Theme: Healthy Practices
Challenge: Let’s Get Started (Part 1: Overcoming Procrastination)

Our Healthy Practices challenge this week is focused on understanding and overcoming our natural tendency to put things off and delay acting on things that are important to us. Most of us procrastinate to some extent. But for some people, procrastination is a stressful, lifelong battle that drains their energy and happiness, and affects their personal and professional relationships. My goal this week is to give you some concrete strategies for overcoming procrastination that will work for you.

This is a fascinating topic and I’ve been immersed in reading as much as I can on the subject. James Clear’s research and writings on procrastination and Gregg Krech’s book, “The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology” are the two main sources I’ve used in framing this challenge. To make it easier, I’ve quoted whole passages from Gregg’s fantastic book rather than restating his ideas in my own words. I don’t normally do this, but It’s a huge timesaver for me. The end result is that this week’s challenge is very long, but I’ve tried to make it easy to skim.

Why Do We Procrastinate? Two Explanations

Here are two explanations for why we procrastinate, both rooted in ourselves:

1. Your Present Self vs Your Future Self: Behavioral psychologists call this “time inconsistency”, it’s the tendency people have to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards.

We are all two people: the person we are now (Our Present Self) and the person we will become in the future (Our Future Self). Our goals, such as losing weight, are about creating a better life for our Future Self. The Future Self values long-term rewards. But taking the actions required to create a better life for our Future Self requires that our Present Self do something now. Since our Present Self tends to favor current comfort and instant gratification, there’s a natural tension between these two people. Our Future Self wants us to be healthier and fitter, but our Present Self is more interested in nachos and binge watching Game of Thrones. Procrastination is our Present Self’s attempt to shift the burden of its to-do list onto another person, our Future Self.

2. Your Mind vs Your Body

From "The Art of Taking Action":

"We have very little control over our thoughts. Thoughts arise. They dissolve. Other thoughts arise and dissolve. In the course of our normal day, it is very unusual to “will” ourselves to have a particular thought. Good ideas, worries, likes, dislikes, criticisms of others, frustrating thoughts, thoughts about the past –they mostly arise spontaneously. On the other hand, we have much more control over our behavior. We can will ourselves to remain silent during a presentation, pick up the phone and make a call, answer an email, or drive to the store.”

Another difference between the worlds of the mind and body involves effort:

“The mind lives in a world of little effort. It doesn’t take much effort to sit on the couch and think about renovating your basement. But the body’s world often requires lots of effort (i.e. actually renovating your basement). For the most part your mind lives in a lazy world where it can think anything it wants to because it doesn’t have to act. Your body, on the other hand, has to be very discriminating about what it does because just about everything requires energy and that’s a precious commodity for your body.”

Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination

Strategy 1: Ignore Your Thoughts and Feelings and Focus on What Needs to Get Done

Our thoughts and feelings can keep us from acting on what needs to be done. One strategy to overcome procrastination is just to ignore these thoughts and feelings. As Gregg writes:

“Most procrastination is caused by a tendency to make a decision, in the present moment, based on what we feel like doing at that moment. And if we don’t feel like doing something NOW, then we’re not likely to feel like doing it later, because later will just be another NOW. If you don’t feel like doing your taxes NOW, just accept that you’ll probably never feel like doing them. The fundamental change we need is a shift from a feeling-centered approach to decisions to a purpose-centered approach. The question isn’t “What do I feel like doing?” but, rather, “What needs to be done?”

Strategy 2: Make Taking Action Easier

We often procrastinate because the project we have in mind seems enormous. Cleaning out the garage is easily a full weekend project, and how many of us can find the time to do that? But most projects don’t have to be completed at one time, we can work away at them. Reducing the size of the project into bite-sized pieces has been for me the most effective strategy for overcoming procrastination. 15 minutes a day spent on something you want to accomplish may not seem like much time, but it snowballs into over 91 hours a year.

Examples:
Putting off exercise? Lace up your shoes and go for a 5 minute walk
Need to change jobs? Set up an account on indeed.com
Want to finally write that blog post or letter? Just write one sentence (Doesn’t have to be the beginning sentence)

Small steps that get us started create momentum. Once you start something, it’s much easier to keep going. Put your emphasis on just getting started as that’s the hardest part.

Strategy 3: Make the Rewards of Taking Action More Immediate

Shifting the rewards of acting now from the future to the present is one strategy for overcoming procrastination. Frame it as:


Examples:
Watch a favorite show only after you’ve worked on the project you keep putting off. Treat yourself to a special purchase or service you’d enjoy (such as a massage) only after you’ve completed a string of days of working on your project.

Strategy 4: Make the Consequences of Not Taking Action More Immediate

Increasing the discomfort from not taking action can also reduce procrastination. Skipping a workout when you are exercising alone has no immediate impact, but missing a walk you committed to take with a friend impacts you both.

Set a reasonable deadline for achieving milestones or completing your project and include consequences for what happens if you don’t act. Negative rewards aren’t for everyone, but they can be an effective tool in catalyzing action. If you go this route, think creatively. Having your work clothes picked out by your 3-year-old because you didn’t do what you said you were going to do can be a powerful incentive to act.

Another option is Stickk.com You set up a commitment contract with yourself, identity a referee for accountability, and commit some money that you’ll lose if you don’t make progress toward your goal. If that happens, your money goes to a charity you’ve selected — or, in a terrific twist, an organization you fundamentally do not like. (called an anti-charity).


Don’t Wait For Perfect Conditions. Get Started on What’s Important to You Now

The conditions of our lives will always be less than perfect. Start anyway. Don’t wait for the perfect day, the right motivations and feelings, or until you have all the information and pieces figured out. That probably won’t happen. Dive in anyway and make progress on what’s important to you.

I’ll close with this gem:

“I recently found an old journal with an embarrassing entry detailing the conditions I thought I needed to become a writer. I would awaken each morning to Pachelbel’s Canon and the aroma of freshly brewed expresso. I would stroll down an antique brick path bordered by blackspot-resistant roses to a picturesque Victorian garden cottage. Once there I would begin typing my immortal musings into a user-friendly machine while my flealess Labrador Retriever would lie adoringly at my feet. Fantasy? Sort of. But as some level I really did believe the universe owed me a better set of circumstances before I could step out on my heart’s path. In reality, all I need is a ballpoint pen and the back of a dry cleaning receipt… and the faith to take that first step in crafting an essay or article. Now, when I need a faith-lift, I just glance down at the neon green Post-It note my Quaker friend attached to my computer. It says, ‘Proceed as the path opens.’ And in case I need a nudge, the action verb PROCEED is circled in scarlet.” –Victoria Register-Freeman (author, Love Stories from the Bible)

Yes, indeed. Let’s PROCEED.

This Week’s Challenge: Identify a project or goal you have that you’ve been putting off. Using the strategies outlined above or other techniques you think will work for you, set aside 10 to 20 minutes at least 3 times this week to work on whatever you’ve selected. Put the emphasis on just getting started.

I look forward to hearing what you’ll be working on this week. Please let us know how you are progressing!

Make it a great week!

............................................................................................................................................

Suggested Resources:

Procrastination: A Scientific Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating by James Clear
https://jamesclear.com/procrastination

The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology by Gregg Krech
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Taking-Action-Japanese-Psychology-ebook/dp/B00PR814K0/

TED Talk (Very funny and insightful)
Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator
https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator/

............................................................................................................................................