A Chronic Procrastinator’s Guide to Getting Things Done
Let’s face it, everyone puts off a task or two every once in a while, and that is completely normal — dare I say, even healthy. We all have the right to slow down if we feel like we need to. However, being a chronic procrastinator is much more than just taking a day or two off to replenish your energy.
“Everyone procrastinates, but not everyone is a procrastinator.” — Joseph Ferrari
Being a chronic procrastinator is putting off tasks every day without a good reason to do so, for a long period of time. It is neglecting even the most basic things — such as taking a shower — because we just don’t want to bother getting out of bed and taking our clothes off if no one is going to be smelling us anytime soon — no one we care about at least.
Now, putting off taking showers is one thing, but sometimes procrastination can lead you to make decisions that may negatively affect your life in a significant way.
Case in point: I was thrown out of college after 3 years because I procrastinated studying for my finals and didn’t even bother to show up.
The reason? I wish I had a good one. All I can say is I remember feeling so tired I just wanted to stay home and sleep all day, which I ultimately did because I knew I would be able to retake my tests on a later date if I came up with a good enough excuse for my teachers.
As fate would have it, rules at my university had changed not too long ago, and retaking tests wasn’t an option anymore. Needless to say, I failed 3 classes, and with that, my journey in that university ended.
As relieving as it felt at the moment to just stay in my warm, cozy bed and sleep through the day, at the end of the day I didn’t feel good about myself — at all.
Not to mention I wasn’t able to sleep well in several months because of the anxiety and stress that was caused by losing my chance at college — and all for what? An extra day of doing nothing that didn’t generate anything positive for me.
I wish I could say that after that experience I never procrastinated anymore, but procrastination — especially chronic procrastination — is an uphill battle against yourself that needs to be fought every day.
Ever since that day I have been working to improve myself and, throughout my journey, I’ve learned a few things that have worked for me in the process and I’d like to share them with you:
Organization is key.
I know you’re eager to get things done ASAP and probably obsessed over being “productive” — after all, that’s what everyone is talking about these days. But let’s slow down and take it step by step.
If you have 20 tasks to do but don’t have time to squeeze them all in just one week, write them down in a piece of paper and decide which of those 20 are more urgent.
Now all that’s left is for you to decide which day of the week you want to designate for each task. Sounds simple, right?
Unfortunately, for chronic procrastinators even 5 tasks a week sound impossible. We are perfectly capable of organizing our week, but putting in the work to get those tasks done is the hardest part. Stress is our worst enemy and comfort is a priority.
What I found worked pretty well for me was grabbing the most difficult tasks I had in the week and divided them into parts. I would designate one day for working on the first part, then another day for the second part, and so on.
It isn’t ideal if you have a deadline, but the main idea behind this is to trick your chronic procrastinator brain into thinking you don’t have to do all the work in one day.
Sometimes, after I started working on one part, I’d find myself working on the next parts of a task on the very same day. The hardest part is starting and getting things done will seem less scary if you go one step at a time — divide and conquer!
Delegating is good.
There’s no shame in asking for help.
Sometimes people procrastinate because they just have too much on their plates and by trying to do everything single-handedly they end up feeling burned out.
No one is going to think any less of you if you ask for a hand. It is important that we learn to make peace with the fact that we are not robots and we need some time to replenish energy and unwind.
This is especially important if you are just starting your journey of leaving procrastination behind. We can’t just go from 0 to 100 in a day and expect it to last.
Overthinking is the enemy.
Your alarm goes off. You have just woken up and you’re already tired. You grab your phone and check social media for a while, laugh at a few memes, reply to some messages, and then, inevitably, you start thinking about the day you have ahead of yourself.
Our brain is our worst enemy when it comes to leaving procrastination behind — it always has something to say. I imagine mine going something like this:
“I know you have stuff planned for today…but have you looked outside? It’s raining! We don’t have to get up and leave the warmth and safety of these sheets”
“What’s that? You want to take a shower? But have you thought this through? Do you really want to get off your warm, cozy pajamas and get all wet and cold?”
“I think we’re better off just staying here and watching Netflix, you can push everything for later, no one will notice”
It is perfectly normal to think before we do something and to evaluate the pros and cons of doing a certain task, but when every aspect has been already covered and you’re still thinking about it, you’re already overthinking and that is counterproductive.
The more we think about something and the efforts we will have to do to get a specific task done, the less we feel like doing it.
From one procrastinator to another: don’t think, just do. Give yourself 10 seconds to prepare for whatever you are about to do and when the time is up, do it — it won’t be as bad as you think.
Eliminate distractions.
As a chronic procrastinator, you will constantly try to find any and every excuse in the book to put off a task.
That buzzing sound your phone makes followed by “I’ll just check this message real quick and get back to work” can quickly turn into “wow, I didn’t know aliens had 20 fingers instead of 10”.
Phones are the biggest distractions and one of the worst enemies for a chronic procrastinator.
I know it’s hard, but putting your phone as far away as possible from your workspace is the best thing you can do for yourself. If you can leave it in another room or put it in a safety box, do it.
If you’re expecting a call, set the volume as high as you can so you can hear it from your desk, but don’t just leave it within reach, because you will feel the temptation to grab it.
Also, tell your family and friends that you are trying to fight procrastination and ask them not to text or contact you — unless it’s urgent — during the times you’re planning to work. This will also help you minimize distractions during the day.
Don’t overwork yourself.
As much as we would like to get things done as quickly as possible so we can go on with our day, working 7 hours non-stop is the opposite of ideal, especially as a chronic procrastinator.
The quality of your work will suffer and, at the end of a long day, instead of a special prize for overworking yourself you will only find a badge for “burnt out worker of the month”.
There are several time management techniques to ensure you have a smooth workday and avoid burn out syndrome as much as possible. One of the most popular ones I’ve seen lately is the Pomodoro Technique.
This technique basically consists of dividing a certain task into 25-minute blocks, and after each block, you get to take a 5-minute break. Also, after 4 blocks you may increase break time up to 20 minutes.
This has proven to be a remarkably successful technique in people who are trying to increase their productivity. However, this might not work with chronic procrastinators — it sure as hell did not work for me.
I found that a 5-minute break just wasn’t enough for me. I’d try and commit to respecting those 5 minutes, but sometimes I found myself indulging in 30-minute breaks which ultimately ended up ruining the whole Pomodoro experience for me.
The truth is, a 5-minute break every 25 minutes is actually healthy and should be enough time for the regular person, but in a chronic procrastinator’s brain, a 5-minute break is perceived as too little.
“If you don’t want to do something, make a deal with yourself to do at least five minutes of it. After five minutes, you’ll end up doing the whole thing.” — Kevin Systrom
In order for me to actually start getting things done, I had to do just that.
I started working on each task in 5-minute blocks. This way, I tricked my brain into thinking I would have all this free time because I’d just be putting in effort for 5 minutes and then take breaks for as long as I wanted to.
The idea behind this logic is to get yourself used to working on things. Once you start something you will find it less scary.
Repeat this process every day and each time you will find yourself working for longer periods of time without stressing over the amount of work you have to put in to achieve something.
Your mind will get used to doing things for longer intervals and eventually you will be able to apply one of those time management techniques without failing in the process.
Commit to finishing what you started.
Commitment and persistence are the magic words when you want to get things done.
Forming the habit of doing things when you say you will is not something that will happen overnight, especially if you’ve been procrastinating for several years.
It will be hard at first and you most likely will find many bumps in the process, but there will come a day in which you’ll realize that you are doing more and thinking less, even if you’re still putting off a task or two, you will notice that you’re getting more work done and not sabotaging yourself anymore.
If you find yourself throwing the towel every now and then, know that this is perfectly normal. Do not push yourself to have a perfect week, especially if you are just getting started in changing your procrastination habit.
Old habits die hard, but they die eventually. You’ve made it this far, don’t let that effort be for nothing.