Navigating the Pitfalls of Procrastination Part 2

Please read Part I here

Procrastination is part of the human condition. It encompasses dozens of academic journal articles, fills the air of many podcast shows, and constantly seeks to reinvent the productivity advice of many individuals within the marketplace. Whether through a time log, assignment worksheet, or other technologically nuanced manner of keeping track of the hours lost within a work assignment, procrastination has its predominant features in any given moment.

As for the phenomenon of putting stuff off, it seems to be “a purely visceral, emotional reaction to something we don’t want to do,” reflects Tim Pychyl, author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle. The more turned off you find a task, the more likely you will procrastinate.

Pychyl’s research accounts for this emotional proneness to procrastinate and noted that tasks that are: boring, frustrating, difficult, ambiguous, unstructured, not intrinsically rewarding (i.e. you do not find the process enjoyable), and lacking in personal meaning maintain a procrastination likelihood.

In many ways within the realm of neuroscience, the prefrontal cortex is subjugated by the features of the limbic system since procrastination is a purely emotional response mechanism of the brain. Our logical portion of the brain can find its form of surrender when we decide to binge-watch another favorite TV show upon arriving home or the moment we turn to YouTube instead of the assignment at hand. In many ways, we have observed that procrastination in its purest form is rather illogical.

Justified in its own right, we can still take reign over the impulse to procrastinate and maintain the upper hand with the logical side of the brain.

Reverse the procrastination impulse

Determine which one of the seven procrastination triggers are at play according to Pychyl’s research. The emotional dread and related weight of putting off a task can be a significant weight. Reinterpret the task at hand as something that is more attractive. If a task is ambiguous and unstructured, discern what you can do to make the workflow more structured with easy-to-follow steps and manageable parts. If that pending report is looming ahead with a sense of existential dread and certain unease, then turn the report-writing into an enjoyable and fun game in which you challenge yourself to crank out as many words as you can in a given 25-minute period. This comes back to making the task more enjoyable and approachable.

Understand your resistance level to procrastination

Not everyone resists procrastination triggers equally. Typically when a related task sets off the procrastination trigger, we find ourselves resisting it altogether. If the task at hand requires about 1 hour of reading research – you can break it down to 30 minutes. If this still seems unpleasant, you can shorten it to 15 minutes; essentially, you are determining your own level of effort that you can commit to along a sliding scale of personal resistance. Then commit to doing the task.

Do anything (at least something) to get started

Managing the difficulty of starting a task can be the initial hump that people need to overcome. Once started, people realize that the task at hand was not seen as altogether challenging as originally thought and expected. Once initiated, the actual task might have actually set off fewer procrastination triggers than initially anticipated. The Zeigarnik Effect is in play here, and we are more apt to remember interrupted tasks and those that remain uncompleted than the fully accomplished ones that arrive into completion. Some make this analogy that it can be likened to a repeating song in your mind, catchy with tunes and all, but it keeps getting cut off and replaying in your head. Initially starting a task causes your mind to process it over and over until it arrives into completion, and people are more likely to return to it.

Know the costs of procrastination

Larger tasks may benefit from this tactical process. Listing the costs of a task that experiences your procrastination will benefit from initially approaching it. For example, listing the costs of procrastinating on workouts at the gym and the impact on your social life, stress levels, health and well-being, and so on can be meaningful in its process. Calculating the costs of procrastination for tasks large and small, personally and professionally, individually and collectively within a team can have a meaningful impact on moving toward its completion.

Untether

Free yourself from the distracting variables and the ubiquitous expression of devices with social media. These are relegated for specific moments throughout the day to email, text friends and family, and go on social media for updates and notifications. The persistent use of devices that promote distraction allow ambiguity and unstructured time to step into the context and compete with the task at hand.

Disconnect to avoid procrastination

Put the phone in another room. Shut off your Wi-FI access. Turn the device on airplane mode and silence the notifications. Give yourself time to disable digital devices ahead of a scheduled time to work on the task at hand, and your productivity will increase.

Consider what triggers your procrastination and work through and beyond these circumstances to become more productive. Understand your resistance level and work past the triggers that prevent you from engaging with the task at hand. Bring yourself forcibly to start the task, understand the costs of putting it off, and disconnect from distracting devices.