Overcome Procrastination and Increase Productivity
Have you ever felt bad about not finishing important tasks on time? Maybe you wish you hadn't spent so much time doing other things and had focused on what was really important. This can make you feel like you're not doing well and always worried. You might even feel like you don't want to do anything at all. If you've felt this way, this blog is for you. You might be dealing with something called procrastination.
In this blog, let's talk about what procrastination is, why we do it, and how we can try to stop doing it on purpose.
In this blog, let's talk about what procrastination is, why we do it, and how we can try to stop doing it on purpose.
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is something that many of us deal with. It's so common that sometimes we don't even realize we're doing it in our daily lives. This behavior has been around for a long time—so long that even ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle noticed it and called it "Akrasia."
Procrastination is a challenge that is faced by all of us. It is so common that most of us don’t notice that we are doing it in our daily lives. It has been with humans since ages, this phenomenon is so old that Greek philosophers Socrates and Aristotle gave this behaviour a name Akrasia.
If we give procrastination a definition, it will be “ Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks or actions that need to be accomplished, often despite knowing that this delay will lead to negative consequences. It involves putting off important tasks in favor of less urgent, more enjoyable, or less demanding activities.”
Procrastination is a challenge that is faced by all of us. It is so common that most of us don’t notice that we are doing it in our daily lives. It has been with humans since ages, this phenomenon is so old that Greek philosophers Socrates and Aristotle gave this behaviour a name Akrasia.
If we give procrastination a definition, it will be “ Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks or actions that need to be accomplished, often despite knowing that this delay will lead to negative consequences. It involves putting off important tasks in favor of less urgent, more enjoyable, or less demanding activities.”
What is procrastination? (5 year old version):
And as they ask, how do you explain it to a 5 year old:
Procrastination is when you keep putting off doing something that you need to do. Instead of doing it right away, you might choose to play or do something fun first. But then, the important thing you need to do gets delayed until later, and sometimes it doesn't get done on time. It's like saying, "I'll do it later," even though you know you should do it now.
And as they ask, how do you explain it to a 5 year old:
Procrastination is when you keep putting off doing something that you need to do. Instead of doing it right away, you might choose to play or do something fun first. But then, the important thing you need to do gets delayed until later, and sometimes it doesn't get done on time. It's like saying, "I'll do it later," even though you know you should do it now.
Why do we procrastinate? (The science behind):
Understanding the science behind why we do things can give us a clearer picture of how to change or improve them. In behavioral science, there's a concept called "time inconsistency" that helps explain why we procrastinate. Time inconsistency shows that as humans, we often prefer immediate rewards over future rewards. This tendency is why we sometimes put off important tasks even though we have good intentions.
Think of it like a battle between two versions of yourself: your present self and your future self. When you make plans like saving money or eating healthier, you're thinking about benefiting your future self in the long run. It feels good to think about those long-term benefits.
However, when it's time to act on those plans, your present self might prioritize immediate rewards instead. Your present self craves instant gratification and may choose something like eating a donut over sticking to a healthy diet, because the negative consequences like obesity or diabetes seem far off in the future.
This conflict between our present and future selves is why we can feel excited and motivated when planning things at night, but struggle to follow through in the morning.
The reason behind it is how the human brain has evolved in years. Human brain evolved in the immediate return environment, not in the delayed return environment. For example as early humans you lived in a forest and saw a predator, you ran, you hid, you were safe and your anxiety was gone. This is an immediate return environment.
But with present humans we are required to live in a delayed return environment. You work the entire year to see the final grades in school. You are required to live in uncertainty since childhood. This is where our brain evolution gets a conflict with the present environment of delayed returns. This causes anxiety and stress.
So, despite knowing what's good for us or what needs to be done, our brains are wired to prioritize short-term rewards. This tendency can lead to procrastination and feelings of guilt later on. Understanding this can help us find strategies to overcome procrastination and make better choices for our future selves.
Think of it like a battle between two versions of yourself: your present self and your future self. When you make plans like saving money or eating healthier, you're thinking about benefiting your future self in the long run. It feels good to think about those long-term benefits.
However, when it's time to act on those plans, your present self might prioritize immediate rewards instead. Your present self craves instant gratification and may choose something like eating a donut over sticking to a healthy diet, because the negative consequences like obesity or diabetes seem far off in the future.
This conflict between our present and future selves is why we can feel excited and motivated when planning things at night, but struggle to follow through in the morning.
The reason behind it is how the human brain has evolved in years. Human brain evolved in the immediate return environment, not in the delayed return environment. For example as early humans you lived in a forest and saw a predator, you ran, you hid, you were safe and your anxiety was gone. This is an immediate return environment.
But with present humans we are required to live in a delayed return environment. You work the entire year to see the final grades in school. You are required to live in uncertainty since childhood. This is where our brain evolution gets a conflict with the present environment of delayed returns. This causes anxiety and stress.
So, despite knowing what's good for us or what needs to be done, our brains are wired to prioritize short-term rewards. This tendency can lead to procrastination and feelings of guilt later on. Understanding this can help us find strategies to overcome procrastination and make better choices for our future selves.
How to stop procrastination?
Based on the example above, it's evident that our future self has good intentions, but our present self is the one facing the struggle. So, the key culprit here is our present self. How do we train our present self to take more action and do so consistently until it becomes a habit?
To combat procrastination, we can't rely solely on long-term rewards and consequences to motivate our present self. Instead, we need to bring these future consequences closer to our present self. This means making future consequences feel like present consequences.
The Procrastination-Action Line:
In the diagram below, you can see how pain decreases immediately after you take action.
Let's use a real-life example to illustrate this concept. Imagine you have a report to write that's due tomorrow, but you've been putting it off for a week. As the deadline approaches, the consequences of not completing the report shift from being future consequences (which felt distant and easy to ignore) to present consequences. The pain of procrastination intensifies, pushing you to finally start and complete the report just before the deadline.
To combat procrastination, we can't rely solely on long-term rewards and consequences to motivate our present self. Instead, we need to bring these future consequences closer to our present self. This means making future consequences feel like present consequences.
The Procrastination-Action Line:
In the diagram below, you can see how pain decreases immediately after you take action.
Let's use a real-life example to illustrate this concept. Imagine you have a report to write that's due tomorrow, but you've been putting it off for a week. As the deadline approaches, the consequences of not completing the report shift from being future consequences (which felt distant and easy to ignore) to present consequences. The pain of procrastination intensifies, pushing you to finally start and complete the report just before the deadline.
What's important to understand is that once you cross the action line and start working, the pain and guilt of procrastination lessen significantly. Often, the difficulty lies not in doing the work itself, but in starting it. Once you begin, you might find that the task is easier than anticipated, and you wonder why you waited so long.
Therefore, the key is to make starting the work as easy as possible for your Present Self. Convince yourself that once you begin, motivation and momentum will naturally follow.
Therefore, the key is to make starting the work as easy as possible for your Present Self. Convince yourself that once you begin, motivation and momentum will naturally follow.
Proven strategies to overcome procrastination:
Now, let's talk about how we can kind of pamper our present self to take actions for our future self.
1.Temptation Bundling: (The more immediate you take action, the more rewarding it will be)
This is a simple way to teach your present self about the immediate rewards of the present actions and then bundle those present actions with something that your present self loves and find rewarding.
For example you love watching a show (a thing your present self loves) but you bundle this action with another action that your future self loves but present self keeps procrastinating. (ironing clothes). Then the rule will be you will only watch your favourite show while ironing clothes.
If you make this bundle as a rule, then it’s like killing two sparrows with one arrow. Your present self got an instant gratification with watching the show and your future self got the action towards being more organised.
And it's really simple just bundle the thing you love with the thing you procrastinate.
2.Make the cost of procrastination more immediate:
Teach your present self that not taking an action towards your future self incur a cost but that cost should be more immediate and tangible. For example you wake up every morning to go for a walk but if you skip one day, the cost of this procrastination will not be immediate, it will affect your health like in next 5-10 years but if you tie up your walk with a friend and then you miss the walk, the cost of procrastination is more immediate that the next morning you made your friend upset.
Another example is committing money, using paid gym services, buying paid subscriptions. Losing money and not acting on it is the immediate cost of procrastination that your present self can see and act upon.
3.Commitment device:
Commitment device is the strategy where you design your future actions ahead of time to stop procrastination.
Simplest example is buying smaller packets of junk food than bulk packets to design your future action of eating junk. Removing social media apps, games from your phone to design your future action of wasting time on the phone.
4.Smaller tasks, more immediate rewards:
In the procrastination action line, we saw that it's often hard to start the work rather than doing the work. So, how about we make starting the task super simple and short. We can start with a 2-minute rule that any habit of small change that we need in our life should not take more than 2 minutes. It means that you reduce the size of your habits that makes them easy to start and hard to procrastinate for your present self.
Another reason behind this is that smaller habits make it easier to see your progress day by day and set up momentum for your future actions. Seeing your progress makes you feel more motivated to work forward.
Another way to harness this power is to break down your bigger tasks into smaller ones and then perform them consistently. Smaller tasks give your present self a quick boost and doing them consistently helps your future self in the longer term.
Visual cues also play an important role here. If you see your progress visually like in a calendar or some app where you are keeping a track of your habits or progress it improves your productivity level and boosts a positive attitude towards work and life. You feel more accomplished and worthy.
1.Temptation Bundling: (The more immediate you take action, the more rewarding it will be)
This is a simple way to teach your present self about the immediate rewards of the present actions and then bundle those present actions with something that your present self loves and find rewarding.
For example you love watching a show (a thing your present self loves) but you bundle this action with another action that your future self loves but present self keeps procrastinating. (ironing clothes). Then the rule will be you will only watch your favourite show while ironing clothes.
If you make this bundle as a rule, then it’s like killing two sparrows with one arrow. Your present self got an instant gratification with watching the show and your future self got the action towards being more organised.
And it's really simple just bundle the thing you love with the thing you procrastinate.
2.Make the cost of procrastination more immediate:
Teach your present self that not taking an action towards your future self incur a cost but that cost should be more immediate and tangible. For example you wake up every morning to go for a walk but if you skip one day, the cost of this procrastination will not be immediate, it will affect your health like in next 5-10 years but if you tie up your walk with a friend and then you miss the walk, the cost of procrastination is more immediate that the next morning you made your friend upset.
Another example is committing money, using paid gym services, buying paid subscriptions. Losing money and not acting on it is the immediate cost of procrastination that your present self can see and act upon.
3.Commitment device:
Commitment device is the strategy where you design your future actions ahead of time to stop procrastination.
Simplest example is buying smaller packets of junk food than bulk packets to design your future action of eating junk. Removing social media apps, games from your phone to design your future action of wasting time on the phone.
4.Smaller tasks, more immediate rewards:
In the procrastination action line, we saw that it's often hard to start the work rather than doing the work. So, how about we make starting the task super simple and short. We can start with a 2-minute rule that any habit of small change that we need in our life should not take more than 2 minutes. It means that you reduce the size of your habits that makes them easy to start and hard to procrastinate for your present self.
Another reason behind this is that smaller habits make it easier to see your progress day by day and set up momentum for your future actions. Seeing your progress makes you feel more motivated to work forward.
Another way to harness this power is to break down your bigger tasks into smaller ones and then perform them consistently. Smaller tasks give your present self a quick boost and doing them consistently helps your future self in the longer term.
Visual cues also play an important role here. If you see your progress visually like in a calendar or some app where you are keeping a track of your habits or progress it improves your productivity level and boosts a positive attitude towards work and life. You feel more accomplished and worthy.
We hope you discover insights into why procrastination occurs, the science behind it, and effective strategies to overcome it. At Stamina AI blog, we focus on sharing straightforward life strategies to combat mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and procrastination. Stay tuned for more.
