7 scientifically proven ways to stop procrastination

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We are all prone to procrastination. We wake up with the idea of doing one important thing, and then we throw it over to tomorrow. And then the day after tomorrow. Or next week. Soon. So how do you stop this endless loop?

Before we move on to seven evidence-based ways to stop procrastination, it is important to understand a few fundamental principles to help you succeed in your endeavor.

Realize that you are procrastinating

It's hard to change your habits if you don't understand that you need it. That's why Alcoholics Anonymous meetings begin with the phrase "Hi, my name is Jim, and I'm an alcoholic."

Of course, we will not go that far, but for effective change, first of all, you need to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses.

Alarm bells indicating that you are a procrastinator:

• you do tasks with low priority all day long, do not take on complex and important tasks;
• you read your mail several times, but you do not reply to incoming messages and do not make decisions on how to work with them;
• sit down to start an important task, and after five minutes you are already running for a cup of coffee;
• tasks hang on your to-do list for a long time, even those that you consider important;
• Constantly agree to complete the simple tasks that your colleagues ask you to do, instead of first dealing with the important tasks that are already on your list;
• waiting for "special inspiration" or "the right time" to get down to business.

Get ready to change your approach

This brings us to the next principle: you need to be open to change.

Admitting that you are procrastinating is a great first step, but it will be completely useless until we start changing our approach. There are tons of tips on how to get rid of procrastination on the Internet, but remember to listen to yourself. If you feel overwhelmed, take small steps toward your goal. Or do not follow all the tips from our list in a row, but choose only those strategies that, in your opinion, will lead to the desired result. These may be strategies that you have not tried before, or ones that you have never heard of. Or heard, but constantly postponed for later.

Learn to enjoy the tasks at hand

To stop procrastination, we must first define for ourselves what it is.

In a nutshell, procrastination is putting off things you should be focusing on right now. But instead, you start doing something more enjoyable or uncomplicated.

If the reason we procrastinate is because doing other things is more enjoyable and comfortable for us, then we need to transform the tasks at hand into a more enjoyable and fun experience.

Now let's go deeper into the question. How do you stop procrastination?

1. Get ready in the evening

This simple life hack - planning your day - can save you from procrastination, and it takes less than five minutes to get ready.

1. Take a piece of paper and a pen.
2. Write down three things you did well today and three things you need to deal with tomorrow (be constructive, not pessimistic).
3. Below, write down one work completed today that has yielded the most value. And then write down an equally important one thing for tomorrow.

2. Find your one thing

Research suggests that analytic paralysis - the allocation of disproportionate effort during the project analysis phase - is the number one cause of procrastination.

But if you focus on one important task and devote the whole day to working on it, then the efficiency will increase significantly.

What if you cannot decide what is the most important thing for you right now? Tim Ferriss's simple algorithm can help with this:

1. Write down 3-5 things you don't feel like doing or are worried about. Usually the tasks you want to give up are actually the most important ones.

2. Consider each task and ask yourself:

• "If I complete the task today, will I be happy with this day?"
• "Should I tackle this task, even if it's easier to complete all the other unimportant tasks on the task list?"

3. Take another look at the tasks to which you answered “yes”. Plan for as long as it takes to complete one of these tasks today. But not more than one.

If you continue to be distracted, inevitably return to that very one thing - this will return you to the right mindset.

3. Break up

Think back to how you got started learning something new or started a big project. You are most likely familiar with the feeling of heaviness that usually accompanies this.

Our brain is naturally incapable of immediately linking the result and prolonged stress, especially if we are far from the set goal. Often we are faced with inner doubts, and in the first place it is fear that prevents us from starting.

Break the case into pieces and do it one at a time.

For example, your goal is to learn a new language in 90 days, and you are even scared to think about it. But you can break it down into parts: every morning, devote 60 minutes to learning the language and memorize 30 commonly used words. By the end of this period, you will have memorized 2,700 words.

According to the data, 80% of events can be described using 2,900 words of any language, which means that you will achieve your initial goal of being fluent.

The trick is to think less and break things down into small steps until you get rid of the fear of starting.

4. Say no

New tasks and tasks appear constantly. Maybe your boss asks you for a completed report or a client asks for help - the list is endless. But you must be able to say "no" to those things that do not help you move towards your goal.

To effectively manage your time, you should use a well-known method - the Eisenhower matrix.

	Do not rush	Urgently
Important	2: preparation, planning, protective measures, relationship building, personal development	1: crisis, current problems, deadlines, meetings
No matter	4: additional information, phone calls, a waste of time	3: delays, some letters, normal activities

»

Action plan for each of the sectors:

1. Urgent and important. Do this immediately.
2. Important but not urgent. Decide when you will do it.
3. Urgent, but not important. Delegate.
4. Not urgent and not important. Leave it for later.

To make the most of most of your time, set aside a few hours a day for Sector 2 affairs.

Work is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination. Gretchen Rubin author of The Happiness Project

5. Take care of yourself

The biggest reason for procrastination is lack of motivation. And to increase the level of motivation, it is enough just to take care of yourself.

Sleep, eating healthy, and exercising regularly will help you stay healthy. Unfortunately, this simplest advice is still the most difficult for most people. Sleep deprivation and procrastination can become one continuous cycle, according to the Medical Daily. Due to the development of technology and the availability of entertainment, we often postpone sleep for later and, as a result, do not get enough sleep. This leads to decreased motivation and further procrastination, and this continues over and over …

The quick fix: Exercise throughout the day, at least exercise, will prepare your body for rest. And avoid any gadgets two to three hours before bed, so as not to overload your head.

6. Forgive yourself

Let's face it. We are all human, and we are all imperfect. So should you berate yourself for procrastination?

A study was conducted at Carleton University among students who took final exams. As a result, it turned out that the ability to forgive yourself for putting things off for later leads to less procrastination in a similar situation in the future. This is because the link between self-forgiveness and procrastination is mediated by negative effects. Self-forgiveness helps stop procrastination by replacing negative emotions.

The next time you find yourself procrastinating, forgive yourself and move on.

We do not forgive for the sake of other people. We forgive for our own sake in order to move on.

7. Just get started

There's a very popular way in the television industry to keep us watching a show - an unexpected twist at the end. You probably remember moments like “tomorrow you will find out how it all ended”.

TV people do this because they know that we are simply killed by what we started but did not finish. If we started a business - watching a TV show, learning a language, a new project at work - the task will not get out of our heads until we finish it. In psychology, this condition is called the Zeigarnik effect.

Procrastination only intensifies before starting a business, especially if we don't know how and where to start. However, when completing a task, our perception, attitude towards it changes, and by the end we can even enjoy the work that we initially feared.

The Zeigarnik Effect proves that you just need to start from anywhere in order to use your weakness (or strength) of your natural inclination to follow through.