The Yerkes-Dodson Law suggests that a person is most productive when they have just the right amount of stress pushing them, not too much and not too little. It models the relationship between stress levels and performance, resulting in an upside-down, U-shaped curve on a quadrant. Procrastination at work lowers productivity, but it may have hidden benefits, such as delivering motivation boosts just when they’re needed. Psychologists and behavior experts share six different types of procrastinators, the top reasons why we procrastinate, and their top effective strategies for stopping procrastination.
Productive procrastination is a common human tendency that can be overcome by finding the willpower to buckle down and power through. Experts like Tim Pychyl at Carleton University in Canada and his collaborator Fuschia Sirois at the University of Sheffield in the UK have proposed that procrastination is an issue with managing time. Parkinson’s Law, which states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, is another powerful technique to overcome procrastination.
Manson’s Law of Avoidance is another effective toolkit for dealing with procrastination, avoiding the productivity trap, and finding joy in one’s own goals. Productive procrastination involves deliberately choosing productive activities that are not the most important or pressing. By understanding these techniques, individuals can maximize their productivity and stay on task.
📹 The ONLY Way To Stop Procrastinating | Mel Robbins
If you keep finding yourself stuck in that loop of stress and avoiding the things you know you need to do, WATCH THIS. I give you …
What is the Parkinson’s law of productivity?
Parkinson’s Law is a theory that suggests that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, leading to tasks and projects taking longer than necessary. It was first introduced by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a satirical essay published in The Economist in 1955. The law posits that work tends to expand and bureaucracies grow in size, regardless of their actual goals or productivity. Despite its satirical nature, Parkinson’s Law gained popularity and was embraced by management consultants, academics, and business leaders, highlighting the inefficiency and bureaucracy in large organizations.
What is the Ingvar’s rule?
Ingvar’s Rule suggests that for small tasks, assume each task will take no more than ten minutes to complete. This applies to meetings and phone calls, where the default time period is an hour. By assuming a basic unit of time for meetings is ten minutes, you can get just as much done. This is a counterfactual to the idea of having an hour to complete a task. Parkinson’s Law can be used to set productive artificial limitations to increase efficiency in open-ended areas.
How can I be productive and not procrastinate?
To overcome procrastination, it is essential to divide large tasks into smaller, more manageable components. This necessitates the formulation of a comprehensive plan, the completion of each task, the mitigation of distractions, and the practice of self-compassion through the division of tasks into more manageable units and the concentration on a single task at a time.
What is the law for procrastination?
The universal law of procrastination states that the pressure to complete tasks within a given time frame is inversely proportional to remaining time. This scaling behavior is well-known in physics, as it describes how the electrostatic potential energy of a point charge depends on distance from the charge or the gravitational potential energy of a system of masses scales with distance between the masses. The scales look like 1 / r , where r can be distance, remaining time, or some other factor.
The corresponding mathematical function is a hyperbola. For example, if a deadline is 100 days away, the pressure to meet it is just 0. 01. However, if the deadline is tomorrow, the pressure shoots up to 1. This law helps improve the fit for small values of t .
What is the rule to avoid procrastination?
The Two-Minute Rule is a concept that suggests that starting a new habit should take less than two minutes. This rule can be applied to various habits, such as reading before bed, doing yoga, or reducing time spent on certain activities. The author shares a simple rule that has helped them stop procrastinating and improve their ability to stick to good habits. The rule encourages readers to try it out and see how it works in their lives.
What is the law of productivity?
The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, states that 80 of results are produced by 20 efforts. This means that most of what is accomplished comes from 20 of the work. To apply this principle, focus on the most impactful tasks and prioritize based on this.
Carlson’s Law suggests that interrupted work is less effective and takes more time than un-interrupted work due to mental switching costs. To apply this law, focus on one task at a time and reduce distractions, such as turning off notifications or not answering emails.
Pawn’s Law states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. To apply this law, set aggressive and realistic goals for your work at all times. Illich’s Law, also known as the “Law of Diminishing Returns”, states that productivity on a task goes down beyond a certain point. Studies have shown that around 90 minutes is the maximum time for productivity, after which we should take a short break and start again.
Murphy’s Law, best known as “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”, teaches us to anticipate and prepare for potential problems ahead of time. By keeping these laws in mind while working throughout the day, reflecting on them and internalizing the values, you can enhance your productivity and achieve any goal you have.
What are the 4 laws of productivity?
In Genesis 1:28, God revealed His purpose for creation and commanded man to be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion. These four laws of productivity are not exclusive to reproduction; rather, they form the foundation of all productivity and serve as the keys to fulfilling God’s purpose and plan for each individual. These principles are not limited to the mere act of procreation.
What is the Parkinson’s law?
Parkinson’s Law is a concept that suggests that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. This can lead to procrastination or taking longer than necessary to complete a task. This guide explains how Parkinson’s Law works and provides tips for getting work done in less time. Procrastination is when you delay a task, either using the time to complete it more slowly or procrastinating and completing it before the due date. While deadlines may not always increase productivity, understanding and overcoming Parkinson’s Law can help increase productivity. This guide provides tips for getting work done in less time.
What is Pareto’s law of productivity?
The 80/20 Rule, a principle of productivity, posits that 20 percent of efforts yield 80 percent of results. This does not imply that one should work solely 20% of the time or only one day per week. Alternatively, applying the 80/20 Rule to one’s workday can assist in identifying tasks that require focused attention to maximize time and results. It does not necessarily imply a reduction in the amount of work being done.
What is the 2 minute rule?
The 2-minute rule is a workflow management method by David Allen, which suggests that if a task can be completed in two minutes or less, it should be done immediately, rather than postponing or adding it to the to-do list. This helps prevent small tasks from accumulating in the head or on the desk, maintain focus, and increase productivity. However, small tasks can become distractions, interrupting more significant work if they pile up.
What is the rule for procrastinators?
By focusing on a task that can be completed in a relatively short period of time, one can overcome the initial inertia that often accompanies the commencement of a new task and subsequently enhance productivity. This is because the perceived magnitude of the task is reduced, making it seem less overwhelming and more attainable, which in turn prevents procrastination.
📹 7 things that (quickly) cured my procrastination
This is a video on how to stop procrastinating, stop procrastination, cure it, etc.
First five seconds of this articles are key! You ARE NOT a procrastinator. That sets the foundation to separate your IDENTITY from your BEHAVIOURS. You ARE NOT your BEHAVIOURS. So, when you realize and redefine your procrastination not as yourself but as a mere habit, you can gain control over it and thence change it once you know how your (procrastinating) habit works and the outcome you’re pursuing with it.
1. Acknowledge the stress 2. Make a simple program which does the counting instead of you. And you might set it to start from 1000 3. Go back to perusal cat articles while the program is counting numbers 4. When the counting is over, reset the program to start from 1 million this time. 5. Go back to watch longer cat articles, you might as well start a playlist with articles 6. At least the stress now is gone… and also the day is gone too
Apparently, if feasible, some of the items we have on the list of things to do for tomorrow, we should try to do today!! The feeling of euphoria as a result, is very addictive! But it won’t of course apply to everything. Making lists of “to do” things and then crossing them off is very satisfactory and adding to the list any unplanned tasks we have done as well, creates a sense of victory and makes us want to carry on preforming these tasks, as the crossing off is like eating chocolate – our brain thrives on it. This happens when I’m a ” normal me” but I hadn’t been ” normal me” for a long time. ☹️ So, how to be a ” normal me” again if there’s a reason, which cannot be changed? 😮
I wanted to give my 2 cents on the #7: I’ve tried this couple of times in my life even before I came across this article and what I’ve noticed is that if you put a 15-minute timer just in front of yourself, somewhere after 10 minutes, you start to constantly chech the timer, realizing that the time is crippling and ot almost feels like you don’t want to do the distraction anymore. You suddenly realize that there is no longer satisfaction in this distraction and you just want this to end. I often found myself ending the timer much earlier than planned. Thank you for the great article!
The most effective approach for me has always been to keep a list of procrastinated tasks, and allow myself to freely procrastinate whatever task I don’t want to do…. as long as I move to another task on that list instead. It keeps me productive WHILE procrastinating, and the momentum of checking items off the list is usually enough to clear the list.
I grew up with a lot of countdowns from others and they gave me extreme anxiety. As an adult I still do countdowns for myself, but I always include zero. Knowing that the world will make me go at one, yet intentionally letting myself ignore it makes the countdown feel less like a threat. I choose to let myself take the small victory because of my compassion for myself, and it honestly feels like a hug every time I say zero. It’s motivational. I have always wanted a shirt that says “The zero is self care” because it’s one of the few things that I feel like I got right.
Another good one: when working, if you start to get the thoughts telling you to check your phone or scroll YouTube or any other common distraction, have a sheet of paper out and physically write it down. This acknowledges the distraction without allowing yourself to indulge in it and falling down the rabbit hole of “wait what wdym 8 hours have passed?” when you only meant to take a 5 minute long break. Normally what we do is try to ignore these thoughts because they’re distracting, but all that really does (at least for me and others with ADD/ADHD) is make the thought more distracting. Not only are we counterintuitively putting more conscious thought towards it, we are then perpetuating it by not acknowledging it. This puts us in a mental state more prone to self shaming or hateful self talk, which just compounds everything. If we acknowledge the distractions in a healthy way by writing them down, we basically tell ourselves “oh, that’s a thing. I want to do that thing, which is okay and natural. I still have to do this other thing first so I can reach my goals and not fall behind though. I’ll write it down so I can do it later. Keep going, you got this!” Which is a much healthier outlook on it. Hope this makes sense and helps y’all 🙂 Oh also – I’m proud of you! You’re doing amazingly! Even if you’re doing something no one knows about, I’m proud of you for doing it! I’m proud of all the progress you’ve made thus far and all the progress waiting to be made in the future! You got this, keep at it!
<> Cuando lea artículos sobre la libertad financiera, es posible que escuche a las personas hablar una y otra vez sobre cómo no gastan prácticamente nada para poder jubilarse a una edad más temprana, como 30. Por el contrario, es posible que ya hayan logrado la libertad financiera y se jactan de cómo frugales eran para poder jubilarse mucho antes de la edad típica de jubilación.<>
The method I use: Eat the elephant one bite at a time… or for 10 minutes at a time. Just assemble your tools. Clean just this one shelf. Mow for only 10 minutes. I give myself permission at the get-go to stop after taking one bite. Of course, I usually end up doing the whole task because GETTING STARTED is the hardest part!
1. eat the frog. \teat the biggest frog first. \t 2.\t3-2-1 rule \tcount 3-2-1 and immediately start doing the task. don’t procrastinate. \t 3.\tdo something principle \tinspiration> motivation> action > loop \tstart by doing something small \t 4.\tpurge your physical surrounding 5.\tpurge your digital surrounding 6.\tstare at 1 thing for 60 second 7.\tconfront your distraction allow yourself to take breaks intentionally.
1. Get shut done first thing in the morning, or it’ll start piling up 2. Counting to three and then getting up to go to get shit done 3. Staring at the exact same spot for 60 seconds, breathe deeply as you do it 4. Clear out digital and physical distractions 5. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes to engage with distractions
i really don’t know why, but i cried perusal this. Especially when ADHD is mentioned. I’m struggling with my meds and some side effects, with the procrastination, anxiety, the feeling of guilty cause i can’t do some basic routine that my psychologist recommended. I’m so fucking down right now and somehow this article helped me just by existing. I didn’t payed to much of attention on the points, but i’ll make sure to see it again. Thank you, really. <3
I have used the Kaizen principle (tiny improvements made every day accumulate into a big difference over time) to tackle big jobs that were overwhelming, like organizing my sewing room. I would tell myself “I’m going to work on this 5 minutes every day.” Inevitably, once I got started on the project, I worked for longer than 5 minutes, but if 5 minutes was all I felt like doing, I still walked away with a sense of accomplishment. And, eventually, I got the project done. I have been trying to get myself back into the habit of cleaning 15 minutes every day. I have my house divided into 6 sections, so there’s one section to do per day (and one day off). Ideally, I will do this in the morning, when I have the most amount of energy, but inevitably I oversleep my alarm or get engrossed in some YouTube article or otherwise squander my 15 minutes. In the evening, I don’t have much (if any) energy left, but I have been making myself do 5 minutes regardless of how I feel. And even with just 5 minutes, it’s amazing how much improvement you can give to a room. So I agree with the “do something” principle. Even if you’re doing less than what’s ideal, it’s still better than nothing. An imperfect job is better than no job at all. And once you get in the habit of doing a little work daily, you’ll find yourself doing a bit more automatically. Because if you just spent 5 minutes picking up all the trash in a room, you’re not too quick to trash it up again. That allows you to carry progress forward so you can build on it a little bit every week.
7 things that (quickly) cured my procrastination 1. Eat the frog – 0:17 – Mark Twain said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” – And in this thankfully hypothetical scenario, if you were to put off eating that frog until tomorrow, you would have two frogs to eat. And if you were to follow this pattern, day after day, postponing eating the frog, then at the end of the month, you’ll have like 30 frogs to eat. – But if it’s inevitable and you have to do it, why not do it first thing in the morning so that you can live the rest of your day in peace? 2. The 3-2-1 rule – 1:46 – Now the 3-2-1 rule is pretty stupid, but it’s too stupid to ignore. – You say, “Damn, I gotta do (Your Work) Three, two, one.” And then you just go and do the thing that you’re avoiding. – Now that sounds stupid and overly simple because it is, but it also works. – So next time you’re having a very difficult time just diving in and starting a task you need to do, say, “Three, two, one,” then just go do it. 3. The “do-something” principle by Mark Manson – 2:53 – Inspiration → Motivation → Action → Inspiration – First, we’re inspired to take action. We have the strong reason to do it, and that generates the motivation we need to take action on the thing. But action isn’t just the effect of motivation. It’s also the cause of it. – Inspiration, motivation, action is not a linear sequence. It’s an endless loop and you can start wherever you wanna start.
This article is great for neurotypical people. For neurodivergent people like those with ADHD, however, there are some concerns. The strategies presented are wonderful and can help, but the way that they are presented is fairly absolute and makes procrastination seem like a barrier that anybody should be able to conquer while using these solutions. For many of those with ADHD these concepts are helpful, but those barriers are still incredibly present and when the person fails, they feel shame because they are somehow stuck behind a barrier that they perceive others overcoming despite their best efforts. If you keep trying and struggling with procrastination and feel like you have tried everything to no avail, I encourage you to look into ADHD (which looks different in men and women) and seek help and support.
I struggle with ADHD myself and find it extremely hard to complete necessary tasks. I remember maybe 2 years ago you made a article about the “3-2-1 Rule” and I was using it for awhile (and it was working) but for some reason or another I resorted back to procrastination… More than likely because it’s “easier” to procrastinate than actually doing a necessary task. I’m going to give some of these a try and see if it helps. Thank you for your dedication to your craft! -P Edit 12-28-21 – Thank you for all the kind words and support on this post! Happy New Year 2022!
that was interesting. some of those techniques i came up with on my own as well. and some i‘ll try out tomorrow. not because i‘m procrastinating, but because i‘m done working for today. i‘m relaxing on youtube right now. but i‘m close to my bedtime, wich fits the theme a bit. Make rules for yourself. every day you stick to your own rule it makes that rule more important. there was a time when i went to bed really really late each day, but suddenly i started to set a time for that. so i went to bed at the same time every day and got more sleep. it works!
The do-something principle I “discovered” by myself when I was writing my dissertation. At first, it was like “I have no idea how to structure the whole thing”, but after I just start typing what I knew about the subject, ideas started to flow. It was pretty simple: the more I did “something”, the more the ideas flow.
While having depression, perusal your articles actually helps me out to start doing someone or at least think in that direction. For all those years I’m perusal you, I can’t describe how thankful I am. The production and overall message in every of your articles is so over the top. Just wanted to say, that you are doing a great job and please keep doing what you doing – for me it is some kind of magic or sense to move on and live longer. Thank you.
Recently my productivity has been amazing and I actually look forward to doing school work as early as possible. The most important thing for me was changing my environment. All I did was 1.) remove any distractions I had (addictions, article games, subscriptions) to make it impossible to indulge in them 2.) Secondly, just as important, I renovated my desk space to make it look as nice as possible. I figured that if I have a nice workplace that I enjoy, it would motivate me to get more work done. If you remove the obstacles in your life and make it easier to achieve your goals, I feel like life becomes easy mode. So sell/get rid of anything distracting you and also spend less time on the internet during your breaks (they drain your energy more).
I use the 3-2-1 rule all the time – particularly when starting unpleasant but necessary conversations (when I have to be the one who has to initiate). Works like a charm. Essentially, the backward counting has this huge psychological effect of getting us in a mindset of an active ‘doer’ instead of a passive ‘planner’. It’s like saying to yourself, “Hurry! The time is up! Don’t think, ACT!”.
The 3-2-1 finger count method reminds me strongly of the japanese train driver methods for assuring attention. Every signal, departure, look at instruments etc. is accompanied by an obligatory pointing with the finger. Apparently your brain better memorizes and analysises thoughts and information that way. I think a similar mechanism is in question with your method.
Until the task becomes habitual, this is the most unpleasant time as you actively need to do it. Consistency helped me the most: Start as little as possible, let’s take writing – write a sheet a day, starting with just one sentence. As explained in the article pomodoro technique (I think), you won’t stop at just one sentence. Is the start habituated, the actual doing becomes easier – at least for me.
I just really want to mention that step 3 and 4 can go together perfectly. The action in step 3 can be cleaning your desk so after its cleaned you can start getting shit done. Its so weird but I never watched this and can relate so much. I often times do a countdown, clean my desk, get dressed and then get to work eating frogs.
Nice! I’ve used a lot of these tips. Another one I really love to use is to pair your unpleasant tasks with something fun that is not a distraction, but still an escape. Eat that frog whilst perusal youtube! Intense visual and hand coordination needed? Listen to an audiobook! Forming words in your head? Listen to Ratatat. lol Then you can look forward to eating the frog because you get to engage in a pleasurable activity that is just for you, while getting the work that you don’t really care about done.
1. knowing something will have to happen means you should not put it off because it will put a strain on everything else you do. do it immediately. 2. three second rule. give yourself 3 seconds to get up and start. Convince yourself you have 3 seconds, say the words aloud and start. 3. motivation/ inspiration starts only from action. not the other way around. 4. the physical environment surrounding you influences the way you feel. again. start with cleaning then the change in headspace begins. not the other way around 5. the digital environment you collect is just as vital as the physical. distractions make you procrastinate and don’t allow you to get into deep work. 6. stare at one thing for one minute. 60 seconds looking at one specific target creates incredible focus, less eyemovement and controlled breathing. 7. set a timer for 15 minutes to allow your distractions to control your breaktime. allowing yourself to take a break. the intention makes the break more forfilling
Before perusal this article, I was struggling with motivation the past week, thinking my depression might have come back. But I decided it is now or never to clean my room. Once I started doing the laundry, the snowball effect you mentioned in number 3 kind of helped me to finish almost all the chores I have been piling up for the past 2 weeks. My room is so clean and nice now that it makes me feel so powerful and energetic. Completely proved your number 4 is correct.🥰
Here are also somethings that have helped me with my procrastination – setting reminders on my phone helps a lot but recently I started writing them on sticky notes and putting them on my desk ( so Im always seeing them) – for social media distractions I set time limits on the app and hid them from the homescreen so if I want to use a app then I’ll have to search up the app and then open it – Another thing I do which is similar to one of the things you covered in the article is that if I can do it in 60 seconds, I just do it and get it over with. This can be something minimal as just getting up and putting something on a shelf.
the action -> inspiration -> motivation loop seems to mirror the components of the cognitive behavioral therapy triangle: behavior, thoughts, emotions. there’s no implied order in the CBT triangle as each component can affect the other (and I’m sure there’s some feedback in the AIM loop) but your suggested model here is proof to me that action/behavior is most actionable (go figure) and oftentimes probably the best place to start. good article
Anime “I want to eat your pancreas” helped me less procrastinate. The question I asked myself after perusal it was “If I can die at any moment, what is holding me back from the things that I want to do before death”. Story is about a girl who had “things-to-do-before-death” list because she suffered from cancer. I found parallel with myself, considering myself ill with longer-term cancer called life which will lead me to unpreventable death.
Great tips! Also never underestimate the power of physical exercise to regain mental focus and stay productive throughout the day. It doesn’t need to be a 2 hour HIIT session; a 20-30 minute walk and some pushups does wonders if you’re not used to working out. 40% of people in my country spend 11 hours a day sitting at their chairs in front of a computer. Always make sure your working space is provided with fresh air and your ergonomics/posture is all good in the hood. Thank you have a nice day 🙂
Tip #8, by planning the distractions, they will lose power. If you consciously and subconsciously know that you will check them at a certain time, then you can safely ignore them without the guilt. More in general, it is about making the entry as easy as possible to just plunge into the activity. This requires a good exit before but this habit will make things way easier in the long term
I did the 123 thing as soon as you mentioned it and did something I had to do for an hour but kept ignoring. It’s so funny because it reminds me of lucid dreams, sometimes, for no apparent reason, you realize you were dreaming and everything around you changes. It’s like it instantly makes you concious of the situation you’re in and the only was out is to act.
Interestingly, something I did in the “purge your digital surroundings” space is to delete the YT subs that don’t directly add to my life in some positive way. Does it give me food for thought? Teach me something? Motivate me (music or the like)? Or is it just a time dump? I went from 100s of subs to like 45 and now my YT homepage is starting to seem less like entertainment and more like meditations on where I want to be in life. It’s a good deal 🙂
One thing to say about the chaotic environment point. I have known many people to struggle with this (including myself), but not in the way you describe. They actually avoid doing whats important all the time because all they do is clean and re decorate. In my life this has been a way bigger issue than just doing the important work in a messy environment, and cleaning it up later. Its like they are addicted to the satisfaction of cleaning, its much easier to do house chores than hard work. No work ever gets done because the house is never clean or organized enough. With the pace of life the chores never end and the cycle never ends. I wonder how this could be solved?
I used to do the confront distractions tip but it became counter-productive when my surroundings were chaotic and induced me to go beyond the given time limit. I also like when you said psychological momentum because unknowingly, I have been doing some of these tips in the past to gain psychological momentum (without knowing what that term is). However, I began to stop when I thought of time management and had the misconception of just doing the work immediately without giving myself that momentum. That term ‘psychological momentum’ just made sense because having momentum lessens the friction (frustration) to do the things I need to do. Very helpful article!
I was a big procrastinator. I like this article and will implement some of the techniques. As a life coach, what has really helped me was something I learned from a book about most successful people and their techniques that helped them along the way: Writing to do lists but highlighting the things you did instead of scratching them off. This becomes a positive psychological motivator to show yourself that you are making progress. It helps you to move forward. Surround yourself with “go getters”. When I have specific tasks that need to get done, I ask an administratively gifted friend to help. Really works as I am the visionary not the admin. Use an ADHD timer. About $20-$30. Set the clock to whatever amount of time you need, and it shows minutes in red color. This is most helpful for the person who feels overwhelmed but can see the timer counting down. It has actually been tested to cause one to be more productive. ADD/ADHD creative people procrastinate more when they have a lot of time on their hands. Hmmm…I should have made my own YouTube article.
Man, I gotta thank you for these tips. My days became better just by perusal your articles and I apply it to myself. I’m really stucked in a rut as an architecture student. I took this course knowing that I’m not that good, the only thing I have is the burning passion to do this course but lately negative thoughts is consuming me. Just by perusal these articles past few days helped me. Thanks man.
Man, whenever I play your article it feels like me and my big brother just having a hard conversation about a problem and I know you’re right and wise, I’m not a baby anymore and I’m like okay but why does everything has to be so hard and complicated and I’m not crying but I’m like okay AAAAAAAAAAAA 😫
Master procrastinator here: When you have to eat a frog every day you may just have not find the right way to procrastinate right. You don’t eat one every day, you don’t wait for 30 days until the workload is overwhelming. You wait around 15 days (the sweet there are a bunch, but it could be worse moment). On that day you put all frogs in a blender and chug it down in one setting. Yes, you will feel terrible and exhausted, BUT: You have 14 days on which you can feel good about it. Just don’t try to bring your kids to school 15 times a day every other week. That will not really work out all that well…
Here are the key points about procrastination tips from the article: – Eat the frog – Do the most unpleasant but inevitable task first thing in the morning so you can get it over with and not dread it all day. – The 3-2-1 rule – Count down 3-2-1 to build momentum before starting an unpleasant task. The counting is easy so it bridges the gap to action. – The do-something principle – Take any action, even a small one, to build momentum and motivation to take further action. – Purge physical surroundings – Clear clutter and distractions to create an environment conducive to focus and productivity. – Purge digital distractions – Eliminate apps, sites and notifications that constantly grab your attention and lead to procrastination. – Stare at one thing – Intense focus for 60 seconds can redirect a scattered mind and boost concentration. – Confront distractions first – Intentionally engage with distractions for a set time so your mind feels it got what it wanted before focusing. The key is to build momentum with small actions, create an environment conducive to deep work, and remove digital distractions and clutter begging for attention.
I focused on observing the three tips ahead and was distracted by the three tips behind; I’ll revisit it later, I told myself to avoid delay. After a few days, I started reviewing because I tested myself with the previous three tips I looked at, tip 1 and 3 worked great for me. And now, I’ve watched the entire article with great concentration; I am very grateful for this article. A great article that should be known by more people!
I get up, make coffee, feed my cat then sit from morning to night on my computer, can’t afford cable. I’m 69, I’m single, social security, small pension. My advice is to Not Spend Money on crap…procrastinate and ask yourself “do I need this or do I want this” and keep this principle in your life “one on, one in the draw and one in the wash” enough said, vivid specifics. 💜
Wow – I actually specifically find # 6 very intriguing and interesting; I definitely think it could be very effective for sure, can’t wait to try it! They are all really great and useful tips, thank you! Also, I think # 7 is so super practical, thanks; it will totally be helpful for some people if not actually most people! 🙂
Procrastination is simply a means to escape from a boring or a difficult task. Think about the two keywords, BORING and DIFFUCLT. For a better chance to not procrastinate commit time to make your task less boring or less difficult. Boring tasks are usually tasks that are either easy or not in line with your core values or goals. Re-think why you are doing those tasks in case of the latter or challenge yourself to complete those tasks in the least amount of time if they are easy. Hard tasks can be tackled by splitting them into smaller chunks, take the time to analyze the complex problem and see if it can be split into smaller simpler problems. If we use the frog analogy in the article, simply cut the frog into bite sized pieces and eat them one by one, and preferably set a time limit to eat the whole frog. Have you ever heard of the term flow state ? It’s when we are working on a task hard and interesting enough to demand our maximum skill and focus all while being in line with our core values. When you are in the flow state you have NO chance to get distracted and NO chance to procrastinate. Hope this helps, now get off YouTube and get to work 😉
Summer of the article: 1. Eat the frog – Do your ugliast task first thing in the morning. 2. 3-2-1 rule – Star by saying 3 – 2 – 1, do something, take action 3. “Do something ” principle – Make a list of smaller action items and start doing them. 4. Purge your physical surroundings – Eliminate distractions on your physical office 5. Purge your digital surroundings – Eliminate distraction on your digital spaces. 6. Stare at 1 thing for 60 seconds – Do something for at least some time so you can build momentum. 7. Confront your distractions before working – Identify your distraction and then work on eliminating the distractions Another thing you can do is to keep yourself accountable to be able to do the things you need to do. When you keep yourself accountable you are more likely to do it because you will have to report to someone. As an accountability coach I can tell you that accountability helpful for a lot of people. Test and see if accountability is something can be helpful fo you to deal with procrastination.
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the work i produce when i’m in an uninspired and unmotivated state is always so poor. the quality of work is embarrassingly bad. even simple emails are riddled with typos. but i understand how important it is just to get started because something is usually better than nothing. it’s important to assess why you are procrastinating and i realized that mine is fear of failure. so I’m realizing to cure my procrastination i have to address what is causing the fear and if the fears can be mitigated in some way, or if i can rationalize my thinking around the fear.
6:45 an ADHD-esque brain? As someone who is autistic with ADHD, when people who are neurotypical (without ADHD/ASD etc.) co-opt these terms in their own language, it only serves to reduce and simplify our experiences as neurodivergent people, who live in a world that isn’t ever gonna jive with us. Be clear; are you living with ADHD, or not? If you don’t know or aren’t, then you aren’t helping when we say stuff like “ADHD-esque”.
So I after perusal this 3rd article about curing my procrastination… I finally wrote the tips on a sticky-note and started imedietly with the 3-2-1-Rule to get back to work and started with the 60sec-stare at a fixed point. My experience from the 1st time: It was hard to keep my eyes from wandering and the thought were running wild, while keeping the stare. So before I could finish my thought about how long I’m already in the alarm went off! After that I felt my eyes were fixed behind my eyeballs and I was bit more focused on the work in front of me! The “Do something”-Principal works well for me, I got never to worry about the dishes haha!!
Eat the frog first, instantly know it’s not for ADHD, tried this many times, and it just meant being paralysed from doing any of my important tasks. Better I do homework for my favourite subjects then spend hours pacing around struggling to get myself to do the homework that feels like pulling teeth, ending up getting no homework done and falling behind in school.
Regarding the tip “purge your digital surroundings” setting up “Focus” on your iphone is a fantastic way to separate your apps into “work” and “personal” meaning i only have work-related notifications coming through during 9-5, and after it switches to personal and i do not get work notifications to help with work life balance. Easy to set up and makes a HUGE difference in managing distractions.
Waking up early is not beneficial if you’re going to bed late like sleeping post 12’O clock and asking your body to complete sleep cycle faster just makes no sense. A sleep cycle lasts 90 min and for a healthy sleep you need 5 cycles that’s 7-8 hrs of sleep and sleeping between 10-12 is most beneficial than 12-3 and sleeping after 3am is the worst.
0:49 – “Eat the frog” method Mark Twain quote: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” Doing unpleasant tasks early in the day reduces anxiety and avoids accumulation of tasks Delaying unpleasant tasks leads to thinking about them all day, and eventually having more to do 2:10 – “3-2-1 rule” Count down from three to one, and then do the task you are avoiding The counting provides psychological momentum towards the task Action can generate motivation, not just the other way around 3:23 – “Do-something principle” Action can be the cause of motivation, not just the effect Waiting for inspiration and motivation can be inefficient and unpredictable Starting with small, simple actions can generate momentum towards larger tasks 4:53 – “Purge your physical surroundings” Cluttered and disorganized physical spaces can contribute to procrastination Clearing out physical space can reduce distractions and improve focus Getting rid of unnecessary items can reduce mental clutter and improve motivation 6:12 – Conclusion These methods can be effective in reducing procrastination, but everyone is different Experiment with different methods to find what works best for you.
Another few things about stopping procrastination: Meditation – build the session length up at your own pace. You can start from 1m a day as long as you are intentional in it. You can do 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the evening and 10 minutes every time you feel distracted. It may not seem like much but it will truly benefit you, perhaps sooner than you might expect. Remember, there is not such thing as “being unable to meditate”. You can meditate anywhere and anyhow as long as you set your mind to it; Journaling – for some reason, even if nothing important has happened during a given day, your brain insists on remembering some unnecessary details that gather up as time goes, and by journaling you can transfer those details to paper and assure your brain that the information won’t be lost and can be accessed any time you want, even if that’s not the case. This way, you make space in your mind for the more important things. It will take only 15 minutes every evening (depending on how you do it and how much you care about detail) and is absolutely life-changing; Habit Tracking – personally, I find it very stressful to try and remember all of my habits for every given day, let alone actually follow through with them, so I’ve decided on using a habit tracker for every little thing I might forget, like pulling my curtains apart, making my bed etc. I have maybe over 50 different habits in my tracker, and you could have even more depending on how much you want to simplify things (the more specific a task, the easier it is to do).
I liked the last tip i think it will work for me because i cannot focus on what i am doing when i try to keep my self away from distraction i start thinking that maybe i get notifications on insta or facebook or maybe people that i follow posted sth interesting and i stop whatever i do to go and check social media i am gonna apply that tip and see if it’s worth it