Shifting procrastination to productivity
“I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.” ― Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
Procrastination is the process of delaying or postponing tasks and activities instead of completing them. People may be putting off tasks even if they know that doing so may have consequences. It is a common behaviour that affects people across various demographics and settings. Procrastination is usually considered a reflection of ‘being lazy’, but the reasons behind procrastinating, especially chronically, can be many. For instance:
Fear of failure: You may fear not being able to meet high standards or expectations, whether yours or someone else, which can lead to completely avoiding the task.
Lack of motivation: A study by Pychyl et al. (2000) found that low motivation is a common reason for academic procrastination among students. Motivation for anyone can impact task initiation as well as completion.
Perfectionism: Along with fear of failure, the need to make sure an outcome or the process itself is not flawed, can stop someone from completing a task. According to a study by Flett et al. (1995), perfectionism is positively associated with procrastination.
Stress or exhaustion: Feeling overwhelmed or exhausted by the complexity of a task, or in general, can cause you to procrastinate. A survey by Rothblum et al. (1986) found that stress and feeling overwhelmed were common reasons for procrastination.
Improved quality of work: Many people find that working last minute pushes them to do better in a short period of time. This is because your body shoots high amount of adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormone) that drives your brain and body to do quick work. However, doing this too often can cause other stress-related difficulties. Further, getting into this routine too often can cause you to lose sight of smaller details in your work or you may end up taking too much on your plate.
How can you work through procrastination?
Procrastination, as you can see, is a complex process in itself. It’s not just about the activity or task, but often a combination of our mental state at that time as well as one’s attitude. So here are some suggestions you can try to see what works for you:
Change your perspective: Instead of focusing on the entire project, concentrate on just starting. Often, this is the hardest part, so just getting a small part of it done can also build momentum and interest to keep you going.
Break down the task: Instead of looking at only the end goal, explore what all is required for you to complete the task, and start with the easier or more fun parts of the task. Additionally, setting goals and planning the path towards its completion can help in systematically completing the task.
Use the Pomodoro Technique: This strategy encourages working in focused intervals and taking a short break. A few intervals & breaks later, you can take a longer break. A suggested format is - 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break, and a longer break after 4 intervals.
This is a wonderful technique as it highlights the need for pausing and can be customised to your needs. Time the interval to the duration you find it easy to focus, and use the short breaks to stretch or get yourself water. This allows you to make the break helpful and minimize distractions. You can try the Tomato Timer.
Body doubling: Having an accountability partner, whether a friend, colleague or a calendar reminder can help you be on track and remind you to be accountable for your goals. Regular check-ins can provide motivation and help stay on track.
Face the discomfort: For moving from procrastination to focused action: (1) deal with each task head on, (2) share honestly why it is uncomfortable, and (3) identify one easy next step you can take to make progress against the goal. Doing this with a person who can support you can make it easier to reflect and problem-solve. This tip is especially important if a task/ activity has been put off for too long. You can read more here. Psychologists even say that severe anxiety can cause significant avoidance, like for instance not showing up to work on the day of a submission.
Keep time aside for a rainy day: In a busy schedule, whether at home or work, it is not just easy, but convenient, to avoid focussing on work that needs my attention. Keep aside a day each week, or once in two weeks, when you can pay attention to these things specifically. Having a fixed day also helps you prepare mentally to face these, and makes sure whether it’s the dusty fans that need to be cleaned or emails you have avoided sending, you will come back to it soon.
Use tools and apps: Given how distracting technology can be, it is wonderful to find ways to use it to our advantage. For instance, laptops and phones now have ‘Do Not Disturb’ or ‘Focus’ settings that keep track of time and allow you to keep your eye on the task (we used it to write this article!). For notifications or reminders, Evernote, Google Keep and Google Calendar and Notion are popular. Apps like Instagram have in-built timers, while the Forest app helps you disconnect from the digital world by running a digital forest simulation on your phone. Using technology hacks in the form of an automated system can actually help you stay organised better, like scheduling emails.
Procrastination is considered as unhelpful, but much research today shows us that often we need that time off, and delaying tasks or taking quiet time off can provoke creative thinking and imaginative insights. The important thing to remember is we need to broaden our thinking to understand that procrastination is not ‘good or bad’ but rather a sign of a deeper reason, and can even be useful in moderation.
Some common questions about procrastination are:
What are the consequences of procrastination?
Procrastination can cause high stress, impact productivity, stress levels, quality of work and overall wellbeing. In a professional or an academic setting, it may also affect other’s impression of the work you do.
How can someone stop procrastinating?
Trying out different practical strategies and techniques, taking support from people and / or technology, planning through lists or reminders can be some ways of trying and seeing what can be helpful for you. But most important is to remember to keep trying something out consistently to build a habit, and that getting things off your list can be a big relief!
Are there other resources that can help me with this?
- An article called Why Procrastinators Procrastinate
- An episode of the Feeling Good podcast on Feeling Joy with strategies (like the Anti-Procrastination Sheet) from Cognitive-Behavioural-Therapy
- A book The Now Habit by Neil Fiore
