3 Ways to Kick the Procrastination Habit

If you’re constantly putting things off, there’s a way to stop. (Photo: Stocksy/Jovana Rikalo)

All the time management techniques in the world won’t magically fix chronic procrastination habits. And you know why they never will? Because time isn’t the problem. The problem is your negative emotions that stand in the way of you getting anything done.

Say you want to clean the garage, or work on your book or a new business idea. At the thought of starting, you feel so tired, daunted, intimidated, or all-around upset that you make a beeline for something that makes you feel good. Maybe you take a nap, or scroll through a hundred Facebook posts, or wash the three dishes in the sink.

I’ll feel better if I just wait a bit, you think. Except that doesn’t happen. You feel worse after having put it off!

Luckily, the solution comes from the same place as the problem: your head. With a little effort, you can change your thinking to ease up on the negative emotions, which will free up energy to get yourself heading toward your goals. Here’s how you start.

Watch for iceberg beliefs. You have a whole bunch of ideas about how the world works, and should work, that formed in your head when you were very young. We call them iceberg beliefs, and they can be a problem because you’re likely unaware of how they’re affecting your thinking.

Here’s an achievement-oriented iceberg belief about that might ring a bell for you: I should do everything perfectly. If you believe that things must be a certain way before you take any action, you’ll keep procrastinating, and you may not even be aware that the iceberg has sunk you.

Try this: When you’re in the throes of procrastination, tune into the thought running just beyond your awareness. If you catch phrases like I’ll never or I should be, you’ve run into an iceberg belief. In this case, it may be time to melt it with a truer, more useful thought: Here I go again, treating my life like a spelling test. I can’t hold myself to that rule anymore. It doesn’t make sense in my life, nor is it as important as it once was. Perfection isn’t the goal.

(Read more on handling iceberg beliefs.) 

Swap out negative thoughts for positive ones. Iceberg beliefs often lead to thought patterns that act like traps, leaving you no way out or forward. For example, if you think This project is too hard. I’ll never get it done, you’re making the more challenging aspects worse and ignoring any benefits.

Try this: The key here is to acknowledge that these thoughts are not 100 percent true, and then to replace them with true, positive statements. Take This is too hard, and flip it to This is a challenge but doable, and the rewards of even getting started are well worth it.  It’s OK if the positive thoughts feel awkward to you at first. Keep thinking them. They will shift your perceptions over time — and ultimately, what you are able to do.

(Read more on thinking traps and how to get out of them.)

Reframe it. If you frame a task, even one you really want to do, as hard and tough and painful and generally bad, all the positive thoughts in the world won’t get you to do it. So you need to change not just how you think about yourself, but how you think about the task.

Try this: Ask yourself: How will your life, your career, and your relationships suffer as a result of inaction?The pain of doing a tough thing now pales in comparison to the pain of regret later if you didn’t even try.  Remind yourself that it’s not just about how hard this or that task is — it’s about putting real effort into a thing you care about. And I promise you, there’s no better reward than that.

(Read more on how you zap happiness—and how to get it back.)

This story is part of “Cooler, Calmer, and Happier,” an ongoing series with meQuilibrium. Jan Bruce is CEO and co-founder of meQuilibrium, the digital coaching system for stress, which helps both individuals and corporations achieve measurable results, and the co-author of meQuilibrium: 14 Days to Cooler, Calmer, and Happier with Andrew Shatté, Ph.D., and Adam Perlman M.D.

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