How To Beat The Psychology Behind Procrastination
Understanding the psychology behind procrastination and alter your mindset. Written by a real old “Procrastinator”.
Procrastination is trouble convincing yourself to do things that you have to do or would like to do. Postponing is an easy escape, and you can become addicted to it.
When you procrastinate, the essential loss is your time because people prefer to do useless things instead of taking necessary actions.
But the reality is we have limited time. Why do you waste it generously?
While you are postponing a task, your ego is responsible for justifying your decision by producing excuses. Your brain is trying to convince you that you are doing right.
Therefore, we need to scrutinize, “Why is it arduous to start a task for us?”
Procrastination is a habit, and to eliminate it won’t be quick, but some steps may diminish its frequency. Before starting, let’s understand the psychology behind procrastination.
There are countless reasons and excuses to procrastinate.
Here is my list:
1. Lack of self-discipline, as we should have learned from our childhood, is a great struggle for us.
According to the Forbes article, there is a study by Wilhelm Hoffman, which discovers that self-disciplined subjects were more capable of dealing with goal conflicts.
On the bright side, self-discipline is a learned behavior. It requires practice and daily repetition.
Based on the study to boost your self-discipline, I want to share my favorite three proven methods for gaining better control.
- “Remove temptations.”
Removing all distractions from your working environment is a crucial first step.
“If you want to improve your focus while working, turn off your cell phone and remove the clutter from your desk. If you’re really having trouble, download the SelfControl app on your computer to block distraction websites — Facebook, Youtube, even e-mail — for a set period of time. Set yourself up for success by ditching the bad influences.”
- “Eat regularly and healthily.”
“An empty stomach is not a good political adviser. “
- Albert Einstein
Studies have shown that blood sugar levels have an essential impact on decision-making skills. Spare no consumes sugary food, and regular alcohol usage undulates blood sugar level. Having a healthy diet makes us more optimistic and energetic. Instead of consuming convenience food, choosing our snacks from fresh fruit or nuts provide healthy protein and fats.
- “Don’t wait for it to -feel right-”
There is no right time to start a new habit since it is hard to break bad and old ones. Build a new practice is disturbing to your comfort zone, but to improve self-discipline, you need to make an active decision.
To overcome the lack of self-discipline, read self-help books, or listen to podcasts to stimulate and increase your awareness. Try to find the best way that fits your daily routine.
2. Wrong motivation leads us to deviate from our focus.
There is a theory known as the “Goal-setting theory of motivation” developed by Edwin Locke in 1960. This theory states that
“goal setting is essentially linked to task performance. It states that specific and challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task performance”.
It sounds promising, however false motivation and wrongly set goals create early exhaustion if the action does not feed your mood on the way. In general, we tend to achieve big goals in a short time.
Focusing on the final product/goal may intimidate you at the beginning. Therefore, the divide-and-conquer policy is an effective solution at least to start your task, and baby steps can move you forward.
3. Fear of failure is de-motivating.
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new” by Albert Einstein.
It is one of my favorite Einstein quotes. We are afraid of making mistakes, and instead of step in, we cultivate anxiety and negative emotions. But you are stealing from your potential, and it is challenging to display excellent performance in a negative state of mind.
“The greatest mistake man can ever make is to be afraid of making one.” — by Elbert Hubbard
Try to forgive yourself when you experience failure. Improve your mindful self-compassion. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes because it feels good to know that at least you tried.
4. Not being satisfied with your conditions is a common excuse to procrastinate.
These are my pretexts:
- I want to start a new article, but my desk is messy.
- I want to practice yoga, but the floor is not clean enough.
- I want to read a book, but the home is not quiet.
- I want to go for a walk, but the weather looks rainy.
I don’t need to write anymore. You get the logic.
If you believe the above excuses are facts, then eliminate them. Tidy your desk, mop up the floor, find a peaceful place to read, and wear your raincoat.
Another widespread complaint of procrastinators is they have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, they complicate things and prefer to procrastinate because they can’t decide on what to start first.
5. How do you choose what to start on if you seesaw between two options?
At this point, I want to mention Fredkin’s paradox, which might be helpful for decision making. Fredkin stated that:
“The more equally-attractive two alternatives seem, the harder it can be to choose between them — no matter that, to the same degree, the choice can only matter less.”
So, you don’t need to rack your brains — just choose one thing you need to do and do it.
Furthermore, how long can you delay your actions? An hour, a day, a week?
As delay time gets longer, it is time to question yourself.
How passionate are you about what you need to do? Do you sincerely enjoy it
It can be enlightening to answer the above questions.
Be uncomfortably honest to yourself. If you do not get pleasure from doing something, it is tough to start and maintain it because it will feel like an obligation for you.
To stop procrastination, try different actions to change your angle.
But how do you change your perspective? Here’s some advice to consider:
- Write your list of what you have to do.
- Prioritize your items.
- Revise your list regularly. Delete unnecessary tasks from your list if they are no longer relevant.
- Clarify your reasons why do you need to finalize your tasks.
- Define your goals and check if your goals match what you need to do.
- Categorize the goals as short-term, medium-term, and long-term.
- Create a daily routine; try to deal with a specific task at a particular time of the day.
- Eliminate distractions in your surroundings.
- Gauge your tasks and begin with the hardest one in the morning.
- Divide the problematic task into pieces: try to reach the whole by handling small parts.
- If the task is still overwhelming, don’t hesitate to ask for help.
- Don’t fear failure. Enjoy the happiness of deciding to do something and then finishing it.
Stopping procrastination depends only on you. Do not spend your precious time postponing.
Share your tactics to overcome procrastination in the comments below!