This is my procrastination playbook that I use when I notice that I'm putting things off and not very productive. It's a reference tool of everything I've learned over the years to beat procrastination.
Symptoms to look out for
- Chronic delaying - putting off starting new tasks, waiting until the last minute. Sometimes becomes a regular pattern. Scope creep!
- Avoidance of unpleasant tasks - avoiding tasks that seem unpleasant, unclear,, uncertain, overwhelming, boring or stressful. Work can stack up.
- Poor time management - difficulty planning, leading to a sense of chaos or last-minute rush. Underestimate time needed for a task.
- Frequent distractions - Frequently distracted by less important activities, browsing social media, watching TV or YouTube. Can lead to continuously interrupting work.
- Feelings of anxiety / guilt - feel anxiety or guilt about putting items off which can further demotivate you.
- Difficulty concentrating - you find it hard to concentrate or maintain focus.
Causes
- Lack of clarity - lack of plan, unclear on full picture, not really sure what to do next.
- Uncertain reward - you feel that the work could all be for nothing
- Fear - You have fear of judgment, success, failure, of being exposed as in imposter, letting people down amongst other things.
- Out of practice - You haven't been productive for a while (you're out of the habit)
- Overwhelm - The task in hand is so large that you can't see the end of it
- Unengaged - you're unclear on why you're doing it. The task is boring for you.
- Poor state - low energy, lethargic, feeling lazy, can't be bothered.
Tactics to Get Back on Track
Why?
First step is introspection and awareness. Can you pin point why you're feeling such resistance? How do you feel when imagining yourself doing the task?
Procrastination Busting Tactics and Truths
These points below can help you understand what procrastination is, why it's occurring and give you some things to try to get you back on track.
Procrastination, just like most things in self development, truly is subjective. What works for me, likely won't work for you, so pick the tool that reaches you.
- Getting started is the hardest part - The initial resistance to sit down and get started is often the hardest point. After 10-20 minutes you'll notice that things get easier. So the challenge is to make yourself get started and push through that initial hardship.
- High performers feel the same way - nobody is always motivated all the time. High performers feel the resistance and do it anyway.
- Act your way into thinking - I've found that action precedes thought. Just get started and build motivation from momentum. The best way to get back into the gym after a layoff is not to think about going to the gym, it's to just get that first session done. Act your way into thinking rather than think your way into action.
- Small, quick wins to get started - one of the easiest ways to just get started is to set a super small first goal. Example:- when doing my tax return, my first task was to literally just download all my bank statements from my online banking. That was it. It only took me 10 minutes, but it was a quick win. I felt better, and the next day my bank statements were staring at me on my desktop, ready for my next step. Anything you can do to get started is a step in the right direction.
- Get your day off to a flier - Brian Tracey calls this "Eat that frog". Get the most important and hardest thing done first. Pay attention to the first thing you do in a day - it can often set the precedent for what follows.
- Build momentum and track successes - Once you've got started, the next step is to build momentum and make it habitual. Track your successes using visual reminders of your momentum.
- Focus on process vs outcome - This is especially effective if your procrastination is due to being overwhelmed by the size of the task in hand (writing your dissertation, for example). The key is to set process oriented goals. Focus on writing for 2 hours each day and trust the result will take care of itself. Thinking about writing a 150 page dissertation can paralyze you, but writing for 2 hours each day is perfectly manageable.
- Feel the fear and do it anyway - understand that overcoming fear is a key common differentiating factor for many of the most successful people in modern day society. The honest truth is:- people don't care that much about you, what you do doesn't really matter, you'll survive. It's ok to feel afraid, but it's not OK to be ruled by it. You can also lower the diving board.
- State, story, strategy - Originally espoused by Tony Robins but I learned about this from Tim Ferriss. Approaching resistance from a low energy state can be detrimental - a poor state leads to poor feelings and emotions which ultimately leads to a poor strategy. Your goal is to find whatever "firing up" routine works for you to get you going when you're feeling down. It could be ice baths, saunas, exercise, coffee. This is actually something that I'm currently working on implementing (I'll report back with results here).
- Streamline your environment - this is mostly just common sense. Make your environment work in your favor as opposed to against you.
- What kind of person are you? - have you thought about what you value and what kind of person you are? How would that person react to facing resistance? You do hard things because that's the type of person you are. Having a strong identity is one of the most powerful ways of preventing yourself from caving to your emotions.
- "Your work is too important to be left to how you feel today" - my favorite quote Seth Godin in his book called "The Practice - Shipping Creative Work". Procrastination is, by its very nature, succumbing to your weaker emotions. Productivity is finding a system to rally against that tendency. It's the one simple rule for acing life.
Final Thoughts
This playbook is far from complete.
I'll revise and add to it over time as my thinking evolves and I learn new techniques that work.
Comment below if you have any techniques that are worthy of a mention.