10 Steps for Defeating Procrastination
I am a great procrastinator. I like to over-analyze whether I am actually procrastinating in different situations or whether I am being productive (this is a great procrastination behavior, by the way). Sometimes I like to think that my excuse for procrastination is that I have too many other things to do… I cannot know for sure whether this is true. Notice, when I over-analyze my procrastination, I am not actually taking steps toward doing the things that I need to get done. It is really easy to be tempted to then analyze why I know I am not doing things that need to get done…which leads me to further procrastination. Since I have experienced procrastination myself, I totally can understand if/when you choose to procrastinate AND I have specific steps you can take that WORK to resolve procrastination.
Procrastination is often caused by anxiety and other unprocessed emotions that provide us with an illusion of productivity. Sometimes, we have good insight into our lack of productivity when procrastinating - we realize that we are fooling ourselves. Other times, we fully believe our procrastination is helpful.
Regardless of your level of insight, if you are reading this, you may be procrastinating. If part of you finds this to be true, I encourage you to do the steps that I recommend to overcome procrastination as you read this.
First, write down a list of all of the things you are currently worrying about or feeling big emotions about. Write this list quickly and recklessly on a piece of paper or type it out on a computer. “Quickly and recklessly” means that you write it down like word vomit, rather than analyzing what you are writing before writing it down.
Then, categorize all of your worries into the following categories: 1) Things I have complete control over, 2) Things I have some control over, and 3) Things I have absolutely no control over. Categorize these quickly and recklessly as well. If you are struggling to do this, set a time for yourself for 5 minutes MAX.
Look at your list of things that you have full or some control over. Pick ONE that may or may not be the most pressing or most important at this time. If you are not sure, guess quickly and recklessly. Doing something to resolve any one of them is likely better than not doing any and instead stewing in your head about which one is best.
Once you have picked one thing you are going to focus on that is fully or somewhat within your control, identity what the problem is in the situation. Is the problem that I do not know what the problem is? Is the problem that I do not know how to handle my own emotions in this situation? Is the problem that I am struggling to accept the reality of the situation? You do not have to know the answer for sure at this point, so again, write it quickly and recklessly.
Next, think about whether there may be any errors in your thinking with the problem you wrote. For example, I have observed some people write, “I can do nothing right.” This is likely not true because they can probably do something right. If this is the case, narrow down what you mean so that the problem statement is true. This might mean that the original statement, “I can do nothing right” is actually, “I do not know what to do in my relationship with my partner.” You may not have any thinking errors - and that’s fine! If you do not have any thinking errors, you can bypass this step.
Once you have somewhat finalized your problem, think about what your goal is for that problem. This will help you also identify any gaps in your problem. For example, If your problem is, “I don’t know what to do in my relationship with my partner” but your goal is “For them to fix [fill in the blank],” then your problem may be that you do not know how to handle your own feelings in response to their choices and/or you do not know how to accept what you cannot control.
Now you have your goal, which means we start word vomiting again as a form of brainstorming. This time, however, we are specifically brainstorming solutions to our problem that can help us move toward our goal. IMPORTANT TIP: Resist the urge to judge the options that come to your mind as “good” or “bad.” Literally, write down all of the options that you have, even if there is a part of you that knows that you will never choose a certain option. For example, if you are having a hard time controlling your anger, you technically have an option of punching holes in walls or thinking about how to seriously hurt someone who bothers you. This does NOT mean that you will plan to choose those options in working towards managing your anger more effectively. And yet, these technically are still options. The beautiful thing about writing down all of your options is that it helps you come back to your overall values and goals later when you reflect on them. For example, if you value relationships and being a kind person, you will likely realize that thinking about how to seriously harm someone is completely opposite of what is actually important to you in life. Spend MAX 10 minutes on this part to prevent yourself from procrastinating in choosing a solution.
You are now done brainstorming. It is time to figure out which solution is “best” (even if there may not be a “best” option). If there is one clear option that you believe to be best, then choose that and move on to the next step. If you still are not sure, then identify the two options that might be the best. You do not have to know for sure, so choose quickly and recklessly - you might try to find the “best” option as a form of procrastination. List out the pros and cons of choosing each option. You may not have a super clear answer after going through the pros and cons, which means that either option may be just as good as the other. Quickly and recklessly PICK ONE.
Implement the solution NOW. If you are unable to implement it now, take one action towards doing it. For example, if your plan is to talk to a family member about something they said that hurt your feelings, but they are busy or you are at work, you can send a text or make a phone call NOW to that person about wanting to talk later in order to increase the likelihood of actually implementing your solution. Procrastination is very sneaky and can make us think that we will implement the solution later regardless of what we do now. This is false. Do something NOW.
After you implement the solution fully, you can evaluate whether the solution you chose actually helped you with your problem in bringing you closer to your goal. If it did, yay! If it did not, that can suck AND that means that you get to move on to the other solution you were considering trying.
To make an appointment with a therapist to gain more skills to overcome procrastination call our office at 801.944.4555 or contact us through our website.
