How to Stop Procrastinating So Much
BY JEB FOSTERStep # 1
Accept the fact that you'll never totally eliminate your tendency to procrastinate. Focus on reduction instead of abolition.
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A lot of procrastinators are perfectionists who put things off out of fear of failure-failure that the end product won't live up to expectations. Lower those expectations. |
Step # 2
Assess the scale of the problem. Take this test offered by the Haskayne' School of Business, in Canada.
Step # 3
When faced with the temptation to do things other than work, take a moment (not too long now!) to imagine yourself completing your to-do list. "[W]e need to find a way to either bring future benefits closer to the present or to magnify the costs of delayed action," Ray Fisman, professor at Columbia Business School, wrote in Slate recently. "One way to bring the ultimate fruits of your long-term efforts forward to the here and now is by visualizing the sense of relief, happiness, and satisfaction that will ultimately come from a job well done (a pat on the back from the boss, perhaps coupled with fantasies of the promotion and pay raise that will surely follow)."
Step # 4
Go easy on yourself, and don't let perfection get in the way of getting things done. A lot of procrastinators out there are perfectionists who put things off out of fear of failure-failure that the end product won't live up to expectations. Lower those expectations.
Step # 5
Reward yourself. This may seem counter-intuitive, but psychologists and animal trainers get it: Rewards reinforce and serve to perpetuate good behavior.
Step # 6
Take it from Bruce Lee, productivity master.
(Quotes courtesy of 43 Folders, an excellent productivity blog to read when you're procrastinating.)It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.
If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.
If you want to improve your life then it's tempting to want to add more.
...Removing clutter and activities, tasks and thoughts that are not so important frees up time and energy for you to do more of what you really want to do. And as the clutter in your outer world decreases the clutter in your inner world also has a tendency to decrease....
Adding more thoughts and thinking things over for the 111th time may create a sense of security. It's also a good way to procrastinate and to avoid taking that leap you know you should take. And the more you think, the harder it gets to act.
Step # 7
Get lost. Stop reading this article and go cross something off your to-do list!
Step # 8
Break things down. Here's a great anecdote from Anne Lamont, author of the book "Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life":
Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's schoulder and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"
This principle applies to everything, not just writing. Big projects are simply the sum of a lot of small, manageable tasks. A mountaineer climbing a high Himalayan peak takes one small step after another …
Step # 9
Write a letter. This is Merlin Mann's (creator of 43 Folders) idea, and it's brilliant for people who procrastinate because a thorny problem stands in the way of taking decisive action. Write the letter to the smartest, busiest person you know, "[concentrating] on coolly describing exactly what you want to accomplish … Next, explain the ways you've already tried to solve this problem, including any alternate solutions, workarounds, hacks, reboots, etc. Anything that will help this very smart friend rule out possible causes is useful. And don't be reluctant to use Google as you go; fact-checking yourself, choosing precise language, and ensuring that you've framed the right problem."
The point? Mann has usually found that about midway through describing his problem and his attempts solve it, the light goes on: Eureka! "Alan Watts once wrote that once we understand a problem we've actually solved it - that you make a dark room brighter by adding light, not by waving your arms around."
Step # 10
Write a did-do list. Unlike laid-back Europe, where it has a certain literary cachet, procrastination carries with it a certain stigma. With that stigma comes, unfortunately, shame. Shame is a great motivator for some, but for others, it results in debilitating personal anguish, which has the effect of actually lowering productivity. So, writing a did-do list is a handy way to shake some of that shame, raise your self-esteem, and free up your brain for solving problems and getting things done. Plus, a did-do list tells yourself, Hey, I got stuff down before, so there's no reason I can't do it again. Optimism begets action. A feeling of productivity generates real-life productivity.
