How to Stop Procrastinating and Get Things Done.

3 Rules to Follow to Stop Wasting Time and Get on top of Work

There I was:

Watching Joe Rogan’s Podcast Interview with David Goggins instead of going on my Scheduled 3km Practice Run for an Upcoming Race, telling myself that it would be Fatal to not leave when the Clock Strikes a Multiple of 5 (Don’t Lie to yourselves, I know you do the same). Inevitably I Never Left.

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Thankfully that was a Long Time Ago and I have since recovered From Chronic Procrastination and never looked back.

Procrastination ruins lives and potential successes, Therefore I’ve Researched Widely on the Methods of Avoiding Procrastination and Boiled it down to 3 Methods that I and Many Others use to Avoid being Lazy Wastemen.

Quick Disclaimer:

(I Originally Planned to Teach you lot about using Spaced repetition and Active Recall for GSCEs, however, it occurred to me; How are You Supposed to Implement those Techniques without being able to even get started, Hence this Guide.)

TIP 1: Plan out Your Tasks Before-Hand and Make them Manageable

Psychologist Dr Tim Pychyl’s Research tells us that One of the reasons that 86% of Students report Procrastinating on Assignments, Revision and other Tasks is due to their work being Unstructured and Difficult

What does this Mean?

Let’s break it down even further.

Imagine this:

Person 1 says ‘Tomorrow I’m going to Revise for My Biology Exam’

Person 2 says ‘ Tomorrow at 10:30 AM, I’m going to use My Biology Textbook to make Revision Notes on Topic 3, and I’m only Going to do it for 30 Minutes

Immediately it’s clear to us which Student is more likely to Procrastinate. (Person 1 BTW)

Now, Why is this? Evidently, because Person 2 has formulated a Concise Thought-Out Plan making their revision Structured and Less Difficult

Therefore when Tomorrow inevitably arrives and both Students need to get Revising, Person 1 will likely feel overwhelmed with his task and tell themselves ‘I’ll Start in 5 Minutes’. (And we all know what leads to).

So How Do you Become more Like Person 2?

Simple, The Night Before you Plan to do any kind of Task, Grab a Sheet of Paper or open a new digital note, And Simply Write Down Exactly What you are going to do when you are going to do it (Maybe By Blocking out time on your Calendar), and how you are going to do it, down to the last detail.

Then When Tomorrow Arrives, Simply Execute Your Plan.

Not Only Does this reduce friction between you and starting your task, but also reduces the decision-making required by your brain when the time for work arrives, therefore reducing your likelihood to procrastinate.

Through Repeating this Action, Not only will you Build up your Self-Discipline and Reduce the Likelihood of procrastinating in the Future. Once your Ability to carry out this process for short-term tasks, you can apply this same concept to long-term goals and stop that aimless feeling. (But That’s an article for another day).

TIP 2: 3..2..1 Rule and the 5-Minute Rule

Now that you’ve planned out exactly what you’re going to do, it’s time for the hardest part: Getting Started.

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To do this, we’re going to combine Two Methods used widely to cure Chronic Procrastinators of their Ailment; The 3.2.1 Rule and the 5 Minute Rule

Bear in Mind that these Methods work in similar ways therefore depending on your Unique Neurological Complex you could use Either one of them or even both.

The 3.2.1. Rule:

This method is Stupidly Simple:

Whenever you find yourself Procrastinating on a Task, Say to yourself:

3..2…1..GO!

As soon as you Say this to Yourself you need to get up and do whatever you were procrastinating on.

Internationally Recognised Mindset Expert Jen Groover:

“The 3-2-1-Go Method is a powerful strategy because with like any muscle you exercise, it actually trains the brain to move into action after stating the mantra.  At first it might feel challenging and really intentional but when you consistently follow through on the strategy it will become more instinctual. Much like the famous Pavlov's Dog training but for taking action.”

it seems so simple but the most effective techniques usually are, 3-2-1-GO will work to reprogram your mindset and develop a new productive habit that will become a part of your high-performing life routine. Practice, practice, practice and keep this in your mind when you feel stuck, unmotivated, or unproductive. JUST 3-2-1 GO!

The 5-Minute Rule:

Essentially,

The 5 Minute Rule states that all you need to do is commit to spending just five minutes on whatever it is you’re procrastinating, after which you’re free to stop if you want.

To put in a more practical method:

1. Set a timer on a device for five minutes.

2. When the timer starts, you start working. Give it 100% of your effort even if you don't feel like working; because remember, you’re only doing this for 5 Minutes

3. When the timer’s done, evaluate how you feel. The chances are you’ve overcome the most significant hurdle, which is to start, and now you’re on your way to finishing what you started.

The five-minute rule works because it tackles procrastination at its core. By turning your task into a small, manageable five-minute chunk, your brain no longer sees the task as a threat, and your body won’t enter fight or flight mode. After you’ve tricked your brain into getting started, it usually kicks into gear, and you’ll find that those five minutes turn into thirty minutes or even longer.

So the next time you find yourself putting off something you need to be doing, bargain with yourself and commit to just five minutes, and who knows, you may never procrastinate again!

TIP 3: Reward yourself

Dale Carnegie says, “Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”

(Hopefully), Now you’ve temporarily overcome your procrastination and Gotten Some work Done, Even if it was just for 5 Minutes.

Now The Most Important Step: Making Sure we Turn up Again and Perform Tomorrow.

It’s Simple, From Now on every time you Get Something done, Even if it was so incrementally Small as Revising 1/10th of a Textbook Chapter.

Reward Yourself

Reinforce the Behaviour you want to Execute more Often.

For Example:

• Practice Internal Self Praise: Don’t just put off your Achievement as if it were nothing, Recognise that You’ve overcome your Procrastination and take the time to give yourself a Corny Pat on the Back

• Track your Progress: I do this by maintaining a Google Spreadsheet with all my Subject Chapters that I need to revise, everytime I finish going through a chapter, I give it a tick to track my progress. This not only provides Tangible Evidence for your Hard work, therefore, increasing the likelihood of you wanting to come back the next day and do it again , but also provides a mini dose of Dopamine to Tell Your Brain: We Gotta Do This Again.

• Use Reward Substitution: Every time you Complete a Task with Long Term Benefits such as Reading a Book, Studying a Chapter or Going on a Run; Treat your Immediate Gratification seeking Brain with Just that; Immediate Rewards. For Example, Tell yourself that If I just Read this Book for 30 Minutes, I’m going to treat myself to Some TV. The idea is to Formulate a Contract with yourself; If I do X, I’ll get to have Y

Ultimately, the pleasant emotions generated by self-praise and other rewards creep back into the effort itself. By combining effort and rewards you can learn to associate tasks or work in general with something desirable.

These effort-reward cycles eventually lead to a phenomenon called ‘learned industriousness’. It basically states that getting rewarded for high effort leads to more high effort in the future. By rewarding yourself for your efforts, you are literally training yourself to exert high effort. So the Next time you see that Pile of Textbooks staring back you, Your Brain will remember that Positive Emotion it felt after Studying yesterday, and will immediately feel motivated to study Again.

Currently, you are training yourself to procrastinate, resulting in what we could call ‘learned procrastination’ or ‘learned laziness’. Because laziness/procrastination gets rewarded, it’s more likely to happen again in the future. In other words, you are teaching yourself to procrastinate.

Find ways to reward yourself and you’ll slowly, slowly build the habit of not procrastinating and actually putting in the effort and getting stuff done.

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If you follow those 3 Methods to A) Make Your Task Less Daunting, then B) Get Started, then C) Make sure you come back next time, I can say with near certainty that you will begin to see some improved outputs in your life.

Hopefully, that was Beneficial, Remember you can always contact me directly for any questions.

Until Next Time.