how to beat procrastination - advice from a previously d1 procastinator

     Procrastination - the beast that has at some point overcome us all. While we all experience this phenomenon, it happens to different people at varying degrees. Some only procrastinate projects for a few days, while others a few weeks. Some procrastinate school projects, while others struggle to begin personal projects.

    For me personally, I find I procrastinate the most when the project I am facing is something that frightens me a bit. Is it something I will have to show others? Does it relate to something I am so passionate about, I fear failure? Does completing the project lead to a next step (presentation, public announcement) that I am trying to push off? 

    I've struggled with this for years, constantly in a cycle of wanting to complete a goal yet being unable to pull myself to my desk and execute. This last summer, however, I've implemented a few mindset shifts and mind tricks, as well as productive habits, to leap past this barrier to success and find a way to more consistently make progress towards the tasks that actually need to be completed. In this post, I'll explore some of these strategies, as well as dive into the science of procrastination to better understand our mind and body's tendencies and how best to address them.

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THE SCIENCE OF PROCRASTINATION

    Procrastination - we've all heard of it, people have made insane amounts of money teaching others how to avoid it, and it's a prominent challenger we must all beat in order to be successful. But what really is procrastination? Why do we experience it so?

    This article from the Association for Psychological Science tells us more about how this occurrence actually works. Procrastination actually dates far back to ancient civilizations, as referenced by ancient Greek poet Hesiod, who wrote a warning to not "put your work off til tomorrow and the day after" all the way back in 800BC. However, while back then ancient civilizations saw procrastination as evil or even hateful, we've learned much since then about it's true origins and effects upon victims. Research has shown that those who procrastinate have "higher levels of stress and lower well-being" markers than others.

    Procrastination is not defined as "the voluntary delay of some important task that we intend to do, despite knowing we'll suffer as a result." It's a habit that many fall prey to, despite only a small fraction of people being naturally inclined to do so. While putting off stressful and important tasks causes periodic satisfaction due to putting off said stressful work to pursue more fun things, in the end studies have shown that it causes "higher cumulative amounts of stress and illness."

A quote from this article that really hit home for me was the following, from Stanford philosopher John Perry, who write the book The Art of Procrastination.

"If I have a dozen things to do, obviously #10, #11, and #12 have to wait... The real procrastinator has those 12 things, maybe does one or two of them, then rewrites the list, then shuffles it around, then makes an extra copy of it. That's procrastinating... The chronic procrastinator... would rather have other people think that they lack effort than lacking ability."

    What really hit hard about this was the way I identified with the latter character - I too found comfort in re-writing lists and re-prioritizing tasks in different orders to feel as though I was making progress after completing one task. In reality, what I was truly doing was pushing things off again, hiding behind a mask of undirected and unnecessary productivity so I wouldn't need to do the things I was scared of. The truth is, planning how you will do something tens of different ways isn't doing the task. It also brought to my attention the real reason why I engaged so frequently in this self-damaging habit - I was afraid of perception and other people's reaction to my doing the task. How would it be seen? Would people judge my work? Would I pour my energy and effort into the task just for it to be rejected by someone who's opinion I cared about? This fear made me want to be someone who just didn't have the "energy" or "time" for a task, when in truth I had both, and I was using them to avoid rather than complete the task.

    Procrastination is a habit that we should show ourselves grace for, as it is rooted in fear and shameful tendencies. However, it is just that - a habit, and a bad one at that. It isn't just time management because it carries much grief and shame, which will always manifest regardless of how long is spent distracting oneself with other activities. But because it is a habit, we can always take the repeated steps and mindset shifts necessary to get into a different frame of mind that will let us address these problems rather than avoid them.

    Let's get into how I personally combat this habit, with a mixture of advice from professionals that I have tried and tested.

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4  OF MY FAVORITE TIPS & TRICKS

1. Focus on breaking things down into actionable, specific, and realistic goals.

    I find one of the ways I exacerbate my procrastination is by being vague or too broad in my goals. For example, if I need to write a research paper, having that task by itself on my to-do list is sure to drive me away from attempting what sounds like a huge task. Breaking things down into actionable, bite-size pieces may make your list longer, but it will also allow you to progress through steps faster in a constant feedback loop of satisfactory completion that is actually moving you through the steps needed to complete the larger task.

    However, as we discussed before, many procrastinators get stuck here, focusing too long on how exactly to break down such tasks and what will be the best steps to take, perpetually writing and rewriting a to-do list that doesn't propel you any closer to success. The importance here is to make sure each step you write down meets the following criteria: 

• specific - fully defined
• realistic - accomplishable within a few hours

    Beyond this, avoid getting bogged down in the weeds. Whether your first step is to "brainstorm outline" or "gather sources," remember that either step is just that - a step forward towards your ultimate goal of writing that paper.

2. Include easy, mind-freeing tasks as a break.

    One of the greatest pitfalls I find myself in when procrastinating, even when my list of to-dos has been fully fleshed and meets all criteria, is using breaks that will pull me out of my productive state of mind and even tempt me with distractive media and activities. When you are hoping to focus and stay focused for more than a few hours, ensure your breaks do not include things like scrolling on social media or a "quick nap." These habits can very quickly draw you out of the potential for entering a flow state, and negatively affect your self-confidence when you stray from your intended path.

    Whether you use pomodoro or other timed methods, or take breaks in between larger task completion, breaks are an important way to give your mind a break and quick refresh, but also present a challenge in being able to maintain your line of focus and return from a break just as focused and driven as you were when you began it.

    What I've found works best for me is including quick, relatively easy, and non-mind consuming tasks as my built-in breaks. For example, grabbing a glass of water, washing a few dishes, doing laundry, going for a walk, calling with a friend, tidying up my room, or taking a moment to sketch. Activities like these can be done without exerting full mental energy, even with music or a podcast in the background. In this way, your mind enters a more relaxed state while you are still staying engaged with the world around you, and even knocking a few chores out of the way at the same time. While this may seem counter-intuitive, and you may think this won't truly allow you to take a break, make sure you try this strategy before writing it off. I too believed the only effective type of break was the kind where I was able to indulge in other content or truly remove myself from making any productive movements as a reward for doing so earlier. However, moving from a flow-state where you are creating and building to a state where you are consuming, wether through social media or reading a blog, can become disruptive and distract you. Again, this applies when you are taking a break in the middle of a longer period of productivity, where you intend to return to your previous task or engage in a new one right afterwards.

3. Find your ideal flow-state environment - then stick with it.

    This tip can takes months, even years to fall into, but might be the most powerful piece of advice on this list. Humans are inherently fundamentally different - hence why our reasons behind procrastination tendencies are as well. In the same way, each individual's approach to productive time must be structured in a way that will ensure productivity that aligns with their habits and custom patterns.

    Let's compare my best friend's and I's ideal working environments to examine the importance of such differences. My friend enjoys playing music while she works, and doesn't mind lyrics. On the other hand, I constantly found myself distracted by extra sounds when attempting to work in an "aesthetic" environment that I had bought into as the best and most productive. I found myself daydreaming in the midst of my work, constantly being hit with new ideas for a writing project or singing along, being urged by my body to take a dance break. This disruption prevented me from entering my productive flow, while the music was what allowed my friend to separate her productive time from her other time, because she did not usually listen to music in many other scenarios. Taking our personal habits into account on this point allowed us each to tap into our unique flow-states.

    Another example of adjustment my friend had to make was her actual working environment. While I enjoy a constant switch-up of scenery, moving from my desk to outside to a coffee shop, my friend found herself constantly distracted and disrupted from her flow when trying to move around in a similar fashion. What worked best for her was to set aside space in her room, in this case her desk, to always head to when she needed to focus and be productive.

    A common theme you may be noticing is that we oftentimes force ourselves to conform to a singular idea of productivity or "aesthetic," when the truth is that each individual must test out and confirm the validity of different environments and study habits to unlock their own flow states. While this takes much time, so will the projects you seek to accomplish. It is the perfect compounding opportunity to improve how you focus over time.

 

4. Find an accountability method or partner that works for you.

    This was definitely one of the most transformative habits for me on my journey to becoming more productive. For the majority, one of our biggest drivers is the desire to show up successfully in front of others, for our work to be acknowledged and celebrated. While perception and responsibility, as we discussed, can be some of the major sources of the desire to procrastinate, they can also be used to your advantage to trick your mind to do the opposite.

    Finding a "study-buddy" or study group, whether locally, in person, or online, even through a youtube video or livestream, creates a level of necessary accountability that could be the final step in pushing you over the line to production. Knowing that someone else is watching gives your actions more weight, and helps in the beginning of your journey to build up the habit of consistency and self-confidence. I found that I was able to stay focused for longer and avoid reaching for my phone or unproductive tasks when I had someone asking me what I was working on and there with me (virtually or in person) letting me know they saw my efforts, inspiring me to pursue my goals further.

    While it is important to hold yourself accountable and spend time becoming that person for yourself, I acknowledge that it takes time to build up those habits. An easy way to speed-up the process is to include an external factor to give you that push of motivation even when a deadline is seemingly far off in the distance.

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    While I have spent the majority of this post discussing how to tap into your creative state and be most productive, I want to take a moment at the end here to acknowledge a very important fact - we are human, not machines. Our main job in life is not to be productive. It is to experience the world in all it's richness, in all it has to offer and all we can discover and create. 

    Creativity means something unique to us all, whether we find it in art, writing, programming, gardening, advocacy, and more. It is a multi-faceted and crucial part of ourselves, and finding what makes you tick, what makes you excited to get up in the morning and work, is all part of the journey of life. Everyone's timeline is different, and focusing on the feeling of being-behind is a never-ending spiral - everyone's stories begin and progress at different points, and you never know what the future will hold.

    While taking the time to understand your habits and your personal path to success, regardless of what it means to you, is important, it is equally so to show yourself grace and understanding. Yes, procrastination is a bad habit that you need to acknowledge in order to overcome. And yet, if you were helping a friend overcome such a habit, you would not spend so much time scolding and chastising them, telling them they will never succeed, would you? Make sure you show yourself the same kindness.

Signing off,

nexisphere