In my course, Overcoming Procrastination, I cover the 20 most effective ways to beat procrastination and accomplish big, ugly things. I know that not everyone who reads this will want to buy the course. So I wanted to share all these tactics with you—both today in this article, and on Monday!
You might think: wait, what? Doesn't this give everything away? But the opposite is the case. I've linked to a few of the course videos below so you can see what I mean. The course is intimate, with accountability built in. You won't just get a video explainer for each of these tactics: you'll also understand how they work together, so you know what tactics to deploy and when. Crucially, you'll also develop an understanding of why they work so well, as well as why we procrastinate in the first place.
There's no pressure to take the course, obviously. I'm just happy you're here, reading what I write. But if you do want to join in on the fun, you can click here 🙂
Enjoy these 10 tactics! (And see you on Monday for ten more…)
1. Write a “Procrastination List.”
This first tactic is straightforward: simply make a list of everything you're currently procrastinating on. This activates the logical part of your brain, which then has a better chance of overpowering the emotional, impulsive part of your brain that is tempted to procrastinate. Here's the video of this tactic from the course: 🎥: Cozying Up to Your Future Self. In the course, I'll also give you a PDF template for capturing all these tasks!
2. Practice “aversion journaling.”
We procrastinate when a task is some combination of boring, frustrating, unpleasant, far off in the future, unstructured, and meaningless. The next time you're tempted to put something off, grab a notebook and begin journaling. Write about why exactly you're putting off the task. For example, which triggers of procrastination does the task set off? What would make you more likely to do the thing? How can you introduce some accountability? How could you make it more fun? Aversion journaling is surprisingly powerful for walking yourself through how you will do a task—while overcoming the emotional impulse to put something off.
3. Increase the “challenge level” of certain goals or tasks.
This tactic might sound counterintuitive—why make something more challenging… isn't it already aversive enough? But some tasks are aversive because they're so boring—they're not challenging enough. For anything on your list you're putting off because it's boring, try to up the challenge level in a way that makes it more engaging. For example, try setting a new record for every 10 minutes of data entry you do, or making a bet with your family about how long a colossal stack of Thanksgiving dishes will take everyone to do.
4. Ritualize disconnecting every day.
Procrastination can sometimes result from high levels of mental stimulation. (I chat more about this idea in my TED talk, How to Get Your Brain to Focus.) For this reason, it's worth creating rituals that deliberately disconnect you from stimulation for a regular period of time. For me, this means completely disconnecting from the internet between 8 pm and 8 am (except when traveling). I find this helps me calm my mind, so I can focus more deeply on things I would otherwise find aversive.
5. Practice dopamine fasting.
“Dopamine fasting” sounds gimmicky, and on many levels it is. We can't actually fast from dopamine—our body needs it for basic functions, like digestion. But what we can fast from are empty sources of dopamine. To practice dopamine fasting, write down the most stimulating, unnecessary distractions in your life, and, as a challenge to yourself, try to go without them for 10 days or more. This might sound daunting, but it's a good mental challenge: You will be surprised by how much calmer and more focused you become. When our mind is accustomed to a high level of mental stimulation, we want to stay there. Yet many of the tasks we procrastinate on live on a much lower level of stimulation. Coming down, we focus on them more deeply and effortlessly.
6. Set learning goals instead of performance goals.
With a learning goal, we aim to develop our knowledge and skills in a specific area. Conversely, with a performance goal, we aim to do well relative to expectations—whether those expectations come from ourselves or others. Learning goals are generally more powerful, especially for aversive goals that are frustrating. Learning goals absorb much of the frustration we feel when we don't follow through on our goals, because we see each obstacle as a lesson to learn. This means we adopt a growth mindset as we strive toward the goal. For example, instead of a goal to run a marathon in a specific time, a better goal might be to “experiment with advanced running techniques to reduce marathon time”. You may perform the same actions, but they'll feel far less aversive to you.
7. Connect with the four “attributes of joy.”
Just as there are characteristics a task can have that lead us to want to put it off, there are also traits that make a task fun! If something on your procrastination list is aversive because it's not enjoyable enough, try adding a sprinkle of joy to the task. We tend to find a task enjoyable when it's pleasurable or fun, helps us serve others, the process of doing the task is enjoyable, and it's connected to our values. If you find a task is unpleasant, maybe when you next do some aversion journaling, do what you can to connect with the four attributes of joy!
8. Treat yo' self (correctly)!
There are two ways to treat yourself as you finish an ugly task. First, you can reward yourself once you finish something (e.g., allowing yourself some social media time only after you finish a writing sprint). You can also treat yourself while you're finishing something (e.g., listening to your favorite podcast only while working out at the gym). To make a task more pleasant, try treating yourself for doing it—and be sure to personalize the reward to what you love the most.
9. Chart your “pace of goal attainment.”
If you have a measurable goal and a date you'd like to get it done by, track your incremental progress against the pace you will need to keep to reach the goal in time. To do this, first choose a measurable goal (e.g., write an 80,000-word book), then set a realistic completion date. Then, use Excel or Google Sheets to design a simple, two-line chart: one line that is the pace you'll need to follow, and the other that is your actual progress. I use this tactic for writing my books, and it works wonderfully. (I'll give you a template for this tactic in the course so you don't have to code this sheet by yourself.)
10. Set “mini goals”.
Inside every big goal you set are a bunch of little milestone goals you'll reach along the way. In the course, I call these “mini goals”. (🎥: Here's the video from the course on this tactic if you're curious!) Sit down with a pen and paper to write down all of the goals you'll achieve along the way to reaching your big goal. These mini goals tend to be far more motivating to focus on than the big goal.
If you're looking to overcome procrastination, these tactics—all pulled from the course—should help!
Of course, this is a lot to take in, and all these tactics would be way too much to try to practice at the same time. As soon as you'd like some more guidance for which of these tactics to deploy and when, I'll be waiting for you inside 😉
