How To Beat Procrastination Tips: 5 Strategies Based On Science

how to beat procrastination tips

you sit down to work you feel something (like resistance)

you’re not feeling like doing the task then you reach for your phone,

open YouTube, go on social media…etc, and with that hours have been wasted

you realize what you did later

You feel awful about what you did and promise yourself that you’ll do it tomorrow

or try to do work past your bedtime in a failed attempt to get it done or anything done

and time is already wasted and you’re tired of doing that

I get what you’re feeling and that’s why I wrote this article to provide you with tools and

understanding that you can use to overcome procrastination all of it is based on science 

this article is the 9th and the final one in start the Year Strong series

you’ll find all the articles in the series linked at the end

what you will learn:

• what procrastination really is
• why is procrastination a problem
• why we procrastinate
• what should you do to overcome procrastination
• how the Internet was built to distract us and what can you do about it

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is the voluntary delay of an intended action despite the knowledge that this delay may harm you in terms of task performance or even just how you feel about the task or yourself.

Timothy A.Pychyl, PH.D/ Solving the procrastination puzzle book

In contrast to other forms of delay, procrastination is a voluntary and deliberate turning away from

an intended action even when we know we can act on our intention right now.

Nothing is preventing us from acting promptly except our reluctance to act

To understand this reluctance to act we must

look into our tasks and goals and then identify thoughts,

and feelings associated with them that make us feel that way

Why is procrastination a problem

1-Lower our achievements, not achieving our goals, reaching our dreams

2-the Negative feelings we have lead us to more health problems 

procrastination makes us feel good at the beginning but

soon after this feeling

is replaced with negative feelings like guilt and disappointment

that will take over

Health problems that it leads to are:

1- stress which is not good for our mental and physical health as you know

2- delaying healthy activities such as eating healthy and

working out which will

impact our health in the long run

we have a finite time to live When we procrastinate we delay our lives and

in the pursuit of goals, and we find happiness

That’s why we need to have a deep commitment to begin to

address the cost of not doing each task and goal and then s

strengthen our goal intention

by recognizing the benefits of each goal and task 

what you need to know about procrastination

we tend to do it to avoid feeling negative feelings like feel frustration,

anger, boredom,resentfulness, depression, anxiety, guilt…etc

We want to feel good now so, we give in to this feeling to change our mood

task aversiveness. Aversive tasks are things that we all want to put off. They make us feel bad. We do not like doing these tasks. but we need to do it

Timothy A.Pychyl, PH.D/ Solving the procrastination puzzle book

By repeatedly engaging in feeling good and avoiding the task that evokes negative emotion

we enforce this behavior because we are rewarding this behavior that’s basic psychology

When you find yourself thinking/saying” I’ll do it later tomorrow” stop and

recognize what’s going on which is avoiding negative emotions

Then choose which emotion you will focus on after that acknowledge your emotions

eg, fear without becoming it 

learn to cope with negative emotions/regulate them

by becoming emotionally intelligent 

emotionally intelligent is the ability to effectively identify and utilize emotions to guide behavior

Timothy A.Pychyl, PH.D/ Solving the procrastination puzzle book

Why won’t you feel like it tomorrow

That’s one of our favorite excuses to procrastinate 

One factor for this is our human basis for affective forecasting

(a psychological term related to forecasting our mood on future events)

We have a bias to project our feelings now into our future actions whether positive

or negative we emphasize the present to predict the future 

without taking into consideration

the events that will happen that will affect our thoughts and feelings

We judge the future intention based on our state now and in this case, it is positive, why?

1-We feel good now because we are putting off the action

to the future we’re off the hook now

2- we imagine ourselves engaging in the future action that

we perceive will make us happy and we feel good about ourselves

Both contribute to the positive state

To avoid this here are 2 solutions:

1- make accurate time travel ie. imagine things as if they are happening now or

2-expect that you’d be wrong and deal with it through:

-Remind yourself that you don’t need to feel motivated

to act now so when your brain tries to procrastinate remember

“My current motivational state does not need to match my intention in order to act.” 

Then remind yourself of your goals after that just start

– if you choose to act tomorrow expect that you won’t feel good tomorrow

because it is the same task and will feel the same feeling unless

remember that your motivational state doesn’t need to match the task you’re getting started on

Let go of the misconception that our motivational state must match the task at hand.

In fact, social psychologists have demonstrated that attitudes follow behaviors more than (or at least as much as) behaviors follow attitudes. When you start to act on your intention as intended, you will see your attitude and motivation change. 

Timothy A.Pychyl, PH.D/ Solving the procrastination puzzle book

why we procrastinate (excuses )

taken from Solving the Procrastination Puzzle book by Timothy A.Pychyl, PH.D

1. discount future rewards in relation to short-term rewards,

our brains are primitive when looking for rewards meaning that

they prepare short-term immediate rewards over long-term rewards despite that it is better for us

because at the moment that’s more lucrutive

unless we work on it intentionally and remind ourselves

2. underestimate the time things will take and overestimate how much we can do,

this is a planning fallacy it’s an error in our thinking by human nature we are optimistic and

assume we can get more done in less time and assume tasks will take less time

3. prefer tomorrow over today,

because we think we will have more energy, we will feel good, we will have mo

you’re optimistic about what will happen while imaging yourself doing the task,

you are feeling good because you are off the hook now

4. self-handicap to protect self-esteem,

leaving working on the tasks to the last minute which will create a handicap

that you can use as an excuse

if you don’t do well it’s due to the short time you had to do the task and if

you did well that will make you feel great

in that way too you protect your self-esteem since it’s not you but the time

5. think irrationally about the task at hand and our ability to accomplish the task,

it’s due to certain beliefs and thoughts like you need to know everything before you start,

you believe you cannot make any mistakes, we think we need to be perfect,

or that our self-worth is dependent on our success in our careers

6. the task(s) evoke negative emotions

the task invokes negative emotions

like boredom, fear, frustration, resistance, or Anxiety which lead us to procrastinate

7. Manufacturing our happiness by changing our thinking to be consistent with our behavior.

when our actions and beliefs or when we have two conflicting beliefs

create cognitive dissonance occurs

which is uncomfortable and leads us to try to alleviate it through many things

The solution is to

1-start to become aware of these human biases especially your own 

2-Then use these excuses as stimuli for change

so, that every time you get triggered stop

and remind yourself that this is a form of self-deception, a bias in your thinking,

and we just get started on the task instead. 

Internet distractions and what you can do about it

Internet technologies and social communication apps

are designed to be addictive and that leads to procrastination

 for the following reasons

1- they are rewarding in themselves because they fulfill

a human need which is relatedness 

2-they are immediately rewarding the combination of rewarding

and immediate makes them addictive 

Which can undermine our best intentions

3-It’s a ready distraction that can easily pull us in since

it is built to capture our attention

through the push kind of feature where you have notifications for everything

also, it’s easy to get distracted especially when our task isn’t going well

which leads us to think “It will only take a moment …” and you know what happens after 

4- it prompts us to multitask but we can’t

 Humans have a very limited attentional channel.

We are better off focused on one thing at a time

The tragedy is that we deceive ourselves into thinking

that we are actually doing work

Strategies to help not procrastinate because of the internet

1-Manging distraction by shutting out everything that we don’t need and

only opening the program that we are working on,

disconnecting from social networks, shutting down the programs

that run in the background

that have the potential for distraction shut them off,

and plan your ebreaks consciously 

2-Use tools and apps that help regulate your internet use,

they can help with

understanding your behavior and

the length you spend on their internet

some of these tools or apps are digital calendar,timer app, montioring app

not necessary a blocking app only

( which doesn’t really help in permanent behavior change in my Experience)

3-Commit to change, how? look below for strategies in the How

to Beat Procrastination Tips section

4-Being aware of the fact that giving in to feeling good is

a big part of the reason for procrastination

awareness is key to change

the internet provides a lot of short-term and immediate rewards

that make you feel good 

With a click or two you’re away from a task you feel bad about

and you’re doing something to repair your mood

how to beat procrastination tips and strategies (5 ways)

1-just get started 

why is that helpful despite what you think or experienced(for some people at least)?

1- once we get started we find out that the task wasn’t

as bad as we thought and

might find it interesting and that we might think that

I’d do better if I had more time 

2-even if we didn’t finish the task we at least did something that gave us momentum,

we feel optimistic and in control 

Progress makes us happier And good emotions help us pursue our goals 

when you think about the following

“I’ll feel more like doing this tomorrow,”
“I work better under pressure,”
“There’s lots of time left,”
“I can do this in a few hours tonight”

Let these thoughts be a signal that you’re going to procrastinate and

that you need to just get started

Make pre-decisions to the excuse beforehand using the implantation intention 

implantation intention is a tool used in psychology to help you make

pre-decisions to certain situations and take on the form “if.., then..”

delegate the control over the initiation of our behavior to a specified situation

“if” is the stimulus for action. The “then” is the action itself.

example

If I say to myself things like “I’ll feel more like doing this later” or

“I don’t feel like doing this now,” THEN I will just get started on some aspect of the task.

Important not to use just do it to avoid overwhelm since the doing will sort itself out

when you start Just focus on the first step

why this solution of just getting started might get criticized?

because that’s your problem. You are not able to get started.

Not true. You think you are not able to get started, probably because you are

focused on your feelings (which are negative), and you are thinking about

the whole task, about “getting it done” as opposed to “getting started.”

The trick is to find something that you can get started on.

Keep it simple and concrete as possible

-More concrete plans and thoughts about your goals lead to taking action ie. getting started 

-Having mantras to help you get started like ” Take that first step. Just get started.

It can make all the difference. “A job begun is a job half done”;

and “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

to motivate you and guide you

2-prepare for distractions, setbacks, mood swings, and disappointments

by making pre-decisions that can take two forms

1-minimizing distractions beforehand

This strategy is for distractions and obstacles that you know and

can expect Make a list of them and

before you begin working get rid of them or

shut them off depending on what they are

2-  implementation intention 

If, then statements used to anticipate distraction that you can’t

remove from your environment or don’t have any control over 

(implantation intention is a tool used in psychology to help you make

pre-decisions to certain situations and take on the form “if.., then..”) the example above

3-change your limiting beliefs regarding how you work and what you can do

that includes any repeating thoughts that you have that

always cause you to procrastinate

once you become aware of them, challenge them,

find evidence for the opposite,

create new and believable thoughts to you, and practice them daily before you work

learn more about how to change your beliefs here

4-Commit to change 

review your goals weekly, make a plan and stick to it, understand the cost of inaction,

and strengthen your goal intention by knowing the benefits

(all of these you need to write them down)

aim to get better gradually,

don’t falsely fall into assuming that you will magically change

when you start it will take time

but keep at it until you become better to keep yourself in check

or it will sabotage your efforts

5- awareness of the cause of procrastination and working on changing them

using implementation intention and other tools is very important

Finally,

identify your own reasons for procrastination and work on overcoming them

start incorporating the tips one by one or choose what you want to use and use it

know that change isn’t easy and

it will require conscious effort to change our behavior and

make it into a habit routine 

Self-change is uneven We truly do feel like one day we leap ahead and

the next day we fall back

Your attitude toward these setbacks and yourself

will be extremely important to your continued progress.

We need to be kind to ourselves and willing to forgive ourselves

when we don’t live up to our expectations because that is what will help us change 

In doing so you’re removing the avoidness and can engage with the task again 

Think of it like this if you have a transgression with a friend

and if you or your friend didn’t offer forgiveness then you’d avoid each other

in the case of procrastination, it’s a transgression against the self and

we end up avoiding the task associated with the transgression and

forgiveness removes the avoidance of the task and we engage again with the task 

On our self-change journey,

we have to be prepared to forgive ourselves for our transgressions

so that we are willing to try again

what resonated with you and will you work on? comment your thoughts

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this post is the last one in start the Year Strong series

All of these posts have an aim to help you prepare for the new year and start the year strong

here is the list of all the articles in start the Year Strong series

check them out in case you’ve missed them

• How To Get Ready For The New Year
• How To Reflect On The Past Year
• How To Set Goals That Actually Work
• How To Make A Plan To Reach Your Goals
• How To Set And Build New Habits
• 3 Mindsets You Need To Succeed At Every Goal
• Can’t Get Myself Motivated? 3 Powerful Ways To Get Motivated
• How To Beat Procrastination Tips: 5 Strategies Based On Science

reference

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle book by Timothy A.Pychyl, PH.D

to your success

wafaa