One frequent question I get from my psychotherapy clients is how to deal with procrastination. Almost everyone procrastinates. Why do we do it? One explanation comes from behavioral therapy. Procrastination is rewarded in our brains. Thinking of taking on a big project can evoke anxiety and fear. When we procrastinate – avoid starting the project, and allow ourselves to get distracted – we are rewarded with a short term drop in anxiety. So our behavior is reinforced by the momentary decrease in anxious feelings.
Unfortunately, the short term payoff is more than counterbalanced by what we miss out on in our lives by delay and avoidance — progressing on our goals or attaining a sense of mastery and accomplishment in our lives. And in the long run our stress and anxiety only increases around the things not getting done. Rita Emmett says “The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself.”
In his recent book “Rewire,” Richard O’Connor presents these helpful tips for working with procrastination:
(1) Procrastination never responds to logical arguments. But it may respond to narrowing your focus. Pretend to glue yourself to the bottom of your chair. Ignore distractions, and work for five minutes, but for ONLY five minutes. Then take a short break. After your break work for another five minutes, and so on. Continue until you’re working productively or you’ve worn yourself out.
(2) While you’re sitting there “glued to your chair” you’re not allowed to do anything but the task you’ve set out for yourself, no matter how attractive the distractions are. It’s okay to do nothing while sit there, but it’s either your primary task or nothing. This will help you develop focus and self-discipline.
(2) If not knowing where to start is a problem, forget about figuring out the priorities before you start to work. Just start with what’s in front of you. Once you begin working, priorities will emerge.
(4) Procrastinators don’t reward themselves. Learn to reward yourself for finishing. Rewards can be simple things like a favorite food, a dinner with friends. or watching a TV show you like. But hold yourself to the commitment. If you don’t keep your commitment, don’t reward yourself. Your mind will begin to associate the reward with doing the job.
(6) Clutter is another thing that distracts our minds and reminds them of everything else we could be doing . Clear your workspace so there are fewer distractions. Take all the pending items on on your desk and put them in one pile. Put everything on your computer desktop into one folder. Mental clutter works the same way. Make a list of all your “to dos” so they’re out of your mind and you can focus on what you’re doing.
(7) Multitasking doesn’t work. If you’re working on the computer, turn off your internet browser and make it take several steps to turn it back on. Silence your phone or put it in another room.
(8) Don’t wait until you feel motivated or confident to start. People who wait to be in the right mood can end up waiting forever. Work comes first, motivation and confidence follow.