PROCRASTINATION | FOCUS | LEARNING
TWO Tiny Habits Helped Me To Avoid Procrastination
Let’s learn how to STOP procrastination
Yesterday, I wrote a detailed article on increasing concentration by 41% with a tiny trick. There could be many reasons for procrastination, but one could be a lack of focus. Here is the link.
I Increased My Daily Concentration by 41% With This Tiny Trick.
Procrastination is something I really really struggled with in life. I am not a perfectionist, and I am thankful. However, perfection can have its own pros and cons.
On the other hand, my life partner is a perfectionist. She has a fear of doing something and not doing it well enough.
She also has a fear of failure and sometimes also just a fear of being unknown.
This fear really fuels procrastination.
She does the best job, but I observed the main reason is to get started.
It’s like inertia. The body will stay positioned until you apply some force to keep the object in motion.
However, with me, the issue was to keep going.
I had no problem with starting new things.
It was actually a lack of focus. Here is a great book to tackle this topic in much more depth.
The following tiny habits are going to help you if you have the following two issues.
i) You are a perfectionist. It means you are afraid that you will do the best job if you start this project; therefore, you need to work on it.
ii) You need more. I highly suggest recalling the article I mentioned — 41% in the beginning, to see if that tiny trick works for you.
First
I literally mean getting started, just taking like five minutes to familiarize yourself with the new project.
For example:
You’re looking at what needs to be done or, even better, just doing a very, very small task.
For me, oftentimes, I would start an analysis of the market research report.
I would just write rough outlines of the project on paper, and that’s what I consider getting started.
It doesn’t take more than five to ten minutes to do, which helps a lot in dealing with the fear of the unknown the next morning.
That fear kind of subsides because what was previously unknown becomes known, and the next day, when I really get started working on it, it’s a little bit easier.
If I do the following exercise of mental modeling with 5–10 minutes started, I sometimes literally solve the problem in my dream.
It’s very rare, but it happened. It can only happen if you truly want to solve your problem. Your brain will keep working despite you being asleep.
Second
The number two is straightforward: I eat my frog first thing in the morning.
Eating Your Frog is related to Mark Twain; let me recall the quote.
If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first. — Mark Twain
Brain Tracy published a book on the same concept. It is worth reading.
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
In this case, the frog is the most impactful and most important task of the day.
Willpower is like a muscle; usually, at the beginning of the day, you feel the most well-rested.
Once you get started and finish the hardest thing that needs to be done that day, everything else just feels so much easier.
It also feels really good because you already accomplished the most important or the hardest task.
After completing the hardest task, you kind of set yourself up for success for the rest of the day.
I find that this is especially good when you connect it with the previous night’s tiny habit or mental model.
Start the hardest task before going to bed. Most of the time, at the end of the day, let’s say 4:30 PM before you are done for the day. If you are in a professional job or if you are self-employed, choose your time.
Key Takeaways
These two tiny habits have helped me a lot in the past few years.
Starting a new or hardest project before I am done for the day, using a mental model to solve it.
Eating my frog first thing in the morning
Fear of the unknown or lack of focus can be reduced by familiarizing yourself with tasks.
Starting with the hardest task first powers willpower and sets you up for a productive day — make sure to eat your frog first thing in the morning.
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