully procrastinating. But you’ll accept the compounded pleasure as better once your mission completes.
And you’ll procrastinate much less as a result. Keep the endgame in mind.
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Get your sleep
Why does getting your sleep help?
Less stress, more energy, better hormone regulation. Better mood.
All of the above contributes to more vigor and supports an environment of productivity.
If you do nothing else get your sleep and follow the next step too.
Exercise regularly
Why does exercising regularly help?
An object in motion stays in motion right?
Not only do you increase baseline levels of energy when you’re active. You release tension, increase brainwaves, blood flow, and feel better about yourself.
You’re more confident. The edge is off.
Each workout is like a new accomplishment. That makes you want to accomplish more.
You procrastinate less when you want to accomplish more.
Build your confidence
Why does building confidence help?
A percentage of procrastination is rooted in insecurity. A fear of not living up to a standard.
If you limit insecurity you’re less likely to delay what needs to be done.
With more self-belief, self-esteem, and self-confidence you think less about what could go wrong and more about what you’re able to do right.
Makes you more eager to get going.
Eat decent food
Why does eating well help?
What you put in your body influences how you feel and perform. There is no place this doesn’t apply.
If all you eat is junk, you will indeed feel like junk and not want to do junk.
You’ll feel sluggish and carry yourself as such. So eat for your physical and mental goals.
Enforce a standard
How does enforcing a standard help?
A formation moving as one, in unison. Or swimmers diving into a body of water completely in sync..
These aren’t coincidences.
A standard to perform a certain way was set, practiced, and enforced.
Enforcing a standard upon yourself may not stick over night. But consistent enforcement will turn a homeostasis of procrastination into a homeostasis of taking care of business.
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Set deadlines
How does setting deadlines help?
Tasks without overt “this has to be done by (insert time)” are very easy to kick down the road.
It’s like they have a “put your foot right here” sign.
Doesn’t mean they aren’t consequential. It means they fall by the wayside - because there’s no specific deadline. No urgency involved.
Needing to write a business plan since you have the goal of working for yourself one day, for example.
Means a lot, no deadline.
So make deadlines. Force your hand. Big and small.
I just gave myself a deadline to finish reorganizing my closet by tonight.
And this article you’re reading has a deadline to be finished by tomorrow night. Otherwise who knows when I’d upload it.
Make a to-do list
How does making a to-do list help?
You can see it.
You can check it off.
You get quick hits of euphoria as you run through the tasks.
You positively reinforce this productive style of behavior.
Makes you want to get more of those euphoric hits too.
Also organizes you and ensures enough productivity occurs to make each day successful.
Plan the route
How does planning a route help?
Large goals usually don’t have clear paths. So you have to make a path where there is no path. You have to map out the directions.
Those directions will include your steps big and small. But don’t let the word small trick you. Those small daily, repetitive tasks are what will make or break you.
They’re also the ones to keep you engaged en route to the ultimate prize. The prize with the payoff many steps down the road.
Planning your route helps prevent you from feeling so overwhelmed or under-directed that you do nothing.
It keeps you behind the wheel.
Study your habits
How does studying habits help?
If you learn and take heed to what leads to your usual procrastination desires, you can implement a strategy of prevention.
Easier to prevent a problem than to fix one. And still it’s easier to fix a problem you bring awareness to than one you ignore.
If you tend to wake up in the morning, hit snooze, and lay in bed for the next 1/2 hour slapping your knee on TikTok..
Put your phone across the room so that you have to get out of bed.
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Remove distractions
How does removing distractions help?
If I can’t concentrate because there’s loud music blasting.. I turn the music off.
If you’re prepared to do your duty, but unnecessary notifications or an urge to scroll social media sprouts.
Remove the distraction. And that’s not just limited to your phone.
Whatever your distractions are, remove them for the time being. Disallow minor inconveniences to keep you stagnant in life.
Make it harder to procrastinate
How does making it harder to procrastinate help?
Assumption via preparation.
Time loss via preparation.
Assumption? An example of that is putting your gym bag in the car. You do that assuming you’d be hitting the workout facility.
Because why wouldn’t you right?
Time loss? That would be something like you spending 4 hours prepping meals for the week.
You sacrificed that time, so even if you’re tempted to eat out you’re less likely to fold to that temptation.. that would mean wasted time and resources.
Reflect on what you accomplished
Why does reflecting on what you accomplished help?
If at the end of the day you take a look back on what took place..
You feel good. This is another one of those reinforcement things.
Give yourself a quick hit of the “I am somebody” juice.
“I get shit done.”
And when you hit that juice you’re motivated to hit it again and again.
Do that enough and procrastination will rarely reenter your life.
Your typical habits change. Also a method to improve your memory by the way.
If all else fails, try temptation bundling
Why does temptation bundling help?
Temptation bundling is the next level of tying an immediately desirable reward to whether or not you follow through with the deed that’ll satisfy you down the road.
The deed that tempts you to procrastinate the most.
Temptation bundling is actually doing what you want to do while doing what you should do [3].
Simultaneously.
IE watching your favorite TV show while running on the treadmill.
This may work, but I only like it as a last resort, not a first resort. I make this distinction since it’s not you fully developing the “do the right thing” muscles.
And during the instances you can’t do both the want and the need simultaneously will power still has to take over.
So that muscle still needs to be worked.
But.. better than nothing. Could be a start.
Bottom line..
For long-term success when the desire to proverbially walk away from what you need to do kicks in, put yourself on the therapist couch.. “why do I feel like procrastinating?”
And that is what we call a segue ladies and gents 😆.
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Daily routine to get out of the habit of procrastination
First and foremost start each day like you mean it
Make your schedule of to-dos ahead of time
Put important deadlines on your calendar
Acknowledge the urge to procrastinate when it blossoms and ask yourself what the root cause is in that very moment
Remind yourself of your goals
Remind yourself why those goals matter so much
Remind yourself what the consequences of not doing what is required to achieve those goals are
Remind yourself why those requirements have a greater overall reward than what you’d otherwise do in this moment
Then do it
My thoughts
Don’t cry over the milk on the ground. You procrastinated, move on. Don’t dwell on the mistake. Your reward is changed behavior, not scolding.
If you cut down on procrastination you give yourself more leisure time on the back end. And that’s guilt-free leisure time. Guilt-free leisure time is 10 times better.
Alright, fellow now former procrastinators.. it’s about that time
Thank you for reaching this point of the article, a lot of words. I hope you got something from them that’ll help you be a better you. Take control of your destiny. It’s in your hands for a reason, don’t take your chances lightly.
Today we covered what procrastination is, what causes so many of us to procrastinate, and several strategies to put habitual procrastination in the past. Don’t just look at this information and go. Put it to use and join me in the fight to not turn our “to-dos” into “to-don’ts”. Let’s all Be Great.
SOURCES
[1] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.783570/full
[2] http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2010/04/procrastination.aspx
[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074959782030385X