Breaking tasks into micro-goals and setting personal deadlines can make overcoming procrastination much easier. Photo / 123RF
From using a timer to creating ‘micro-goals’, a productivity coach shares some simple tips to beating procrastination
No one is born a procrastinator. But when we’re faced with doing something boring, painful, or difficult, many of us can get stuck before we even begin.
Or it could be that you start a project, then run out of steam.
We’ll make excuses that there’s plenty of time, or we’ll do it when we’ve done something else and before we know it, we’ve fallen down the rabbit hole on Instagram or we’re endlessly scrolling through cat videos.
Over the past 20 years, I’ve helped hundreds of people from all over the world overcome procrastination – students, professionals and entrepreneurs.
The problem cuts across age, gender, ethnicity, education, and intelligence. People affected by neurodiversity, including ADHD, are particularly prone.
Last year, a United States survey found that 78% of people will procrastinate despite it making them anxious, and 99% overall admit to procrastinating.
Even the most driven people suffer from it. Passionate young entrepreneurs with great business plans struggle to get started or feel overwhelmed.
Others have a longstanding ambition such as applying for a better job or wanting to write their will. They might be putting off addressing a health issue or avoiding having difficult conversations with family.
People also put off ‘fun’ tasks – organising a family event, reconnecting with old friends or booking a holiday. By the time they get round to it, the prices have gone up and the options are more limited.
Fortunately, there are practical steps that can help you break through the inertia:
There is a lot of stigma about procrastination. Clients are full of self-criticism, self-judgement, guilt, and shame. That’s why being told to “buck up” doesn’t work.
Nobody likes being told what to do, and they’re already so hard on themselves. It takes time, patience and compassion to change this behaviour. Understand what this task means to you, and how does it matter to other people?
Ask: do I want to please my boss or my partner, but most importantly, what does it mean to me?
You might struggle to find intrinsic motivation because it seems like you’re just doing it to meet other people’s needs and expectations, but you can take pride in running a successful business, being in charge of your finances or any other goal.
Buying into a purpose is crucial, feeling an emotional investment in getting it done.
It’s common to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of a task and put it off out of anxiety.
I worked with someone whose house sale fell through because she delayed doing the paperwork and underestimated the time it would take. “Time blindness” is a big problem. By the time she got started, she didn’t have time to access all the information required and the sale collapsed.
Break the task into “micro-goals”. If you’ve got a report to write or a whole room to tidy, you don’t have to do it all in one go.
Allocate zones or bullet-point the different stages you need to accomplish so that it becomes manageable. If you get stuck at the beginning, try doing a mind map.
You don’t have to start at the very beginning. If you need to send an email, you can write the middle section first then write the beginning afterwards. That helps you get over the hump of starting.
An initial micro-goal of just reading the forms – not doing it all at once – could’ve given my client an idea of the time-frame for her house-sale. The second micro-goal could’ve just been to request the information.
Recognising the negative consequences of delaying, or that there’s a reward to being proactive, may help you break through.
One client struggled with tax returns, causing him great anxiety and massive arguments with his partner over the financial penalties they faced each year.
What helped was talking about what to do with that money instead, for example going away for the weekend.
Eventually his partner said that for the £100 ($220) penalty he incurred, she would buy herself a pair of boots, so he resolved to file his return on time. Translating the problem into a tangible thing helped them to fix it.
“Productive procrastination” is when instead of dealing with a priority, you’re doing something else.
Maybe you clean the fridge or clear out the garage because you have this need to do something else. The primary task is avoided with the illusion that you’re doing something just as important.
A client in the midst of divorce proceedings and needing to complete a huge batch of forms, including a financial statement, found it too daunting and instead became preoccupied with decluttering the kitchen, clearing out the fridge and emptying out the Tupperware drawer.
When so much in life seemed to be spinning out of control – marriage, family, finances, etc – it was strangely satisfying to match up dozens of colourful containers with their lids, and then organise them back in the drawer, according to shape and size. But she was only delaying the inevitable.
Perfectionism challenges one’s ability to prioritise and to make decisions.
Advertisers sell us the myth of perfection: a perfect holiday or perfect job. I spent over a year deciding on the sofa for my lounge because I wanted the ‘perfect’ one.
We can learn to accept that things can be good enough – or even excellent – without being perfect.
If you don’t have the skill set to do a task to the standard you would like, it could be worth delegating it to someone with more experience.
The self-employed or those who run a business have to multitask and often avoid doing things they don’t like, focusing just on the tasks they’re good at.
I discuss their to-do list and ask them to think about what they can outsource or delegate. When managing your to-do list, ask yourself: am I the best person to do this?
Many people believe they work best under pressure, but maybe the end result isn’t as good as it could be when done at the last minute?
If you like the pressure of deadlines, set your own “micro” ones while getting things done ahead of time. See if you can beat the clock.
It’s amazing what you can accomplish in 15 minutes – just enough time to break through the inertia. It’s short enough so you won’t get bored, but long enough to really make an impact on the first step.
Just read one paragraph, write one line, or think about one decision.
The Pomodoro method is a classic way of beating procrastination: set a timer for 25 minutes to do a task, take a five-minute break, then do another 25 minutes, followed by another short break and another 25-minutes and so on until the task is done.
Saying “I need” to do something is very different to saying “I will” do it.
There’s very little wiggle room when using intentional language, and it’s also less emotional. Instead of focusing on a “deadline”, think about a “lifeline”.
Deadlines are scary, so think about when you’re going to give life to a project. Ask: when am I actually going to start it?
Arrange with a friend or even a professional to keep you company in-person or online. Or just tell somebody that you’re going to do something to make yourself accountable, then check in with them after half an hour, then after an hour and so on.
When you tell somebody that you’re going to do something, you’re more likely to do it.
Play music or listen to a podcast if you’re doing housework, paperwork, or anything you know is going to be boring.
Keeping your mind occupied with a podcast or an audiobook will help you stay on track.
What’s Your Excuse for not Being More Productive? by Juliet Landau-Pope is out now
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