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Why You're A Couch Potato: Understanding The Science Of Procrastination
In this video, we'll delve into the science of procrastination and
explore why you might be a couch potato. Stay tuned to learn how to
focus and master your productivity!
Focus Master: 37 Tips to Stay Present, Ignore Distractions, and Finish
the Task at Hand (Mental and Emotional Abundance Book 10) By: Nick
Trenton
Hear it Here - https://bit.ly/FocusMasterTrenton
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G12LB65
00:00:00 Focus Master
00:04:23 The Procrastination Cycle.
00:09:41 Unhelpful Assumptions Or Made-Up Rules.
00:25:49 The Lizard Brain.
00:35:02 Driven By Impulse.
00:43:29 Nine Procrastination Scales.
Overhaul your approach to concentration and productivity using
strategic, science-proven methods to save hours a day and achieve twice
as much.
Your current focus and productivity tactics might be “adequate.” But
they will never be great or reach their potential if you don’t
understand how your psychology and physiology work together to affect
your focus.
Transcript
Focus Master:
Speaker:37 Tips to Stay Present,
Speaker:Ignore Distractions,
Speaker:and Finish the Task at Hand (Mental and Emotional Abundance Book 10)
Speaker:Written by
Speaker:Nick Trenton, narrated by russell newton.
Speaker:“Procrastination Is Opportunity’S Assassin."
Speaker:|.
Speaker:- Victor Kiam You have met procrastination before.
Speaker:It needs no introduction,
Speaker:especially when you’ve known it all your life.
Speaker:Since the moment you were old enough to recognize that you actually have the
Speaker:option to build a Lego castle rather than sit down to do your math homework,
Speaker:procrastination has been there in the background as the devil on your shoulder,
Speaker:encouraging you to do what is worst for you.
Speaker:It’s like your shadow;
Speaker:you just can’t shake it,
Speaker:it’s always with you,
Speaker:and it’s easy to forget about.
Speaker:But unlike your shadow,
Speaker:it’s dead set on ruining your life!
Speaker:Now you’re stuck with it and are having problems because it’s starting to
Speaker:control you,
Speaker:like one of those relationships that started out fun and exciting but gradually
Speaker:morphed into something that just caused you unhappiness.
Speaker:You know the ones I’m talking about.
Speaker:So you want to break up with it to get your life back on track,
Speaker:but you don’t know how.
Speaker:The answer in finally regaining control from the demoralizing domination of
Speaker:procrastination starts with understanding what you are dealing with and how you
Speaker:continually get tricked into handing over the reins to it over and over again.
Speaker:The term “procrastination” was derived from the Latin pro,
Speaker:meaning “forward,
Speaker:forth,
Speaker:or in favor of,” and crastinus,
Speaker:meaning “of tomorrow."
Speaker:Its literal translation can thus be taken to be the moving forward of something
Speaker:to tomorrow or favoring tomorrow as the ideal time.
Speaker:Action is never for today;
Speaker:it’s always another moment to be dealt with later.
Speaker:For our purposes,
Speaker:procrastination is the act or habit of putting off something to a future time.
Speaker:It involves delaying what needs to be done until the last moment,
Speaker:often to the endpoint of not doing it at all.
Speaker:It involves a certain amount of self-sabotage and ignorance of any future
Speaker:consequences.
Speaker:It causes undue stress and anxiety,
Speaker:often at the pursuit of short-term gratification.
Speaker:It is responsible for an untold number of lost opportunities.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:it’s a mistake to assume that procrastination occurs simply because there is
Speaker:boredom or discomfort.
Speaker:They are parts of the problem,
Speaker:but in reality,
Speaker:much more goes into our lack of action.
Speaker:Just tackling an alleged lack of motivation and interest in something you need
Speaker:to do only shallowly addresses procrastination.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:the thought of having to write out a twenty-thousand-word research paper will
Speaker:certainly cause feelings of boredom and discomfort,
Speaker:so you may delay working on the task for as long as you can.
Speaker:A movie sounds more fun,
Speaker:stimulating,
Speaker:and comfortable.
Speaker:The next thing you know,
Speaker:you’ve put off writing the paper until it’s just a day before the
Speaker:deadline—which wasn’t exactly a rational move,
Speaker:given the sheer size of work involved.
Speaker:You feel guilt and shame about letting things get that far,
Speaker:but you still didn’t sit at your computer to start typing.
Speaker:You miss your deadline,
Speaker:lose your job,
Speaker:and your cat runs away from home.
Speaker:Suppose the twenty-thousand-word research paper was on a topic that you found
Speaker:stimulating and fun and comfortable.
Speaker:Are you so sure that you would wake up eagerly each morning,
Speaker:ready to start typing and editing?
Speaker:It might help,
Speaker:but it’s still an unpleasant activity that you would rather substitute with
Speaker:fun.
Speaker:Also,
Speaker:consider how many things you currently avoid even though they are relatively
Speaker:fun and comfortable.
Speaker:They are too numerous to name.
Speaker:This means there is something deeper going on here that keeps you glued to your
Speaker:couch,
Speaker:physically or figuratively.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:there is a cycle that researchers have articulated,
Speaker:and this is the first of the reasons in this chapter that you are a couch
Speaker:potato.
Speaker:The Procrastination Cycle.
Speaker:Let me tell you a story.
Speaker:If you’re reading this book,
Speaker:however,
Speaker:it’s probably a story that you’re sadly all too familiar with.
Speaker:You have the Big Thing to do.
Speaker:You have three days to do it.
Speaker:No big deal,
Speaker:you think,
Speaker:you’ve easily done things like it before,
Speaker:and you can do it again.
Speaker:Day one,
Speaker:you put it off.
Speaker:No problem,
Speaker:you can do it in three days.
Speaker:Day two,
Speaker:you stare at the unfinished Big Thing and feel vaguely resentful,
Speaker:telling yourself that you have plenty of time and can do it later.
Speaker:Besides,
Speaker:life’s for living and it’s a beautiful day outside.
Speaker:Day three rolls around and suddenly the Big Thing is due for the following day.
Speaker:All at once,
Speaker:you feel a little sick about the whole thing.
Speaker:It keeps popping up in your mind,
Speaker:and you can’t relax.
Speaker:There seems to be a growing forcefield around the Big Thing.
Speaker:Slowly,
Speaker:it starts to seem much harder to finish than it did just a few days ago ...
Speaker:You’re feeling really bad now and hating yourself with each passing minute
Speaker:that you don’t start.
Speaker:But you continue to push it off,
Speaker:“relaxing” with something you think you want to do instead,
Speaker:but all the time stressing about the work you’re not doing.
Speaker:Eventually,
Speaker:at the eleventh hour,
Speaker:you finish the Big Thing at last,
Speaker:but you rush the job and barely scrape by.
Speaker:Congratulations.
Speaker:You’ve gone one full cycle on the maddening and super-sabotaging
Speaker:procrastination loop!
Speaker:Procrastination isn’t a personality trait,
Speaker:a bad habit,
Speaker:or an unavoidable fact of life,
Speaker:though.
Speaker:It’s a learned pattern of behavior that is cyclical and fully reversible—if
Speaker:you understand how it works.
Speaker:In some ways,
Speaker:the existence of a cycle is a relief because it means that beating
Speaker:procrastination isn’t so much about reaching deep inside yourself and relying
Speaker:on your guts to get the job done (although sometimes that part cannot be
Speaker:avoided).
Speaker:It’s actually about understanding the cycle of laziness and disrupting it
Speaker:before you get sucked into it.
Speaker:It’s the equivalent of understanding how to use a certain physics equation to
Speaker:solve a problem versus trying to solve the problem differently each time and
Speaker:sometimes just trying out twenty different possibilities.
Speaker:When you know what you’re looking for,
Speaker:you’re just going to be far more effective.
Speaker:In practical terms,
Speaker:this means that doing what you need to do will be much less of a struggle in
Speaker:the end.
Speaker:There are five main phases of the cycle that explain why you tend to keep
Speaker:sitting on your butt even though you know you shouldn’t be.
Speaker:It further explains how you justify sitting on your butt and even how you’ll
Speaker:probably sit on your butt even more decisively the next time.
Speaker:We can follow along with an example of washing a car.
Speaker:You’ll soon see how simplistic attributing procrastination to boredom or
Speaker:laziness is.
Speaker:1.
Speaker:Unhelpful assumptions or made-up rules - “Life is short,
Speaker:so I should enjoy it and not spend my precious time washing that dusty car!
Speaker:Car washes are something you pay for,
Speaker:anyway!"
Speaker:2.
Speaker:Increasing discomfort - “I’d rather not wash the car.
Speaker:It’s boring and uncomfortable.
Speaker:I know my spouse asked me to,
Speaker:but it can wait."
Speaker:3.
Speaker:Excuses for procrastination to decrease psychological discomfort - “It’s
Speaker:perfectly reasonable for me not to wash the car.
Speaker:It’s so hot outside,
Speaker:I would melt.
Speaker:My spouse didn’t really mean it when they asked."
Speaker:4.
Speaker:Avoidance activities to decrease psychological discomfort - “I will clean the
Speaker:bathroom instead.
Speaker:I’m still productive!
Speaker:I’ll also arrange my desk.
Speaker:Lots of things getting done today.
Speaker:I did pretty well today,
Speaker:all things considered."
Speaker:5.
Speaker:Negative and positive consequences - “Ah,
Speaker:I feel better about myself now.
Speaker:Cleanliness all around.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:wait.
Speaker:I still need to wash that car,
Speaker:and my spouse seems angrier this time ...” Which brings us full circle - the
Speaker:car isn’t washed,
Speaker:and your assumptions remain the same if not reinforced,
Speaker:only this time,
Speaker:there’s even more discomfort that you want to avoid immediately.
Speaker:And so it goes on.
Speaker:Once you’re in the cycle,
Speaker:it’s hard to get over the increasing inertia keeping you from getting the
Speaker:task done.
Speaker:Let’s take a look at each of the phases individually.
Speaker:We’ll start right from the top;
Speaker:this is where you are either failing to start a task or to complete a task
Speaker:already underway.
Speaker:You know you should do these things and they are in your best interests.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:you’ve already made the decision against self-discipline,
Speaker:so what goes through your mind?
Speaker:Unhelpful Assumptions Or Made-Up Rules.
Speaker:If you feel like you don’t want to start or follow through with something,
Speaker:it’s not due to simple laziness or “I don’t feel like it right now."
Speaker:It’s about the beliefs and assumptions that underlie these feelings.
Speaker:What are some of these unhelpful assumptions or made-up rules?
Speaker:My life should be about seeking pleasure,
Speaker:having fun,
Speaker:and enjoying myself.
Speaker:Anything that conflicts with that shouldn’t be allowed.
Speaker:We all fall into this at one time or another.
Speaker:Pleasure-seeking is where you feel that life is too short to pass up something
Speaker:fun,
Speaker:interesting,
Speaker:or pleasant in favor of things that may seem boring or hard.
Speaker:Fun is the priority!
Speaker:At the very least,
Speaker:you believe that the current short-term pleasure is more important than a
Speaker:long-term payoff.
Speaker:This is the true meaning of “I don’t feel like it right now”—you are
Speaker:actually saying,
Speaker:“I want to do something more pleasurable than that right now."
Speaker:I need X,
Speaker:Y,
Speaker:or Z to get to work,
Speaker:and if they are not present,
Speaker:I am excused.
Speaker:Sometimes you just can’t muster up the energy to do something.
Speaker:You may feel tired,
Speaker:stressed,
Speaker:depressed,
Speaker:or unmotivated and use that as your “reason” for not getting things done.
Speaker:You have to be “ready."
Speaker:You need X,
Speaker:Y,
Speaker:and Z to start properly.
Speaker:You have to be in the mood.
Speaker:All these so-called requirements were conjured by you;
Speaker:none of them actually reflect reality.
Speaker:I probably won’t do it right,
Speaker:so I just won’t do it at all.
Speaker:You may fall into the assumption that you must do things perfectly every time
Speaker:or else it will be labeled a failure.
Speaker:This is a fear of failure and rejection,
Speaker:and it also involves a lack of self-confidence.
Speaker:You also don’t want others to think less of you.
Speaker:And how do you ensure that neither of these things happen?
Speaker:You don’t do it.
Speaker:You don’t start it,
Speaker:and you don’t finish it.
Speaker:There won’t be failure or disappointment because you don’t allow the
Speaker:opportunity for judgment.
Speaker:If you feel that you need to do something that goes against your beliefs,
Speaker:you will only do it when absolutely necessary.
Speaker:This is a reality of human behavior,
Speaker:as is the fact that these beliefs are usually subconscious.
Speaker:So what happens if you are told to do household chores but you possess the
Speaker:first two beliefs of “fun comes first” and “I need perfect conditions”?
Speaker:You’ll have fun first and then wait for a large set of preconditions,
Speaker:and the chores will go undone.
Speaker:The rest of the cycle is what keeps them undone.
Speaker:Quickly recall a moment in your own past when you were trapped in the
Speaker:procrastination cycle.
Speaker:It might be tricky to identify,
Speaker:but can you see any hints of the underlying beliefs or “rules” you had that
Speaker:instigated the start of your avoidance behavior?
Speaker:This is a rich vein to tap,
Speaker:and once you start looking,
Speaker:you may be surprised by your own hidden assumptions and biases,
Speaker:for example - “Work Shouldn’T Ever Be Uncomfortable Or Boring.”
Speaker:“I can’t work on something unless I’m feeling one hundred percent
Speaker:inspired."
Speaker:“If I dawdle,
Speaker:someone else might step up and do it for me."
Speaker:“If I don’t do this thing I secretly resent,
Speaker:the task may be taken away from me and I’ll be relieved of it without having
Speaker:to outright say I don’t actually want to do it."
Speaker:And so on ... Increasing Discomfort.
Speaker:When you are procrastinating,
Speaker:you’re not totally unaware of what you need to do,
Speaker:and thus tension and discomfort will be created.
Speaker:Knowing you are being naughty does not promote good feelings.
Speaker:You will have a range of emotions,
Speaker:all of which are uncomfortable - anger,
Speaker:boredom,
Speaker:frustration,
Speaker:exhaustion,
Speaker:resentment,
Speaker:anxiety,
Speaker:embarrassment,
Speaker:fear,
Speaker:or despair.
Speaker:The end result is that we are in an agitated state,
Speaker:and we don’t like feeling this way.
Speaker:Something will need to change.
Speaker:Think of it this way - your brain doesn’t want you to stay in a state of
Speaker:psychological discomfort—it’s like standing on the bow of a sinking
Speaker:ship—so it deals with it the only way it knows how - through the next two
Speaker:phases.
Speaker:(Additionally,
Speaker:if the source of this discomfort is anything having to do with washing that
Speaker:darned car,
Speaker:that means you’re going to avoid it like the black plague.)
Speaker:Making Excuses.
Speaker:Excuses are the first way to make yourself feel better when you are ducking
Speaker:responsibility.
Speaker:They’re how you attempt to squash that rising discomfort.
Speaker:You know you should do something,
Speaker:but you don’t want to.
Speaker:Does this mean you’re just lazy,
Speaker:tired,
Speaker:or entitled to no action?
Speaker:Of course not.
Speaker:Admitting those would cause even more discomfort and tension than you already
Speaker:feel.
Speaker:So you construct excuses to remain the good guy or even victim in your
Speaker:situation—or at least not the bad guy.
Speaker:Now that’s a comforting thought.
Speaker:What would you say to make your lack of action acceptable?
Speaker:“I don’t want to miss out on that party tonight.
Speaker:I’ll do it tomorrow."
Speaker:“I’m just too tired tonight.
Speaker:I’ll start working on that goal later."
Speaker:“I’ll do a better job on that project when I’m in the mood to work on it."
Speaker:“I don’t have everything I need to finish the job,
Speaker:so I can’t start now."
Speaker:“I’Ll Do It Right After I Finish This Other Task.”
Speaker:Now,
Speaker:if you uttered these to someone else,
Speaker:they might reply with a raised eyebrow and a,
Speaker:“Really ...?"
Speaker:The problem is,
Speaker:these excuses are ones that you tell yourself.
Speaker:And you’ve probably used them so frequently in your life that the lines
Speaker:between your excuses and reality have blurred.
Speaker:You become unable to discern or tell the truth,
Speaker:and you unknowingly start to disempower yourself.
Speaker:Somewhere deep in the back of your mind,
Speaker:you know that these are excuses.
Speaker:And this means you know they’re bogus,
Speaker:and so the tension never really disappears—not for long,
Speaker:anyway.
Speaker:So you might tell yourself,
Speaker:“I won’t do it.
Speaker:I’m exhausted.
Speaker:I deserve a long break tonight,” and you sit down with a Netflix show and a
Speaker:bag of chips,
Speaker:but you’re never genuinely relaxing because the tension is lurking just out
Speaker:of conscious awareness,
Speaker:and you only have a flimsy excuse to ward it off!
Speaker:And while you’re busy convincing yourself that these excuses are real and
Speaker:legitimate,
Speaker:you are smoothly transitioning into the next phase in the cycle - avoidance
Speaker:activities.
Speaker:Avoidance Activities Avoidance activities are the culmination of alleviating
Speaker:your discomfort and wanting to feel like you aren’t simply being lazy.
Speaker:The internal dialogue goes something like this - “I’m sufficiently
Speaker:justified in not washing the car,
Speaker:but why do I still feel lousy about myself?
Speaker:I should do something ...” Excuses on their own may not be enough,
Speaker:so you figure some action is still needed to lessen the discomfort and tension.
Speaker:And so you act,
Speaker:though it’s never what you should be doing in the first place.
Speaker:Typically,
Speaker:there are two types of avoidance activities.
Speaker:First,
Speaker:there are activities that simply distract you from the discomfort of choosing
Speaker:not to exercise your self-discipline or violate a belief or assumption.
Speaker:Out of sight,
Speaker:out of mind,
Speaker:and the discomfort is destroyed by going for ice cream or to a new superhero
Speaker:movie.
Speaker:This is distraction to the point of denial.
Speaker:Second,
Speaker:there are activities that make you feel productive in some other way than the
Speaker:task at hand.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:if you work from home and are putting off a project,
Speaker:you will never have a cleaner bathroom than when real tasks are to be avoided.
Speaker:You might do an “easier” or lower-priority task.
Speaker:These avoidance activities allow you to say,
Speaker:“Well,
Speaker:at least I did something and wasn’t totally unproductive with my time!"
Speaker:A fitting term for these activities is productive procrastination.
Speaker:These activities do help you feel better about yourself in the short term,
Speaker:but they don’t move you any closer to where you should be and make the cycle
Speaker:harder to break.
Speaker:Negative And Positive Consequences.
Speaker:Avoiding is an art.
Speaker:But when you avoid responsibilities,
Speaker:there are always consequences.
Speaker:Somewhere,
Speaker:something is slipping through the cracks.
Speaker:The negative consequences are more obvious.
Speaker:They can include increased discomfort,
Speaker:guilt,
Speaker:anxiety,
Speaker:and shame.
Speaker:You know you’re not achieving (or taking steps to achieve)
Speaker:your goal,
Speaker:and this just makes you feel worse.
Speaker:Another negative consequence is having increased demands on you.
Speaker:Your work may accumulate,
Speaker:leaving you to have to do the original task plus the additional compensatory
Speaker:work.
Speaker:And depending on the nature of the task,
Speaker:avoidance may lead to a consequence of punishment or loss.
Speaker:That punishment/loss may be in the form of repercussions at work,
Speaker:a missed opportunity,
Speaker:or failing to meet a goal.
Speaker:The chores go undone,
Speaker:and your lawn gets so out of control that you start to find small,
Speaker:vicious woodland animals in it.
Speaker:Other negative consequences are related to this very cycle,
Speaker:where your unhelpful or incorrect assumptions or beliefs remain unchallenged,
Speaker:you become overly effective at making excuses for yourself,
Speaker:and your tolerance for psychological discomfort shrinks even more.
Speaker:These all perpetuate the cycle even worse.
Speaker:Any positive consequences are illusory.
Speaker:You may actually feel better because you are sticking to your unhelpful
Speaker:assumptions.
Speaker:And you will probably get some enjoyment from your procrastination activities.
Speaker:They may be positive in that they feel good in the moment,
Speaker:but they are temporary at best.
Speaker:It’s like shutting your eyes to avoid the bright headlights of a truck
Speaker:barreling toward you—you are just setting yourself up for failure in the long
Speaker:term.
Speaker:It’s self-sabotage.
Speaker:Both sets of consequences contribute to furthering the cycle.
Speaker:Negative consequences make you want to continue avoiding certain tasks,
Speaker:while positive consequences inject just enough short-term pleasure to disguise
Speaker:what’s really happening.
Speaker:And they both lead you right back to the initial problem of sitting on your
Speaker:butt.
Speaker:You can now see how this can become a vicious cycle.
Speaker:The more you subscribe to one or more of the unhelpful assumptions,
Speaker:the greater your discomfort.
Speaker:With increasing discomfort,
Speaker:you start to make excuses to avoid.
Speaker:The more you avoid,
Speaker:the more you want to avoid it due to both the negative and positive
Speaker:consequences.
Speaker:And you start back in with the unhelpful assumptions—probably strengthened
Speaker:for the worst at this point.
Speaker:So what do these phases look like in a day-to-day life situation?
Speaker:Let’s walk through the familiar chain reaction of events that you have
Speaker:unwittingly followed for years.
Speaker:What if you’ve always wanted to open an ice cream shop?
Speaker:Your friends and family know you love ice cream,
Speaker:and you’re always talking about this dream of yours,
Speaker:but you’ve never taken the plunge to start your own business.
Speaker:Maybe there’s a cycle of procrastination contributing to your shop’s
Speaker:absence.
Speaker:What are the unhelpful assumptions you’re telling yourself?
Speaker:A prime assumption would be about what might happen.
Speaker:If you quit your job and go full speed ahead with your ice cream business,
Speaker:you assume you’ll be in poverty for the rest of your life.
Speaker:You assume being a business owner will be nonstop work.
Speaker:You assume you will lose a ton of money.
Speaker:You may even assume that you aren’t smart enough to pull it off.
Speaker:Thinking about these assumptions probably has you feeling pretty uncomfortable.
Speaker:You likely have some anxiety about such a big change.
Speaker:There may be some fear mixed in at the thought of quitting your job to go out
Speaker:on your own.
Speaker:You may be feeling overwhelmed by all the things that go into starting your own
Speaker:business.
Speaker:When you’re feeling this uncomfortable,
Speaker:it’s easy to come up with excuses for not moving forward.
Speaker:You can’t open an ice cream shop because you just don’t have the know-how.
Speaker:Maybe your excuse is that you don’t know for sure if your shop will be a
Speaker:success.
Speaker:Or perhaps you feel like you don’t have time to open a business.
Speaker:So as a result of these excuses,
Speaker:you move into avoidance activities to make yourself feel better.
Speaker:Instead of going to the bank to find out about business loans,
Speaker:you watch the football game on T. V. instead.
Speaker:You get distracted.
Speaker:Or you get together with friends to talk about your idea instead of taking
Speaker:action on steps to move toward your dream.
Speaker:You feel productive in some non-movement way.
Speaker:As for consequences of these avoidance tactics?
Speaker:One negative consequence may be that you miss out on an opportunity for a
Speaker:perfect location for your ice cream shop because you hadn’t moved forward
Speaker:with your plan.
Speaker:One positive consequence could be that you enjoy spending time with your
Speaker:friends and you like talking about your idea,
Speaker:leading you to do this more frequently instead of starting up your business.
Speaker:Again,
Speaker:negative consequences create pessimism,
Speaker:while positive consequences create self-sabotage.
Speaker:And here we are again at the start of the cycle as a couch potato.
Speaker:Obviously,
Speaker:awareness is a sizable part of the solution.
Speaker:If you can honestly admit to yourself that you are engaging in this cycle,
Speaker:you can gain self-awareness and put a stop to it.
Speaker:With regard to the five steps of the cycle,
Speaker:you can’t necessarily control the second (increasing discomfort)
Speaker:and fifth (consequences).
Speaker:The other steps (assumptions,
Speaker:excuses,
Speaker:and actions)
Speaker:are where we falter,
Speaker:and those you can control.
Speaker:What are your assumptions based on?
Speaker:•Are They Legitimate?
Speaker:•Are They Realistic Or Far-Fetched?
Speaker:•Are they simply your anxieties and fears taking hold?
Speaker:•Are you marginalizing the positives and amplifying the downsides?
Speaker:What Excuses Do You Tend To Make?
Speaker:•Are They Based In Reality?
Speaker:•Are They Honest And True?
Speaker:•Is their sole purpose to keep you from action?
Speaker:•If your excuse was true,
Speaker:would it excuse you from action anyway?
Speaker:What Actions Do You Tend To Engage In?
Speaker:•Do you really want to engage in them,
Speaker:or are they aimed at making you feel better about yourself?
Speaker:•Is there something harder you should be doing instead?
Speaker:•In an ideal world,
Speaker:what would you be doing right now?
Speaker:Unfortunately,
Speaker:self-awareness is not a strong point for humans.
Speaker:But trying to acknowledge and buttress these entry points into the cycle of
Speaker:procrastination can help you succeed.
Speaker:The Lizard Brain.
Speaker:Since the time of ancient civilizations,
Speaker:our ancestors have struggled with the dilemma of choosing to do what needs to
Speaker:be done over other,
Speaker:usually more pleasant,
Speaker:activities.
Speaker:We may imagine that our less industrious forebearers must have had days when
Speaker:they relaxed,
Speaker:lying under a tree shade instead of picking up their spears to hunt or their
Speaker:baskets to forage for food.
Speaker:Hesiod,
Speaker:a Greek poet who lived around 800 B. C. ,
Speaker:cautioned not to “put your work off till tomorrow and the day after."
Speaker:Roman consul Cicero was also an early dissenter against procrastination,
Speaker:calling the act “hateful” in the conduct of affairs.
Speaker:This is clearly a problem that is older than we give it credit for.
Speaker:Procrastination has been around since time immemorial.
Speaker:Has it been hardwired in our brains from the beginning?
Speaker:Neurobiologists have found evidence that yes,
Speaker:the fundamental workings of our brains offer a recipe for procrastination.
Speaker:Procrastination is preferred.
Speaker:Remember that procrastination is the act of delaying an intended important task
Speaker:despite knowing that there will be negative consequences as a result of it.
Speaker:We have no problem recognizing that procrastinating is likely to be bad for us.
Speaker:Our human logic knows procrastinating is bad,
Speaker:but our human impulses are often stronger and so automatic that willpower or
Speaker:awareness alone can’t save us from indulging them.
Speaker:Procrastination is a failure of self-regulation.
Speaker:But why do we fail to regulate ourselves?
Speaker:Doesn’t self-regulation improve our abilities to survive and hunt and work
Speaker:hard for a dollar?
Speaker:It does,
Speaker:but that’s a modern conception;
Speaker:in the past,
Speaker:our survival came more from a dichotomy of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain
Speaker:(both of which procrastination handily delivers).
Speaker:We are ruled by these two factors more than we like to believe.
Speaker:Imagine the brain as having two major portions—an inner portion and an outer
Speaker:portion.
Speaker:The inner portion is what some scientists call our “lizard brain,”
Speaker:responsible for our most basic survival instincts.
Speaker:This region is fully developed from birth and controls our most primitive
Speaker:drives (e.g.,
Speaker:hunger,
Speaker:thirst,
Speaker:and sex drive),
Speaker:as well as our mood and emotions (e.g.,
Speaker:fear,
Speaker:anger,
Speaker:and pleasure).
Speaker:It’s one of the most dominant portions of our brain,
Speaker:as its processes tend to be automatic,
Speaker:not to mention life-maintaining.
Speaker:This portion is called the limbic system.
Speaker:It quite literally keeps us alive because we don’t have to consciously think
Speaker:about breathing or becoming hungry.
Speaker:This part of your brain and its associated functions evolved first in our
Speaker:deepest history and is many hundreds of millions of years older than our
Speaker:“higher brains”—the structures of which have still not evolved in
Speaker:countless other species.
Speaker:Think about this - the oldest part of your brain is the automatic unconscious
Speaker:part.
Speaker:The part that functions one hundred percent without things like willpower and
Speaker:intention.
Speaker:If we do nothing,
Speaker:we default to this mode.
Speaker:We only lift ourselves out of this mode when we actively,
Speaker:consciously choose to do so.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:we cannot simply hope to find our way to greater productivity and motivation by
Speaker:sheer accident or luck.
Speaker:We need to use the conscious part of our brains to make it happen.
Speaker:Enter the brain’s outer portion,
Speaker:enclosing the limbic system and situated just behind our forehead,
Speaker:which is called the prefrontal cortex.
Speaker:While the limbic system has been dubbed our “lizard brain,” the prefrontal
Speaker:cortex has been identified by neurobiologists as the portion that separates us
Speaker:humans from lesser animals.
Speaker:The prefrontal cortex is in charge of our rational human functions,
Speaker:such as assimilating information,
Speaker:planning,
Speaker:making decisions,
Speaker:and other higher-order thinking skills.
Speaker:So while the limbic system just lets us experience instincts and emotions
Speaker:automatically,
Speaker:the prefrontal cortex requires us to put in conscious and deliberate effort to
Speaker:be able to think,
Speaker:plan,
Speaker:decide,
Speaker:and ultimately complete a task.
Speaker:The prefrontal cortex works much,
Speaker:much slower,
Speaker:and we are generally conscious of these thoughts.
Speaker:By now,
Speaker:you may recognize how these two major portions of the brain must be continually
Speaker:engaged in battle—a battle that you feel most intensely when you’re faced
Speaker:with something you would rather not do but have to.
Speaker:In instances such as these,
Speaker:your limbic system is screaming,
Speaker:“Don’t do it!
Speaker:It doesn’t feel good!
Speaker:Watch Television!” while your prefrontal cortex is trying to reason with you
Speaker:- “Now,
Speaker:now,
Speaker:let’s be reasonable;
Speaker:you have to do this."
Speaker:It’s akin to what the well-known psychologist Sigmund Freud described as a
Speaker:constant battle between the instinctive,
Speaker:pleasure-driven id and the rational,
Speaker:reality-based ego.
Speaker:While the id cares only that you satisfy your impulses immediately,
Speaker:the ego has to consider the entire situation and the possible consequences of
Speaker:heeding the id’s whims.
Speaker:Thus,
Speaker:what experts are pointing to as the foundation of procrastination—the
Speaker:inability to manage drives and impulses—pertains to the inability of our
Speaker:prefrontal cortex to win over the whiny and spur-of-the-moment demands of our
Speaker:limbic system.
Speaker:The moment our prefrontal cortex lets up,
Speaker:we lose focus on a certain task and our limbic system is then quick to take the
Speaker:reins (remember,
Speaker:it’s more automatic),
Speaker:moving us toward doing something more pleasurable instead.
Speaker:Once we engage in that alternate activity,
Speaker:a chemical known as dopamine floods our brains.
Speaker:This is what creates the rush of pleasure we feel,
Speaker:and it’s pretty addictive,
Speaker:too.
Speaker:We are drawn to activities that stimulate actual dopamine release,
Speaker:as well as to those activities we perceive will likely lead to that dopamine
Speaker:rush.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:what leads us to procrastinate is not just the actual pleasure from those
Speaker:activities but,
Speaker:more importantly,
Speaker:the pleasure we expect to feel in choosing those activities over another.
Speaker:This is the scientific explanation behind procrastination—we anticipate
Speaker:we’re going to feel better doing something else,
Speaker:so we go ahead and do it.
Speaker:Our expectation of feeling good if we procrastinate is what drives us to put
Speaker:off our intended tasks for the moment and engage in a different activity
Speaker:instead.
Speaker:This anticipation of pleasure is the mental equivalent of drooling over a
Speaker:sumptuous dish;
Speaker:it whets our appetite for biting into the shiny yet poisoned fruit that is
Speaker:procrastination.
Speaker:Goodbye,
Speaker:homework;
Speaker:hello,
Speaker:old episodes of I Love Lucy.
Speaker:If you are particularly work-shy,
Speaker:don’t think that it’s because you’re a hopeless,
Speaker:lazy bum.
Speaker:Your limbic system might just be extra cunning,
Speaker:or your prefrontal cortex just needs a little more tweaking and practice in
Speaker:taking control of the situation (or both).
Speaker:See,
Speaker:your prefrontal cortex is like a muscle that can be trained and exercised to
Speaker:get better at beating procrastination.
Speaker:You can teach it to run strategies that’ll boost your willpower to help you
Speaker:start and stay on task,
Speaker:jump past temptations,
Speaker:and hit the bullseye on your target goals.
Speaker:The more primitive lizard brain is not anything to scoff at,
Speaker:though.
Speaker:It helped our ancestors evolve into the human beings we are today,
Speaker:and it constantly works hard in the background to keep you safe and in
Speaker:equilibrium.
Speaker:It’s lightning quick and able to preserve your life at a rate hundreds of
Speaker:times swifter than your higher brain could ever manage.
Speaker:The trouble is when we allow this part of our brain to do work it wasn’t
Speaker:designed to.
Speaker:The lizard brain is good for saving our lives in emergency situations and
Speaker:regulating our autonomous physical bodies.
Speaker:It’s a master of impulse.
Speaker:It is Not good at making long-term decisions,
Speaker:weighing up abstract pros and cons,
Speaker:and delaying gratification.
Speaker:Driven By Impulse.
Speaker:Let’s look closer at this way of acting.
Speaker:Impulsivity means acting immediately,
Speaker:whether it be a passing thought,
Speaker:a sudden emotion,
Speaker:or an instantaneous desire.
Speaker:Consider the common procrastination habits you may have.
Speaker:When you’re bored with a task,
Speaker:it may occur to you how nice it would be to grab a bite first and relax
Speaker:watching an episode of your favorite sitcom,
Speaker:and the next second,
Speaker:you’ve abandoned your work and plopped down in front of the T. V. with a bag
Speaker:of chips.
Speaker:Procrastination may have many other ways of manifesting other than that,
Speaker:but its many faces all have one thing in common - they arise out of an itch to
Speaker:do what feels good.
Speaker:Itches can be resisted,
Speaker:but not always and not forever.
Speaker:If you recall,
Speaker:there’s a constant battle between your limbic system’s strong desire to
Speaker:seek pleasure and avoid pain and your prefrontal cortex’s rational planning
Speaker:and decision-making controls.
Speaker:But while the prefrontal cortex’s tasks require conscious effort to carry
Speaker:out,
Speaker:the limbic system’s impulses are primitive and automatic.
Speaker:Unless your prefrontal cortex has been training for years and earned a black
Speaker:belt in limbic system control,
Speaker:it’s likely to lose the fight against the more compelling and instinctive
Speaker:impulses of the limbic system.
Speaker:Impulsivity is characterized by four broad characteristics,
Speaker:as detailed by behavioral researchers Martial Van der Linden and Mathieu
Speaker:d’Acremont in a 2005 study published in The Journal of Nervous and Mental
Speaker:Disease.
Speaker:First,
Speaker:impulsivity involves urgency.
Speaker:You feel that you need to be in a rush to do something right this moment.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:you may feel compelled to check your social media accounts right now,
Speaker:and delaying it only fills you with mounting tension.
Speaker:Second,
Speaker:there’s lack of premeditation.
Speaker:You act without thinking or planning your actions,
Speaker:often with a relative disregard toward how such actions will affect you in the
Speaker:future.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:even though you’ve just taken a break,
Speaker:you agree to a colleague’s spontaneous invitation to another coffee break
Speaker:because you’re finding your current task to be too monotonous.
Speaker:You fail to appreciate how unnecessarily taking yet another fifteen minutes
Speaker:off-task is bound to affect the progress,
Speaker:timeliness,
Speaker:and quality of your work.
Speaker:Third,
Speaker:there’s lack of perseverance.
Speaker:You easily lose motivation and are prone to giving up on tasks that require
Speaker:prolonged effort.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:instead of staying at your desk long enough to finish the inventory report
Speaker:you’re supposed to accomplish before lunch,
Speaker:you lose steam halfway through and spend the rest of the morning chatting with
Speaker:your workmates.
Speaker:And fourth,
Speaker:impulsivity is characterized by sensation-seeking.
Speaker:You crave that feel-good sensation that comes from engaging in activities that
Speaker:you find thrilling,
Speaker:enjoyable,
Speaker:or exciting.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:you can’t sit still and endure the monotony of typing out data on a computer
Speaker:because you’re itching to go online and experience the thrill of playing
Speaker:World of Warcraft again.
Speaker:Now,
Speaker:add those four characteristics together—urgency,
Speaker:lack of premeditation,
Speaker:lack of perseverance,
Speaker:and sensation-seeking—and what you get is a person who’s quickly derailed
Speaker:from working on their intended task and instead follows their
Speaker:spur-of-the-moment desires.
Speaker:The stronger these four tendencies are in you,
Speaker:the more likely you’ll set aside what you need to do in order to go for what
Speaker:feels good at the moment.
Speaker:It doesn’t matter that you’ve planned to do a task for weeks.
Speaker:The only thing that matters to you at that very instant is that you get to do
Speaker:what you feel like doing.
Speaker:Your new impulse feels just as urgent to you as the intended task you’ve
Speaker:known about for weeks.
Speaker:Impulsivity is a key feature of a number of mental disorders,
Speaker:such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (A. D. H. D. ),
Speaker:and substance abuse.
Speaker:People with A. D. H. D. may engage in hasty actions or decisions without first
Speaker:thinking of their possible consequences.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:they may agree to do a job without knowing enough information about it,
Speaker:use other people’s things without asking permission,
Speaker:or intrude into conversations by cutting others off mid-sentence.
Speaker:They do these things not because they want to make a fool of themselves or
Speaker:intend to be rude,
Speaker:but because they lack the ability to stop themselves from acting on their
Speaker:immediate impulses.
Speaker:If you believe you have the tendency to be impulsive,
Speaker:there are certain things you can do to curb that inclination.
Speaker:One strategy is to use the Halt method,
Speaker:a popular strategy originally taught in addiction recovery programs.
Speaker:Before acting or making a decision,
Speaker:first be conscious of any feeling of hunger,
Speaker:anger,
Speaker:loneliness,
Speaker:or tiredness you may have.
Speaker:If you’re feeling any of these,
Speaker:you’re more likely to make rash,
Speaker:misguided decisions and act on your impulses that may lead you right into
Speaker:trouble.
Speaker:Thus,
Speaker:before jumping into anything,
Speaker:first consider the Halt factors and address any of them that may be weakening
Speaker:your resolve or influencing your decision-making.
Speaker:Suppose you just came out of a meeting and you’re angry at one of your
Speaker:colleagues because he threw you under the bus for a grave error on a project
Speaker:you both collaborated on.
Speaker:You go back to your desk and try to finish another report that’s due within
Speaker:the hour,
Speaker:but you feel the urge to abandon it altogether.
Speaker:Before you do,
Speaker:recognize that your impulse to procrastinate might just be triggered by your
Speaker:anger.
Speaker:Understanding this link,
Speaker:you can then consider how delaying the report will only further hurt your
Speaker:performance standing as an employee—which,
Speaker:given recent events,
Speaker:you cannot afford to let happen.
Speaker:So before jumping into any rash actions,
Speaker:recognize that the anger pushing you to procrastinate would not be the best
Speaker:thing to allow at this time.
Speaker:You may need to calm yourself first and change your perspective of the
Speaker:situation in order to regain control of yourself and not give in to
Speaker:procrastination.
Speaker:Another strategy to help you be less impulsive is to recall the benefits of
Speaker:delaying gratification and perform a cost-benefit analysis for waiting.
Speaker:Before doing this,
Speaker:remember that you need to clear the Halt factors first so that your ability to
Speaker:consider the benefits of waiting won’t be compromised.
Speaker:No one would want to wait any longer if they were hungry,
Speaker:angry,
Speaker:lonely,
Speaker:or tired.
Speaker:Once you’ve established that you’re free of Halt,
Speaker:consider how waiting at present would benefit you in the future.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:imagine you’re torn between completing a marketing plan summary at the office
Speaker:and bolting from work for three hours to catch a movie with your friends.
Speaker:While the prospect of relaxing in front of the big screen while sharing popcorn
Speaker:with your hilarious friends is definitely enticing,
Speaker:first recall the benefits of resisting that temptation and sticking with your
Speaker:task instead.
Speaker:If you stay,
Speaker:you’ll avoid getting into trouble at work,
Speaker:be able to cross off a major task from your to-do list,
Speaker:and get to fully enjoy the movie later instead of having to watch it while
Speaker:worried sick you might incur the wrath of your boss.
Speaker:Thus,
Speaker:delaying gratification appears to be the better option.
Speaker:Nine Procrastination Scales.
Speaker:We’ve gone through how the procrastination cycle and the lizard brain affect
Speaker:your work ethic,
Speaker:and now we can talk about some specific traits that need to be addressed and
Speaker:shored up.
Speaker:Noting the connection between procrastination and the prefrontal cortex,
Speaker:researcher Laura Rabin of Brooklyn College delved into a closer examination of
Speaker:the relationship between procrastination and major processes in the prefrontal
Speaker:cortex.
Speaker:Rabin’s study assessed a sample of 212 students for procrastination,
Speaker:as well as the nine clinical subscales of prefrontal cortex executive
Speaker:functioning - (1)
Speaker:inhibition,
Speaker:(2)
Speaker:self-monitoring,
Speaker:(3)
Speaker:planning and organization,
Speaker:(4)
Speaker:activity shifting,
Speaker:(5)
Speaker:task initiation,
Speaker:(6)
Speaker:task monitoring,
Speaker:(7)
Speaker:emotional control,
Speaker:(8)
Speaker:working memory,
Speaker:and (9)
Speaker:general orderliness.
Speaker:The researchers expected the first four of these subscales to be linked to
Speaker:procrastination.
Speaker:As it turned out,
Speaker:the results exceeded their expectations—all nine subscales were found to have
Speaker:significant associations with procrastination,
Speaker:as reported by Rabin and her colleagues in a 2011 issue of the Journal of
Speaker:Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.
Speaker:Let’s consider how each of these nine executive functions relates to
Speaker:procrastination.
Speaker:Perhaps you’ll be able to identify yourself in some of them.
Speaker:Inhibition.
Speaker:This pertains to your ability to be “in control” of yourself,
Speaker:to resist impulses,
Speaker:and to stop your own behavior when it’s appropriate to do so.
Speaker:Inability to perform this function well leads to impulsivity,
Speaker:which typically manifests as acting without thinking.
Speaker:If you’re prone to acting without first considering the consequences of your
Speaker:actions,
Speaker:then you might have problems with inhibition.
Speaker:Lack of inhibition is a key factor in procrastination.
Speaker:If you can’t control yourself enough to resist the impulse of going for an
Speaker:easier,
Speaker:more pleasurable activity,
Speaker:then you’ll always just be choosing to do virtually anything else other than
Speaker:what you’re supposed to be doing.
Speaker:You’ll always be giving in to the temptation to engage in a more enjoyable
Speaker:activity rather than taking the pains of sticking to your to-do list.
Speaker:Say you’ve intended to spend your first hour at the office researching ideas
Speaker:for your marketing proposal.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:as you sit down to work on it,
Speaker:your phone keeps beeping with notifications from the lively social media scene.
Speaker:Lacking inhibitory control,
Speaker:you fail to resist checking your phone and engaging with your friends on social
Speaker:media,
Speaker:and thus you end up procrastinating on your intended research task.
Speaker:Self-monitoring.
Speaker:This refers to your ability to monitor your own behavior and its effect on you.
Speaker:Taken to the extreme,
Speaker:it’s like being able to watch yourself from a bird’s-eye view and
Speaker:understand why you are acting in certain ways.
Speaker:Impaired self-monitoring thus inevitably results in a severe lack of
Speaker:self-awareness.
Speaker:It means you can’t think about your own thinking,
Speaker:and thus you can be ruled by your lizard brain without even being aware of it.
Speaker:When lacking such self-awareness and the ability to think about your thinking,
Speaker:you’ll be more likely to fall prey to destructive patterns of thought and bad
Speaker:habits,
Speaker:including procrastination.
Speaker:When you’re unaware of how you behave,
Speaker:you’ll be less likely to even realize you’re procrastinating.
Speaker:This is what happens when we pick up our phone to check an email and suddenly
Speaker:an hour of scrolling on social media passes.
Speaker:Planning and organization.
Speaker:This comprises your ability to manage present and future task demands.
Speaker:The planning component of this function is about your ability to set goals and
Speaker:map out the right order of steps to get the job done.
Speaker:The organization component pertains to your ability to pick up on the main
Speaker:ideas of a given information load and to bring order to information.
Speaker:Together,
Speaker:planning and organization involve your ability to anticipate future situations
Speaker:and demands accurately and to take those into account as you lay out the steps
Speaker:necessary to achieve your goals.
Speaker:If you lack the ability to set realistic goals and establish plans to meet
Speaker:those goals,
Speaker:you’ll fail to understand the work and time needed.
Speaker:As an example,
Speaker:imagine you need to work on completing a financial report due two weeks from
Speaker:now.
Speaker:Lacking effective planning skills,
Speaker:you don’t break down the task into smaller portions and don’t set specific
Speaker:hours you’re going to work on it.
Speaker:You simply go through the days doing whatever’s pushed under your nose
Speaker:(fonts,
Speaker:formatting,
Speaker:and type of paper to print on)
Speaker:and relaxing when nothing’s due on that day.
Speaker:You put off doing the report until you realize,
Speaker:much to your panic,
Speaker:that it’s due in two hours’ time.
Speaker:Activity shifting.
Speaker:This reflects your ability to easily move from one activity to another.
Speaker:If you’re adept at activity shifting,
Speaker:you can make transitions effortlessly and tolerate change without getting
Speaker:distracted and off-track.
Speaker:This function also involves your ability to switch or alternate your attention
Speaker:as needed and to shift your focus from one aspect of a problem to another.
Speaker:Consider this your ability to be flexible in terms of both behavior and
Speaker:thinking.
Speaker:A deficit in activity-shifting ability is linked with procrastination.
Speaker:After all,
Speaker:getting down to work basically constitutes a shift from non-working to working
Speaker:mode.
Speaker:If you’re unable to switch from rest mode or from one productive mode to
Speaker:another,
Speaker:then you’ll end up procrastinating because you just can’t get yourself to
Speaker:switch to the other side.
Speaker:You’ll stagnate at your original state,
Speaker:either doing nothing or continuing an activity you’re not supposed to be
Speaker:doing at the time.
Speaker:Say you’ve been diligent enough to draw up a schedule for the day.
Speaker:You’ve written that you’re going to do some gardening from 8 -00 a.m. to 9
Speaker:-00 a.m.,
Speaker:then move inside the house and work on a manuscript from 9 -00 a.m. to 11 -00
Speaker:a.m.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:you’re fully enjoying and so engrossed in your gardening that you continue
Speaker:with it well past the time you’ve set for it to stop.
Speaker:You end up spending your entire morning just gardening because you lacked the
Speaker:ability to shift your focus and energy onto the next task as scheduled.
Speaker:This form of procrastination can be tricky to spot and address,
Speaker:as it can look like you’re making good use of your time when in fact you’re
Speaker:not.
Speaker:Task initiation.
Speaker:This pertains to your ability to simply start and get going on tasks or
Speaker:activities.
Speaker:It is what enables you to break the inertia of inactivity and take the first
Speaker:step on the task at hand—or on any task,
Speaker:for that matter.
Speaker:The first step is always the toughest to take.
Speaker:Task initiation also includes your capacity to generate ideas and
Speaker:problem-solving strategies by yourself.
Speaker:If this function is weak,
Speaker:you’ll find it very difficult to begin anything.
Speaker:It will feel like you can see a long,
Speaker:winding road stretching out before you,
Speaker:but you just can’t lift your foot to take the first step and walk along it.
Speaker:You set a “start time” for each of your intended tasks,
Speaker:but once that moment arrives,
Speaker:you always find a reason to reschedule the start to another time.
Speaker:Or you just continue engaging in other activities you find more enjoyable.
Speaker:It’s 8 -30 a.m.
Speaker:You say,
Speaker:“I’ll start at 9 -00 a.m."
Speaker:When you look back at the clock,
Speaker:you see it’s 9 -15 a.m.
Speaker:So you figure,
Speaker:“Nah,
Speaker:I’ll start at 10 -00 a.m."
Speaker:This carries on until oblivion.
Speaker:Task monitoring.
Speaker:This refers to your ability to evaluate and keep track of your projects,
Speaker:as well as to identify and correct mistakes in your work.
Speaker:This also includes your ability to judge how easy or difficult a task will be
Speaker:for you and whether your problem-solving approaches are working or not.
Speaker:If your task monitoring function is impaired,
Speaker:you’ll likely find it difficult to weed out which tasks need to be done
Speaker:first,
Speaker:or you may forget what you need to do altogether.
Speaker:Deficient task monitoring is associated with procrastination.
Speaker:If you lack the ability to track your tasks,
Speaker:you’ll fail to prioritize your activities properly,
Speaker:leading you to focus on the less important stuff.
Speaker:What’s more,
Speaker:if you misjudge the difficulty of a certain task,
Speaker:you’re more likely to put it off until later because you expect it to be
Speaker:easier than it actually is.
Speaker:A more realistic evaluation of the time and effort a task requires is essential
Speaker:to avoiding procrastination.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:say you have a bunch of supply requests to review and approve.
Speaker:You estimate that it will take about an hour to finish all of them,
Speaker:and you’ve scheduled yourself to do the task during your last hour in the
Speaker:office.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:when that hour arrives,
Speaker:you don’t feel motivated to proceed,
Speaker:so you put it off until tomorrow.
Speaker:After all,
Speaker:it will just take an hour.
Speaker:Eventually,
Speaker:your attention is called as you’ve delayed the task for several days already
Speaker:and more work is piling up.
Speaker:When you finally sit down to work,
Speaker:you realize you’ve underestimated the time it takes to complete the task and
Speaker:regret all the time you wasted procrastinating.
Speaker:Emotional control.
Speaker:This encompasses your ability to modulate or regulate your emotional responses.
Speaker:When your emotional control function is on point,
Speaker:you’re able to react to events and situations appropriately.
Speaker:On the other hand,
Speaker:when your emotional control is problematic,
Speaker:you’re likely to overreact to small problems,
Speaker:have sudden or frequent mood changes,
Speaker:get emotional easily,
Speaker:or have inappropriate outbursts.
Speaker:Such inability to control your emotions is also likely to negatively impact
Speaker:your ability to control your thoughts.
Speaker:Emotions that run wild can derail the train of thought of even the most
Speaker:rational and intelligent people.
Speaker:So if you can’t keep a lid on your emotions,
Speaker:you can’t expect to be in full control of your thoughts—and your resulting
Speaker:actions—as well.
Speaker:Remember the limbic system,
Speaker:that part of your brain that plays a significant role in your emotions,
Speaker:drives,
Speaker:and instincts?
Speaker:You’re practically handing it the reins to direct your behavior if you lack
Speaker:the ability to control your emotional responses.
Speaker:Imagine how a baby behaves.
Speaker:Because it’s not yet adept at emotional control,
Speaker:it mostly just responds to the whims of the limbic system (e.g.,
Speaker:when it’s hungry,
Speaker:it cries without regard for appropriateness of time and place).
Speaker:Let’s say you’re trying to work out solutions for a financial problem at
Speaker:the company.
Speaker:This undertaking is important but is causing you so much mental fatigue and
Speaker:distress that you decide to set it aside and pick up that entertaining phone of
Speaker:yours instead.
Speaker:The result?
Speaker:Procrastination.
Speaker:Working memory.
Speaker:This comprises your capacity to hold information in your mind long enough to be
Speaker:able to complete a task.
Speaker:Your working memory is what enables you to follow complex instructions,
Speaker:manipulate information in your mind (e.g.,
Speaker:do mental calculations),
Speaker:and carry out activities that have multiple steps.
Speaker:If you’ve ever walked into a room and forgotten what you went there for,
Speaker:you’ve experienced a lapse in your working memory.
Speaker:Scientists routinely estimate average working memory at having a capacity of
Speaker:seven plus or minus two items.
Speaker:Poor working memory equals procrastination because you will literally forget
Speaker:what you are working on and why.
Speaker:It also lets you be more affected by temptations and distractions in your
Speaker:environment.
Speaker:You may have difficulty maintaining your attention on tasks that have multiple
Speaker:steps,
Speaker:leading you to stop halfway through and procrastinate instead.
Speaker:Say you’re tasked to review records of your project expenditures and prepare
Speaker:a progress report to inform upper management of your current project status.
Speaker:You had no problem getting yourself started on the task,
Speaker:but after looking over a couple of financial reports,
Speaker:you’re finding it hard to keep track of the connections between all the
Speaker:papers you’ve been reading.
Speaker:Unable to remain focused,
Speaker:you shift your attention to the office chatter happening at the next cubicle.
Speaker:The next thing you know,
Speaker:you’ve joined your coworkers’ conversation and have successfully abandoned
Speaker:your task for the day.
Speaker:General orderliness.
Speaker:This refers to your ability to keep the things you need for projects
Speaker:well-organized and readily available,
Speaker:as well as to keep your workspaces orderly so that you’re able to find
Speaker:whatever you need when you need it.
Speaker:General orderliness brings about efficiency in the way you work,
Speaker:as it allows you to spend less time looking for things and more time actually
Speaker:working on the task.
Speaker:If your work area or living space is not well-organized,
Speaker:you’ll be more likely to find yourself in situations when you need to get up
Speaker:from working and look for things or even go out and buy materials you forgot
Speaker:you needed.
Speaker:You’ll have veritable invitations for procrastination staring you in the face
Speaker:every moment of the day.
Speaker:Distracted by these additional activities,
Speaker:you’ll be more tempted to delay what you should be doing and instead engage
Speaker:in trivial activities.
Speaker:This applies even to the organization of files in your computer.
Speaker:If in your attempt to find one document,
Speaker:you need to sift through piles of folders with no discernable organizational
Speaker:scheme to them whatsoever,
Speaker:you’re likely to come across other stuff that will distract you and lead you
Speaker:to procrastinate.
Speaker:As a brief review,
Speaker:procrastination may arise from problems in each of the nine executive functions
Speaker:- (1)
Speaker:inhibition,
Speaker:(2)
Speaker:self-monitoring,
Speaker:(3)
Speaker:planning and organization,
Speaker:(4)
Speaker:activity shifting,
Speaker:(5)
Speaker:task initiation,
Speaker:(6)
Speaker:task monitoring,
Speaker:(7)
Speaker:emotional control,
Speaker:(8)
Speaker:working memory,
Speaker:and (9)
Speaker:general orderliness.
Speaker:Some people may have a habit of procrastinating because they have trouble
Speaker:stopping themselves from engaging in certain activities (inhibition),
Speaker:others may procrastinate because they find it challenging to start (task
Speaker:initiation),
Speaker:and so on.
Speaker:Whatever the case,
Speaker:as with the previous section on the cycle of procrastination,
Speaker:it is imperative to understand what leads you to that point.
Speaker:Only then do solutions have a chance of being successful.
Speaker:More often than not,
Speaker:procrastination can easily get out of hand and slowly eat away at your chances
Speaker:of achieving professional success and personal satisfaction.
Speaker:So how do you prevent procrastination from wreaking havoc in your life?
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:first things first - you’ve got to recognize the warning signs.
Speaker:Takeaways -
Speaker:•Procrastination has been around far longer than you or me.
Speaker:The term “procrastination” was derived from the Latin pro,
Speaker:meaning “forward,
Speaker:forth,
Speaker:or in favor of” and crastinus,
Speaker:meaning “of tomorrow."
Speaker:In everyday terms,
Speaker:it’s when you put off something unpleasant,
Speaker:usually in pursuit of something more pleasurable or enjoyable.
Speaker:In this first chapter,
Speaker:we discuss the typical causes of procrastination.
Speaker:•This begins with the cycle of procrastination,
Speaker:which has five stages - unhelpful/false assumptions,
Speaker:increasing discomfort,
Speaker:excuse-making,
Speaker:avoidance activities,
Speaker:and consequences.
Speaker:Focus on dispelling your false assumptions,
Speaker:dissecting your excuses,
Speaker:and understanding your avoidance activities.
Speaker:•The pleasure principle is important to understand in the context of
Speaker:procrastination.
Speaker:Our brains have a constant civil war brewing inside;
Speaker:the impulsive and largely subconscious lizard brain wants immediate pleasure at
Speaker:the expense of the slower prefrontal cortex,
Speaker:which makes rational decisions.
Speaker:The prefrontal cortex makes the unpopular decisions that procrastination is not
Speaker:a fan of,
Speaker:while the lizard brain makes decisions that lead to dopamine and adrenaline
Speaker:being produced.
Speaker:It may seem like a losing battle,
Speaker:but the key to battling procrastination is being able to regulate our impulses
Speaker:and drives—though not suppress them.
Speaker:•You might simply be an impulsive person.
Speaker:Four traits make up impulsivity - urgency (I must do this right now),
Speaker:lack of premeditation (I don’t know how this will affect me later),
Speaker:lack of perseverance (I’m tired of this;
Speaker:what else is there to do?),
Speaker:and sensation-seeking (oh,
Speaker:that feels better than what I am currently doing).
Speaker:The more elevated your levels,
Speaker:the more impulsive and procrastinating you will be.
Speaker:•A helpful method for defeating procrastination is called Halt,
Speaker:and it stands for hunger,
Speaker:anger,
Speaker:loneliness,
Speaker:or tiredness.
Speaker:When you are facing a fork in the road in regards to persevering or
Speaker:procrastinating,
Speaker:ask yourself if any of the Halt factors are present.
Speaker:If any are,
Speaker:understand that you are already predisposed to making a poor decision and try
Speaker:to regulate your thoughts.
Speaker:•It’s been found that there are nine specific traits associated with
Speaker:procrastination - (1)
Speaker:inhibition,
Speaker:(2)
Speaker:self-monitoring,
Speaker:(3)
Speaker:planning and organization,
Speaker:(4)
Speaker:activity shifting,
Speaker:(5)
Speaker:task initiation,
Speaker:(6)
Speaker:task monitoring,
Speaker:(7)
Speaker:emotional control,
Speaker:(8)
Speaker:working memory,
Speaker:and (9)
Speaker:general orderliness.
Speaker:Generally,
Speaker:deficiencies in any of these nine traits will make an individual more
Speaker:susceptible to procrastination.
Speaker:To beat procrastination,
Speaker:we must perform one of the hardest tasks of all - thinking about one’s own
Speaker:thinking.
Speaker:This has been
Speaker:Focus Master:
Speaker:37 Tips to Stay Present,
Speaker:Ignore Distractions,
Speaker:and Finish the Task at Hand (Mental and Emotional Abundance Book 10) Written by
Speaker:Nick Trenton, narrated by russell newton.
