How to persuade your mind to crush procrastination
By: Navin Israni
Tags: Habit Building, Motivation, Time Management, Procrastination, Productivity

Certain problems in life require a concrete, step-by-step solution. Some of them just have to be dealt with. Procrastination is of the latter kind.

I am a chronic procrastinator. If they gave awards for procrastination, I would be the youngest Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

When combined with the emotionally-draining effects of the Coronavirus lockdown, I get desperate to beat this beast called procrastination.

However, the problem of constantly postponing our work has only one solution: actually doing the work.

Based on this idea, I devised a list of tips that can help pull the best out of yourself even if you are not feeling the most productive. While these tips are not a list of sequential steps, I would recommend you to work on tip #1 before moving on to tips #2 and #3.

Tip #1: Define what is your problem and HOW it affects you

Let’s face it — everyone procrastinates at some point. But why is YOUR procrastination story different from that of your friend or your partner?

You need to personalize your problem statement with your own specific struggle. When you know the “WHY” of your own problem, you see the final picture in all its glory. So, taking this extra step will help you visualize your solution making it more likely that you can empower yourself and dig yourself out of the dark hole of procrastination.

This is how we do it:

I have anxiety about my time management skills. This is how the situation plays out for me — this is my procrastination problem statement:

When I get a new project, I am excited. Instead of working to create a good solution for the client, my excitement (mis)guides me toward worry. I get caught up in thinking that I won’t be able to deliver it on time. This manifests as my project kick-off anxiety. One thing leads to another and this anxiety ultimately paralyzes me so much that the work gets delayed. It is very distracting and I get annoyed when I stay anxious like this for a long time. It is not the only reason for the delay but it is definitely one of the primary reasons for it.

Let’s visualize the solution:

When I conquer my project kick-off anxiety, I can start my project with full dedication and zero internal distractions. I can also start my project on time and have fun finishing it.

EXECUTE: Take this opportunity to slow down. Define your procrastination problem, how it affects you, and how it will be better for you if you stop procrastinating.

Tip #2: Define your internal motivations for completing the task

We all know about the idiom — Focus on what you can control. It’s important for you to focus inward and find your own selfish benefits that you will definitely experience when you overcome procrastination.

What does beating procrastination mean to you?

In other words, if beating procrastination was the objective of a game, what would be your reward if you won the first prize? (Click to tweet)

You can have multiple prizes. Write down (on a paper by your hand) all those rewards of beating procrastination for yourself. Writing makes it permanent.

Let’s see an example:

For my project kick-off anxiety problem, if it lifts it will mean all these things for me:

My work creates my professional image. If I deliver good quality content and on time, I will create a positive representation of my work. My professional image will be much better.

As a result of having a healthy and positive professional image, I will have more self-confidence.

Because of higher self-confidence, I can be better at receiving feedback (and not take it personally).

As I continue to deliver good quality writing on time for a series of projects, over time, it will reduce the worry of procrastination i.e. my project kick-off anxiety will go down.

As you can see, one benefit leads to another.

EXECUTE: Write down a series of internal motivations that lead to your final goal.

Tip #3: Define your external motivations for completing the task

External motivations aren’t useless. Just because you can’t control them doesn’t mean you shouldn’t desire them.

If someone voluntarily gives me a compliment, I want that, and it makes me feel great. I can’t directly ask for a compliment.

External motivations are those that you cannot directly control but they are events/actions/compliments that motivate you to keep working.

It’s like an unregulated perk that everyone wants but few get; it’s something that may happen, but it also may not happen.

Here’s an image to illustrate the difference between internal and external motivation.

Here's how to practically do it:

For my project kick-off anxiety, these are my external motivations:

Consistently high-quality work helps me develop a good client-freelancer relationship.

Better relationship results in better feedback (voluntarily or whenever I ask for it). You have no idea how much good testimonials matter in Freelancing!

Getting great feedback also improves the probability of getting more repeat business for me from existing clients. It may also result in more referral clients and therefore more revenue.

EXECUTE: Write down your series of external motivations so you can look forward to beating procrastination.

Will these steps be effective for you?

A major part of this list came out of my therapy session where I talked about being anxious toward my time management skills. So there is significant psychological weight behind them.

I have also tried them pretty recently and from my experience, they seem to be working well for me. My productivity has improved and I am moving toward achieving other benefits that I have discussed in this article.

Procrastination is a beast that many people have tried conquering in many different ways. Ultimately, you have to realize that there are no shortcuts to beating procrastination.