Killing Procrastination

Recently I came across an article on procrastination, you should really check it out it’s amazing.

Why Procrastinators Procrastinate - Wait But Why

It explains the existence of the Instant Gratification Monkey. The pest that keeps us from doing what must get done and instead sends us down a loophole of the most random videos on Youtube. I won’t explain what the article says (because I really think you should read it yourself) but I will lay out what sort of steps I will follow to tape the mouth of the monkey shut forever. This is honestly a little more for me than you but feel free to follow along, make any suggestions, and try yourself.

So at the core, you are supposed to stop listening to the Monkey; that part is obvious. But how? There are 3 steps that I am going to use to approach any task or goal. They are:

1. Set a shorter deadline.
2. List out action steps.
3. Just fucking try.

So let me explain and then you can critique and comment.

Set a shorter deadline

In the article, there is mention of the Panic Monster: the arch nemesis of the Monkey. When the panic monster comes in, the Monkey flees for most procrastinators. For other, I think rarer procrastinators, they flee with the Monkey. Luckily I am not one of those people but if you are, you might still benefit from this.

But for starters, the panic monster basically appears when there is so little time left to complete a task. Suppose you had an English Essay assigned three weeks ago but being the wonderful procrastinator you are, you wait till the night before the deadline. That’s when the panic monster appears. And when the monster comes you become anxious, hyper-focused, and extremely fucked. That’s when you start to do whatever it is you have to and while you may finish it on time and turn it in, it’s certainly not your best work. You didn’t finish it on time because of your amazing productivity skills; the panic monster essentially forced you to. So, believe it or not, for chronic procrastinators, the panic monster can be a force of good! But how can you leverage the strength of this guy? Set shorter deadlines!

Now this will work better for internal tasks that don’t have any deadlines imposed on you by others. Tasks that you set for yourself and plan on completing. But with the right mental training, I think this will work for any task or job whether it was assigned by someone else or yourself.

To put it simply, if you set an internal task, set a deadline that is as short as possible. Everyone has their own definition of short and so you must really analyze when and how frequent your panic monster appears for you to be able to set a properly short deadline. For me, my panic monster appears 48–6 hours before a deadline based on the length of the task. So I will set all my deadlines within that frame. I will try to lure my monster into my mind the second I create the task so that he forces me to complete it. By inducing that fear mongering demon out, you will be pressed to your back trying to finish tasks because from the beginning, you have no time to procrastinate!

But now, obviously you know you are doing this on purpose. Or if it is a task that is assigned to be due in 3 weeks by someone else, even if you set a 48 Hour deadline, you know when it is really due. If you know, the panic monster will find out too. So how do you implement this step without it just looking good on paper? Tell everyone and yourself that it is due within 48 hours. Telling yourself is the first step which slowly starts reinforcing the idea that it’s due much earlier than anticipated but what really works is telling everyone around you that you have to finish task X by tomorrow at midnight (even though its due a couple weeks from now). People are very motivated by what others think of them. So if you tell everyone that your essay is due tomorrow, one they will stop bothering you, two, they’ll subconsciously monitor you and ask you why you’re on Youtube instead of working on your essay, and three, you’ll want to look productive and be your best self in front of others, so you actually try and do it. Once you start, which is the hardest part, you keep going and finish by your set deadline. So set a short deadline and to keep on the short deadline, tell people around you.

List out action steps

This is covered directly in part 2 of the article:

How to Beat Procrastination - Wait But Why

In summary, if you had to finish certain tasks, be specific in your plan and to-do list.

Here’s an example of a bad to-do list/plan:

1. Call Sarah
2. History Essay
3. Groceries

Now here’s an example of a good to-do list/plan

1. Call Sarah at 9 AM and talk about the issues on page 4 and 5 of the main performance suite excel sheet.

Notes: Have to update client services and contact client to see if they are still with terms of what is on page 4.

Problems with execution of tests on page 5, check with Ruiz and Sundar to make sure the tech team is aware of the problems and are working on it.

2.) Read pages 40–68 in History Textbook and summarize so that you have quotes for your history essay.

Notes: Sources on class website. Look through chapter 13 notes and gather 3 important figures to talk about in essay. Prompt: Which artist most influenced the baroque period of classical art? Breakdown: 1 Intro, 5 Body, 1 Summary. Minimum 5 pages.

3.) Go pick up milk, kale, chicken, bread and lemonade from trader joes.

Notes: Get whole milk.

See how specific the second list is? It has action steps; it tells you what to do. The first one generalizes and leaves you guessing what to do. Because the first one lacks specificity, it seems much harder. You don’t know where to start and thus have to do a lot more preparation which everyone knows is the worst part of any task. The second one has everything listed out. You know exactly what to do and where to start. You also have notes to further explain your action steps. Looking at the second list, I know what I need to do and can start easily. Like I said before, the biggest problem is starting. With a list simple and unclear like the first one, the confusion of not knowing where to start will make me procrastinate until I have so little time left that I’m forced to start. So implement specificity in your plans and you will find yourself starting a lot quicker.

Just Fucking Try

I shouldn’t have to explain this one. But for the sake of specificity let me say this, there are always two thoughts going on in your head, “should I do it now or after another episode, should I shower now or tomorrow, should I gym now or later tonight?” “Now or later?” Try to choose now as much as possible. Build the habit of choosing the now. It will be extremely hard in the beginning but start with simple things like should I watch the dishes now or after TV? Wash them now! Should I clean the litter box now or tomorrow? Clean it now! Should I call John now or later? Call him now! (okay unless it’s like 1 am and John is sleeping) You get the point. Sooner or later, these small “now decisions” will start translating to bigger and bigger decisions. Building a habit is like building a muscle, you start with smaller weights and eventually you’ll be lifting many pounds. Start with one “now decision” a day. Next week, add two “now decisions.” The third week, 3, and by week 52 you’ll make 52 “now decisions” in a day. Wow! Could you imagine how productive you could be?

So put in a little effort today and try to make one “now decision.” Try to set a short deadline, make the “now decision,” tell your friends, and start. Make a specific plan and implement. There is no secret, it’s all about being consistent and building the right habits. Following all these steps sequentially will help you get where you want to go and if they don’t work for you, tweak them, heck disregard all of them! But it is important that you make a specific personal action plan that is tailored to the way you work and interact with tasks.

I hope you’re not procrastinating right now…

Cheers!