The Little Book of Procrastination Remedies
<http://zenhabits.net/procrastination/>
Post written by Leo Babauta <http://zenhabits.net/about/> . Follow me on
twitter <http://twitter.com/zen_habits> .
Procrastination is one of those topics that, it seems, I can’t write
enough about. There isn’t a person among us who doesn’t procrastinate,
and that’s a fact of life.
It’s deep within us. We think we’re going to do something later, or read
that classic novel later, or learn French later. But we always
overestimate how much we can do later, and we overestimate the ability
of our later selves to beat procrastination.
If our current self can’t beat procrastination, why will our future self
do it?
I thought I should cover some of the best procrastination-beating
strategies, in light of my recent book, focus
<http://focusmanifesto.com> . People seem to want ways to beat
procrastination, so they can actually get down to focusing.
Here’s a quick guide.
Why We Procrastinate
Let’s take a quick look at what makes us procrastinate. There are
several reasons, which are related in various ways:
1. We want instant gratification. Resting on the couch is thought of as
nicer, right now, than going on a run. Reading blogs is easier, right
now, than reading a classic novel. Checking email or Facebook is easier,
now, than doing that project you’ve been putting off. Eating chocolate
cake is tastier, right now, than eating veggies.
2. We fear/dread something. We might not write that chapter in our book
because there are problems with the writing that we haven’t figured out
(often because we haven’t thought it through). Or we might be afraid
we’re going to fail, or look ignorant or stupid. We’re most often afraid
of the unknown, which has more power because we don’t examine this fear
– it just lurks in the back of our minds. Dreading or fearing something
makes us want to put it off, to postpone even thinking about it, and to
do something easy and safe instead.
3. It’s easy – no negative consequences right now. When we were in
school and had a teacher looking over our shoulders and scolding us if
we didn’t do our work, we tended to do the work (until some of us
learned that we could tune out the scolding, that is). But when we got
home, sometimes no one would be looking over our shoulders … so there
wasn’t any immediate negative consequence to watching TV or playing
games instead. Sure, we’d get a bad grade tomorrow, but that’s not right
now. The same is true of using the Internet or doing other kinds of
procrastination tasks – we’ll pay for it later, but right now, no one is
getting mad at us.
4. We overestimate our future self. We often have a long list of things
we plan to do, because we think we can do a lot in the future. The
reality is usually a little worse than we expected, but that doesn’t
stop us from thinking the future will be different yet again. For the
same reason, we think it’s OK to procrastinate, because we’re going to
do it later, for sure. Our future self will be incredibly productive and
focused! Except, our future self is also lazy, and doesn’t do it either.
Damn future self.
Four Powerful Solutions
Now that we know the problems, the solutions aren’t that hard to figure
out. Just don’t put them off, OK?
1. Stop and think. When we allow the above thoughts to go on without
really being conscious of them, we procrastinate. When we actually pause
and think about those thoughts, we can rationally see that they’re
wrong. Instant gratification in the form of goofing off or eating junk
food can lead to problems later. Fears are overblown and shouldn’t stand
in our way. Not having negative consequences now doesn’t mean there
won’t be consequences later. Our future self isn’t as bad-ass as we like
to think. So think about what you’re doing, and start to do the more
rational thing. Use the strategies below as well, but thinking is the
start.
2. Enjoy the process. When we dread something, we put it off – but
instead, if we can learn to enjoy it, it won’t be as hard or dreadful.
Put yourself in the moment, and enjoy every action. For example, if you
want to go out to run, don’t think about the hard run ahead, but about
putting on your shoes – enjoy the simplicity of that action. Then focus
on getting out the door – that’s not hard. Then focus on warming up with
a fast walk or light jog – that can be nice and enjoyable. Then feel
your legs warm up as you start running a little faster, and enjoy the
beautiful outdoors. This process can be done with anything, from washing
dishes to reading to writing. Enjoy yourself in the moment, without
thinking of future things you dread, and the activity can be very
pleasant and even fun. And if it is, you won’t put it off.
3. Set up accountability. If no one is looking over our shoulder, we
tend to let ourselves slack off. So set up a procrastination-proof
environment – find people to hold you accountable. I joined an online
fitness challenge this month, for example, so that I’d report my
workouts to the forum. I’ve done the same thing for running, quitting
smoking, writing a novel. You can even just use your friends and family
on Facebook or email.
4. Block your future self. Your future self is just as likely to put
things off. So block that sucker. Use a program like Freedom to block
your Internet access for a predetermined amount of time, so your future
self has to actually focus instead of reading blogs. Turn off your cable
TV, get rid of the junk food in your house, cut up your credit cards …
do whatever it takes to make it really hard for your future self to
procrastinate or give in to temptation, or at least force your future
self to pause and think before he does anything dumb.
A Different Mindset
Three other things that must be said about procrastination:
1. Do what excites you. If you do what you’re excited about most of the
time, you’ll be less likely to put it off. Focus on why it excites you,
rather than the dreaded aspects of the activity. I do this and my
procrastination is lower than ever.
2. Productively procrastinate. If you’re going to procrastinate, do
other productive things instead. So if you don’t want to do your
project, at least get some smaller tasks done. Read more
<http://www.lifeclever.com/how-to-procrastinate-more-productively/> .
3. Sometimes, procrastination is OK. I’m not anti-procrastination, at
all. This guide is for those who want to beat it, but in my book, lazing
around can be a beautiful thing. Reading stuff on the Internet that I’m
interested in isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes, give in to procrastination.
But other times, you might want to get off that lazy butt and actually
accomplish something.
–
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running a Blogging Bootcamp starting Nov. 8 – and the first week is
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