I confess I am the master of waiting until the last minute to get something done. In my defense it is really hard for me to find motivation before the due date, this is because I suffer from instant gratification.The reality is, we all do and unfortunately all of us procrastinators know that waiting until the last minute is a bad strategy, our work is rushed and never reaches its actual potential. If you are a student your papers don’t get the best grades and if you are a professional you will struggle to get promoted.
So how do you change that pattern? Are there techniques to prevent procrastination? How can they be implemented?
Techniques:
- The deadline effect: One of the most effective forms to get things done is to set deadlines, whether they are set by you or someone else. The book” deadline effect” by Christopher Cox details how businesses are able to meet deadlines, by using techniques such as applying a soft deadline. If a paper or a task is due in a month, set a weekly deadline, this way you can have time to review for e.g draft, review, and final.
- Small rewards: We normally don’t reward ourselves until we finish the big task, but this can hurt us, any small win deserves its own celebration. For example if you need to write 20 pages by the end of the month, try to complete 5-7 in one week, then reward yourself with something you don’t usually do, but really enjoy” e.g like a massage. Your mind will take notice and motivation to finish the next tasks should come naturally .
- Breakdown tasks into smaller chunks: The brain is an efficient machine, but can only operate on small tasks at once, that is why it is very daunting to take on task that say would require “300 pages of writing”, but if you set a small goal such as 10 pages a week, your 300 pages will be done in less than 6 months. In retrospect 6 month is minimal when we compare the average person may take years to complete.
- Go back to your why: The reality is that everyone wants to give their best, however due to circumstances we are unable. Every student wants to get an A, every employee wants to be appreciated, if you are having trouble getting motivated go back and think of the purpose of why you are doing what you are doing.
- Make a plan: “Every minute you spend in planning saves ten minutes in execution,” claims Brian Tracy. Create a plan of how you will execute your tasks and let the magic begin, our minds will look at the plan like a binding contract and will do its best to get you to follow it.
- Just start: Woody Allen, a famous film director, claimed that 80% of life is showing up. Sometimes you just have to sit there and begin doing your work, once you start the heavens will guide you through the rest.
Commitment
Based on the HBR article on procrastination by Caroline Webb, our brains are made to think of concrete work not abstract, so when the task ahead is ambiguous we tend to defer. So how can we hack our brain into thinking differently?.
- Commit to your tasks in public – (social media is a great place, specially if you are looking to share your transformation, say you are looking to lose weight). Research shows that when we commit in public we tend to meet our commitments, because the respect of others matters a great deal to us.
- Set a bet on yourself – Some people go as far as giving money away if they don’t meet their commitments, find something that you know will motivate you to start.
Recovering from a setbacks
For details on setbacks I would recommend listening to the podcast on recovering from setbacks here. In either case here are a few tips.
- Accept that you have fallen behind, and then move on.
- Be easy and forgiving to yourself, putting yourself down will only hurt you more.
- Start small, say when you were at your height you were doing 50 push ups in a minute, perhaps start with 5 and work your way back to the top.
- Don’t forget to rest and take breaks, burnout is real and I believe is one of the main causes of making people stop.