Full disclosure: In this article, I share the main ideas I learned from the book; however, I have also included concepts that I’ve absorbed from other resources on the same topic.
What is procrastination
Procrastination is putting off things we rationally know delaying them may or will harm us. It is a known problem, and we are all familiar with it since school when we postponed doing an exercise, writing an essay, or getting prepared for an exam until the last minute.
You and I may differ in what we defer or how often we postpone a task, but we all do it from time to time.
Why do you procrastinate?
Logically, you know to apply for a job, you need to work on your resume, but in practice, you delay it maybe for a long time.
Why is that? Shouldn’t we, as intelligent humans, act accordingly with what we know is right. Why do we postpone things while we know we have to do them?
Science has an explanation for our behaviour.
There is a constant battle between our prefrontal cortex, which makes rational calls and the lizard brain responsible for automating basic needs. The lizard brain drives actions such as eating food when we are hungry or running when we are in danger.
Procrastination is a result of the lizard brain winning the battle for that moment.
And why does the lizard brain win?
It could be because:
- The task is relatively big, or you think it is.
- The task does not have a definite ending time, or we do not have a clear picture of it.
- We do not know where to start.
So, procrastination is a natural human behaviour, and it is common. You are following the orders you’re receiving from the inner portion of your brain. It is your instinct telling you not to work on something it considers not being pleasant for you.
This primitive part of your brain is supposedly working in your favour. Because it is protecting you from work, that does not create momentary joy.
Procrastination resulting in further procrastination
Procrastination praises and boosts further procrastination. You follow your instinct, and you choose to play another your favourite video game for another 15 minutes instead of writing your essay.
You enjoy the experience; your brain has received plenty of dopamine, and it has more reasons believing putting off that essay was not a bad idea.
The scientific explanation of why we procrastinate is that we expect more pleasure from doing the alternate work.
The dilemma of options
Choice, although at the surface, is a good thing, could create procrastination.
When you have multiple options, you delay deciding due to fear of missing out on the better opportunities.
For example, imagine you own one pair of shoes that is appropriate for the summer. In summer you always know to wear that pair of shoes.
Now, if you have five pairs of them, and a few goes with your outfit, you may take a few minutes in the morning deciding which one to wear.
Another related issue is that we often maximize and not satisfice due to the abundance of choices. For example, I want to buy a coffee maker. I spend more time than is necessary for investigating the models. And even after the purchase, I wonder if I made the right decision.
As a result, I may be a less happy person even though I had more freedom to pick what I wanted. One solution to this problem is to be conscious of what is sufficient and appreciate it.
Another example of how options could cripple us is the hypothetical case of Buridan’s donkey. A thirsty and hungry donkey is precisely the same distance from a pile of hays and a water pail. It continues to starve because it can not make a decision.
Techniques for defeating procrastination, in the order of effectiveness
There are several techniques you can use to defeat procrastination. I have put them in an order I believe is relevant most often and is useful for most people.
Being aware of your habits and what triggers you to procrastinate empowers you to catch yourself when you do so and get back on track. If you are an impulsive person, you naturally get distracted by a thought or a sudden desire or emotion.
1. Breaking down into smaller pieces
Picturing the final product you need to create or deliver and the work you have to do can scare and stop you from taking action. Focus on achieving small, reachable results, and defeat procrastination by breaking the job down into smaller pieces. Think about a task that you’ve put off for a while. I bet you can split it into two or more sub-tasks.
I started this article by identifying the headings, then grouped my notes from the book, and then reviewed.
2. Be forgiving
Not forgiving yourself for previous procrastination can result in further procrastination. Don’t think of it as a lost cause. Get back on track. One mistake is that you feel you lost Monday and Tuesday, and you think, okay, I lost this week, let’s start next week.
You don’t need a new year, month, or week. You don’t even need a new day.
3. Create momentum
Start a must-do task you think of or remember within two minutes, without overthinking.
- You don’t need to be committed to finishing it.
- You don’t need to worry about its quality.
- You don’t need to have tremendous progress.
To get a job that seems daunting started, set the threshold very low. For example, you want to create a scripted YouTube video? Type in a document only the titles of the sections you wish to cover. That’s it. And even that list can change later.
4. Visualization
A tactic for mentally overcoming procrastination is to picture the consequences of doing or not doing the task at hand. E.g., how pleasant it would be that you will have finished your blog in a week from now, and you will be responding to your readers’ comments on it?
On the other hand, you are familiar with the feeling of shame and regret that you have for procrastinating the work you need to do now, in 10 days. Bring forward that feeling from the future to the moment, and use it as a motivation.
Our mind deceives us by discounting the consequences of putting things off. It’s also called “omission bias.” The cure is to raise your awareness of the significance of not taking action or delaying it.
5. No zero-days
For a job that spans over a few days, set a target that you will have no more “zero-days.”
- A zero-day is a day you have no progress on your important work.
- Don’t worry about the size of the delivered piece.
- If you have a zero, don’t let it become an excuse for having more of them.
6. Prioritization
You have so many things to do that you do nothing? That’s a prioritization problem. Always clearly identify and preferably write down your next top three priorities, start working on the first and don’t think about anything else until you finish the first task.
You know your capacity. Choose the tasks realistically. Remind yourself that you have selected them consciously, so there is no reason to worry about all the other works you need to do.
7. Milestones
One reason for procrastinating big jobs is that you can not see the end product anytime soon. The remedy? Focus on the process and the milestones instead of the final product. E.g., Look forward to finishing a chapter of your book, a section, or the first draft paragraph.
Procrastination is a method your brain protects you from failure. Make the goal so small that it is impossible to fail. E.g. You want to lose 100 pounds? Aim for only one week of the right lifestyle and losing 1 pound.
8. The golden 5 minutes
Next time you get tempted to skip a vital work for a momentary pleasure, force yourself to wait for 5 minutes. Instead of delaying work, delay the interruption.
9. Know what type of procrastinator you are
Knowing what type(s) of a procrastinator you are, helps you make a change. Please note that some of these traits may happen subconsciously. So, you need to reflect on your work and ponder why you are deferring a task.
- Thrill-seeker: loves the last-minute rush. Thrill-seeker procrastinator intentionally leaves the task unattended until the deadline closes. They are confident in their ability to deliver high-quality results under time pressure.
- Avoider: fears failure or even success. Avoider procrastinators put off the task because of fear of failure or success. Why success? You may subconsciously avoid success because it gives you the guilt of why you had not lived up to your fullest capacity in the past and the responsibility to do so in future.
- Indecisive: doesn’t like to be held responsible. Indecisive procrastinators are not comfortable taking responsibility for their decisions.
- Perfectionist: has set super-high standards. Perfectionist procrastinators have set the bar so high for themselves that they know it is unlikely to meet their standards. So, in fear of getting judged, they delay the work.
- Busy: not good at prioritization. Busy procrastinators are always occupied with some work. They switch from a task to another yet do not have any meaningful progress of their critical work. The main weakness of a busy procrastinator is the lack of proper prioritization skills.
10. STING method
- Select one task
- Time yourself
- Ignore everything else
- No breaks
- Give yourself a reward
E.g., Set up an alarm for 30 minutes, phone on do not disturb mode, and power through that report. When done, give yourself a treat, like listening to your favourite music for five minutes.
11. Check executive functions
Weakness in the following executive functions contribute to procrastination:
- Inhibition
- Self-monitoring
- Planning & organization
- Activity shifting
- Task initiation
- Task monitoring
- Emotional control
- Working memory
- General orderliness
12. HALT method
One method that can help you is checking if you are free of HALT:
- Hungry
- Angry
- Lonely
- Tired
Other notes
Enough planning – Don’t spend more than needed time on planning. That’s a disguised form of procrastination, called “planning paralysis.”
Don’t rely on your mood – Instead of waiting for the right mindset to start working on critical work, just start the job, and the momentum changes how you feel.
Procrastination Math and Physics
Some scientists have explained procrastination in mathematical or physical formulas:
Motivation formula
Be aware that you are delaying with four variables:
- Expectancy = Do you think you succeed?
- Value = What’s the benefit of the product?
- Impulsiveness = Are you getting distracted easily?
- Delay = How long after delivering you get rewarded?
By manipulating the variables of the procrastination equation, you can reduce the chance of procrastination.
- Increase Expectancy & Value if possible
- Decrease Impulsiveness & Delay if possible
Physical analogy
First, remember Newton’s first law that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change.
Now applying it to human behaviour, it takes effort and willpower to start a piece of work. When an individual begins working on a task, it becomes easier to continue progressing on it.
The takeaway is to get the work started with tiny pieces of the task that require minimal effort and create momentum.
Procrastination may not always be bad
Although procrastination usually hurts us, it is not always a bad thing.
It may benefit you in one of the following ways:
- The work may not be needed anymore.
- You clear everything else on your to-do list, not working on the task you put off.
- You reevaluate the task later.
- There is uncertainty in the value of the task.
- It has protected you from failure.
Conclusion
We love ourselves more than anything else, and we want ourselves happy. A procrastinator chooses their current pleasure, whereas a proactive person cares about their future-self.
Most of the time, procrastination can work against us, but the good news is that you can use tactics to overcome this natural behaviour. The prerequisite is knowing yourself and understanding why you delay a task. Your reason for putting things off could be different from task to task.
Use one or a combination of the 12 techniques explained above to overcome procrastination.
- Breaking down into smaller pieces
- Be forgiving
- Create momentum
- Visualization
- No zero-days
- Prioritization
- Milestones
- The golden 5 minutes
- Know what type of procrastinator you are
- STING method
- Check executive functions
- HALT method
There is no better time than now. Start now!
Get a copy of the original book – The Science of Overcoming Procrastination by Patrick King
