I was on Twitter yesterday and somebody asked me the following question:
“Hey Tim, I’ve been creating a blog for the past two weeks – even have the cool concept and my material I’ve thought of!
Thing is though, 2 weeks later and I haven’t even opened an account. (its like, yeah I love my content whilst I’m thinking about it etc) but I just think, oh, I’ll wait until tomorrow – constant cycle Why is this? Do you see this behavior a lot?”
I’m a Life Coach and quite honestly if I never saw this kind of thing I think I’d be an out of work Life Coach
Procrastination plagues most of the population and it’s frequently the reason why people hire me.
I don’t really know Jay who it was that asked me the question so it’s difficult to give a definitive answer.
However, I can have a very good guess as to why he isn’t doing the work, and in all probability it has nothing to do with being lazy or not caring.
What happens in situations like this is people nearly always focus on the wrong thing.
They focus on the immediate grief of doing the work, because that’s what’s staring them in the face.
As a Human Being your brain is pre-programed to avoid pain whenever it can. So in situations like this it takes a look at the pain of doing all that work and thinks “Fuck this, I’m off for a nap, we can do it tomorrow”
Then a whole series of internal justifications kick into play to support the idea that a nap really is the best option. Thus the work never gets done.
In these circumstances you have to take control of your brain by activating your prefrontal cortex which stops it slipping into its preferred mode of automatic pilot.
Presuming the outcome is desirable one, the key is to focus on that and not on the work itself.
- Focus on how great you will feel when you get finished.
- Focus on the great feedback you will receive.
- Focus on the sense of accomplishment.
- Focus on the people that will benefit
If you really want to kick procrastinations ass you can even take it a step further by visualizing the above in as much detail as you can muster.
See yourself finishing the work and looking as pleased as the Gary the Gator after just landing the Night Watchmans job at the chicken farm.
This will get your brain to associate doing the work with pleasure and reward, rather than with pain and misery.
Simple eh?
Do you have any great procrastination beating tips?
The reality for me is that I need to write a list on an actual piece of paper, and leave it where I will see it all day. It’s usually just a list for that day only. And breaking the task into manageable bits is very satisfying. You outline your blog post and choose a pithy quote or a great picture to go along with it, and you get to check off those tasks on your list. Very satisfying.
Good stuff Elaine and I agree that chunking massive tasks is the way to go to remove the feeling of overwhelm.
For overcoming procrastination, I always suggest just starting a little bit of what one is hoping to do, no matter how small it is. Starting is often the most difficult part and if one can make this easy, there’s a better chance of success. Also, some goals were not meant to be done solo and will require help from others as a group. Exercising and losing weight is a common one. Many cannot do these on their own no matter what and a key may be to get in with a group that can keep you accountable.
I also like your refocusing tips too so procrastination can be attacked from a few different angles. A combo would be even better.
That is definitely the key Clint, starting!
Once I start a blog post I usually get on a roll quickly but getting started can be the tricky bit sometimes.
We’re clearly on a very similar wavelength today, Tim. This morning I wrote a blog post about motivation, which covers much of the same ground, just from a different angle.
What have I told you about plagiarising from me? Do it again and I’ll get the lawyers involved.
I’m behind you!
I was just thinking about this this morning, and realised that I’ve been making good use of Kaizen techniques these days. Most recently it was with a sink full of dishes. When I came into the kitchen this morning I saw the pile there and immediately experienced a certain amount of reluctance at the prospect of tackling to job. Ok, I thought, I don’t feel like doing them all right now, but I would like to put them in a sink of hot water. Of course while I wait for the sink to fill, I see that I can spend a bit of time putting away clean dishes. I then walked away for a while, did other things, fooled around online all that stuff. Later, I went back in the kitchen and thought ok, before I leave the house I’ll just do a couple. That’s all, just one or two and I want to I can stop. Of course one, always means just one more, and before I knew it the kitchen was clean.
The real trick is to discern the very next step on a path towards a goal and to just take that one, without thinking at all about the steps after that. It’s imagining the culmination of multiple steps that makes the mind balk, so if you can trick it into thinking you are only doing one tiny little thing, it goes along and doesn’t put up much of a fight. I get myself to the gym the same way. By focussing strictly in the very next step: i.e. brushing my teeth, packing my runners, having a snack. If I’m tired I tell myself that I can just do an easy half-hour run when I get there. More often than not, I coax myself onto the track with the promise of a short easy run, and end up going for 45 minutes and then lifting weights.
If I am really resistant once I’m there, however, I don’t push myself. You can’t trick yourself with promises of an easy workout if you never deliver. You’ll stop taking yourself seriously anymore. “I’m not falling for that,” I’d tell myself otherwise. “I’ll just get there and you’ll start badgering me to do more and make me feel bad if I don’t. No way, no how! I’m staying home and watching CSI reruns!”
I love it! I’m exactly the same with dishes and the gym!
I’m the opposite with the dishes. We could be watching the worlds greatest movie whilst eating a meal and I would still have to stop it to clean up after. I can’t sit there with dirty dishes in the sink.
Sad really ;-)
Do you know what Marnina (brilliant name btw!) I do exactly that with the gym and have been doing for 20 years. I bet 50% of the time I tell myself I’ll just take it easy and I never do!
Agreed about chunking down though and focusing on just one thing.
That is a perfect example, regarding blogging and putting it off. I did that originally. Alot of people I work with and that wish to work from home put off what it takes to make a home business work. I did for about 1 year! Thank you for your suggestions, and I agree: focus on what feels good, the end product, the accomplishments.
You’re welcome Billy and best of luck with your blog!
I’m with ya. That is my motivation. I look at everything as an end result. I guess I have the personality of “I could care less what I have to do to get where I want to go.” Weird? I’m not sure. But that’s how I am.
Like you said, if we focus on the ‘here and now’ and realize the ‘work’ that needs to take place at the very moment – we will begin to avoid it – for sure! :)
Great post :)
Thanks Brock and I’m glad you understand your motivation. A helluva lot of people don’t.
Hi Tim,
Great advice. Keep the bigger picture in mind.
be good to yourself
David
As long as the bigger picture isn’t so big it overwhelms you! ;-)
There are two ways which i use to beat procratination, one is to jump immediately with no hesitation into the work, second is to remind myself what i am going to lose if i delay that work further.
Good luck.
They will work Faisal, although the first one sounds like something a procrastinator would never do.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for this timely post. I am facing lots of resistance trying to write an ebook now.
Now I am aware that as I am procrastinating, the little voice in my head is telling me how hard this is.
What works for me is setting a shoot-for-the-stars goal to write 2500words a day. Well, I missed the stars yesterday, but I landed onto the moon. 2000 words. And I am pleased with that. Any progress is progress made. I am definitely gonna try harder today.
I guess the key for me is to remind myself how fun this can be, start small, and as the momentum builds up, I just keep going.
Your 4-step visualization is definitely something I am gonna try today.
Thanks again.
You’re welcome and 2,000 words in a day is pretty good!
That Gary the Gator looks like me when it comes to pizza ;-)
I think you summed it up, Tim, when you said that you’d be out of work if procrastination wasn’t a problem. We all suffer from it, there’s always something more that we could do that we don’t want to do.
I read Leo’s latest at ZenHabits, where he confidently proclaims that the best tip to beat procrastination is to break it down into the tiniest chunk, and do that. 100 words for your blog post, or a 5 minute jog. Once you’ve done a little, you’ll be more inspired to do a little more. Then a little more, and so on.
What do you think Tim? Has this worked for you? :-)
That’s chunking and I have posted about that in the past. It definitely can work for a lot of people Stuart, but it really depends on why somebody is procrastinating.
If it’s because they are overwhelmed than chunking can help, if it’s because they are demotivated by what they are doing, then it probably won’t.
I’m now on Day 5 of a 60-day challenge to spend 10-15 minutes per day visualising my goals (thanks to Carl Harvey at Stars of Wellbeing). Hands down, visualising is the best aid to beating procrastination that I’ve ever come across.
One advantage that visualisation has over just about every other method is that all the others require you to put in effort at precisely the moment when you least feel like it. With visualisation, it’s more like building up a personal reservoir of motivation that automatically kicks in when you need it. Nice.
Visualization works because it cons your brain into thinking you have done something. It is without doubt the most under utilized skill in self development – imho of course.
With working out I remind myself that being finished with a hard run ALWAYS feels better than making even the best excuse NOT to run. Also, there have been times that due to injury I couldn’t run and was mad to be sidelined. Pretty hypocritical not to run when I can if I’m going to be pissy when I can’t. With other chore-type things (which is anything I would prefer not to do whether business or personal) I stay in the moment, keep my mind in the very instant of the activity, so I don’t drift into wishing time away or grousing. It’s all a headgame, eh?
It sure is Mary and I like your approach.
I always say the most beautiful drive anywhere in the world, is the one back home from the gym ;-)
I procrastinate a lot. One of my techniques is to pretend I’m an athlete or tennis player in the final of a hard match/ race. The threat of losing is huge, but the reward of winning is so much greater.
How crap would Roger Federer feel if he lost a Wimbledon final because instead of extra training he was too busy procrastinating by having cups of tea and a nap?
On the flip side if he works hard he will have the confidence and skill to win and feel on top of the world and even if he loses he comforted (at least) that he tried his hardest and he’s probably learnt something along the way.
If doesn’t work all the time, but It’s definitely got me off my arse a few times. It’s also why I love watching sport (except football – can’t get into it). Sportsman/woman often don’t have the option to procrastinate but it must be so mentally hard to be positive and motivated at times but they seem to cope.
Great advice Annabel, although my guess is Usain Bolt which he’d procrastinated by about 1/10th second in the 100 meters the other day!
Wow, Tim! That has to be the best solution to procrastination I have ever seen. I never really thought about it that way, but it makes sense. I will definitely try that!
My favorite technique is to use the Pomodoro Technique, which I found over on Ethan Waldman’s Cloud Coach blog. It rocks!! Here’s a link to Ethan’s post if it will let me put it in the comments…
http://www.cloud-coach.net/email/the-multitasking-myth-how-to-get-everything-done-with-the-pomodoro-technique/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CloudCoach+%28Cloud+Coach+-+Live+and+Work+in+Harmony+with+Technology%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
I think that’s the longest URL in the world! And yeh the PT can work brilliantly for some types of people. Not all, but for some it’s definitely worth a go.
I procrastinate to reasonable degree. My solution is setting goals and timelines, if goals are met then I’d reward myself with good meanings, but if not do something that is embarrassing or that is personally fearful (not self destruction).
A bit of a fringe approach – but my daily Ashtanga yoga practice has taught me the importance of ‘coming to the mat’ no matter my mood, my prior success or progress or any other variable that might sway me one way or the other. Once you routinize certain tasks, there isn’t any option to procrastinate. We wouldn’t procrastinate about brushing our teeth or showering, right (it’s a rhetorical question…). I try to tackle life with the same equanimity that I harness on my mat. Too much emotional investment creates unnecessary noise in our minds that holds us back. Just do it…
That’s very true for a lot of people, but for serious procrastinators it’s not so easy Ruth. Trust me I have worked with a lot and if saying “Just do it” would work my life would be a lot easier ;-)
Of course, SAYING ‘just do it’ rarely works. I’m suggesting rather that training yourself to go through the motions, day after day, commit to the task, no matter how unpleasant, demanding, boring, taxing, and to do it over and over and over again….eventually it becomes rote. Eventually it becomes habitual. And I’ve learned this lesson through my daily yoga practice. Sometimes I feel like crap and don’t want to practice; sometimes it’s raining out and I don’t want to go through the motions; sometimes my back is hurting; sometimes my kids are driving me nuts. But I come to my mat every day. I go through the motions. And after 7 years of doing this every day, the same mental resolve has transferred from my mat to my day-to-day life.
Ruth, I’m being serious here and this comes from dealing with hundreds of clients. I think you are grossly underestimating your own brilliance! Seriously.