Why can't I get started? Part 3: Some ways to reduce procrastination

Welcome to part three of the blog series “Why Can’t I get started?”. In parts 1 and 2 we looked at perfectionism and procrastination. Here in part three, we will take a deeper dive into practical ways that we can manage and reduce procrastination.

Some practical ways to reduce procrastination

Procrastination is enormously stressful. Even when we are distracting ourselves by doing something fun or more interesting than the task (as described in part 1), the knowledge that the task still needs to be done is always lurking at the back of our minds and causing stress.

Research shows that people who consistently procrastinate across all areas of their lives also tend to experience higher levels of stress and more negative thoughts about their procrastination. Procrastination is associated with low levels of self-compassion and higher levels of stress (Sirois, 2014). So perhaps self-compassion and stress reduction are ways to reduce procrastination?

What is self-compassion?

Self-compassion, according to psychologist Kristen Neff, is the ability to treat yourself with kindness and understanding in the face of difficulty and challenge. She suggests that there are three components to self-compassion. These are:

·      Common humanity – everyone experiences difficulty sometimes, and therefore you are not alone in your suffering.

·      Mindfulness – Being aware of your suffering without ruminating on it or avoiding it

·      Self-kindness – being kind and gentle towards yourself instead of criticising yourself.

How can we apply this to procrastination? Taking my example of academic procrastination in part 2, instead of criticising myself for taking so long to get started, I could choose to listen to a more comforting part of myself which might say something like:

“At the moment you are finding it difficult to get started on this project, this feels painful and uncomfortable because it has happened many times before, but it doesn’t make you a failure or a bad person. Lots of people experience this at some time or another, you are not alone. Maybe you could start by breaking the task down into more manageable chunks so it feels less overwhelming”?

This is a much gentler approach than berating myself for procrastinating again! It also enables me to relax and lower my stress levels. However, self-compassion is an ongoing practice and not a quick fix.

People who procrastinate may also experience a loud inner critical voice and this inner critic may not only be limited to procrastination. Cultivating a practice of self-compassion and kindness may not only help with procrastination but with other areas of difficulty too. Being able to intentionally talk to yourself with kindness, just as you would to a friend who is suffering, may ease some of the pain and shame around procrastination.

Alongside an ongoing and developing practice of self-compassion, I have tried various ways to reduce my procrastination and therefore my stress levels. For me, some ways have been more effective than others. Here is a list of things that you might try:

False deadlines

Some people suggest creating your own early deadline before the actual deadline as a way of fooling your brain into getting into the flow sooner. It also means that you have more time after the false deadline to do last minute changes that are necessary. This technique can be very effective for some people and reduce the stress of working right up to the real deadline.

Accountability

Having someone with whom you can honestly share how much of a task you have completed can be helpful. In my experience this needs to be someone who won’t make a judgement on how much you have (or haven’t) achieved and someone who will leave it to you to come to them. I find that if I am directly asked how much I have achieved, this can trigger feelings of shame if I haven’t done as much as I’d hoped, so to reduce these feelings it is better for me to volunteer the information myself. Having a pre-arranged agreement with a friend or family member can be very effective. You might check in at agreed regular intervals or when you have completed a goal or task. This can be empowering as it gives back control and reduces shame.

Pomodoro technique

This technique, pioneered by Francesco Cirrilo in the 1980s and named for the tomato (Italian ‘Pomodoro’) shaped kitchen timer he used, involves a five-step process. It is intended to break a larger task down into manageable chunks and include movement breaks. It is a great way to stay focussed on the task for short, manageable periods of time.

Step 1: Choose a task

Step 2: Set the timer for 25 minutes (or manageable time of your choice)

Step 3: Work for 25 minutes

Step 4: Take a 5 minute break – stretch, walk around, make a drink

Step 5: Repeat steps 2 – 4 for four rounds

Step 6: Take a longer break, half an hour to an hour, and then begin again.

Making a detailed plan of action

In his blog ‘Wait but Why: How to beat procrastination’, Tim Urban talks about how procrastinators love to plan because planning doesn’t involve doing. He also observed that procrastinators often make very vague, broad-brush plans, when what is required to reduce procrastination is a realistic, detailed, moment by moment plan so that each step is very clear and possible to achieve. Creating a plan that has small achievable steps leads to a dopamine hit in the brain each time a part of the plan is achieved, thus reinforcing achievement of the task rather than seemingly more pleasurable procrastination activities.

Procrastination makes life stressful and difficult. I hope that some of these ideas might be useful for you and enable you to increase your kindness and compassion towards yourself whilst decreasing the amount of procrastination you experience, and therefore lead to a more peaceful and balanced approach to tasks.

Sirois, F.M (2014). Procrastination and Stress: Exploring the role of self compassion. Self and Identity, 13 (2), 128-145.