Procrastination isn't laziness, and it usually isn't bad time management either. Research increasingly describes it as a way of managing feelings: we put off tasks that make us feel anxious, bored, confused or inadequate, and we get a moment of relief for doing so. The fix, then, is less about willpower and more about making the task feel smaller and safer to start.
Why we procrastinate
Psychologists Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl have argued that procrastination is a short-term mood repair: avoiding the task makes us feel better now, at the expense of our future selves. Piers Steel's large review of the research (2007) found people procrastinate more on tasks they find unpleasant, when rewards are far away, and when they're impulsive or don't expect to succeed. Notice what's not on the list: not knowing how to use a calendar.
That's why the classic advice, “just make a schedule”, so often fails. The schedule doesn't touch the feeling that made you avoid the task.
Start with ten minutes
The most reliable trick is to shrink the commitment. Don't decide to write the report; decide to work on it for ten minutes, and allow yourself to stop after that. The dread is mostly about the whole task; ten minutes is tolerable. And once you've started, carrying on is far easier than starting was. Most of the time, you won't stop at ten.
A timer helps: it makes the deal concrete. The Pomodoro timer was built for exactly this; Francesco Cirillo invented the technique as a student who couldn't get himself to study.
Eight more things that help
- Make the first step absurdly small. Not “write the introduction” but “open the document and write one bad sentence”.
- Plan when and where. Peter Gollwitzer's research on implementation intentions found that “if it's 9 AM, I'll sit at my desk and open the draft” makes people much more likely to act than a goal alone.
- Remove the escape routes. Phone in another room, the browser closed. If avoiding the task takes effort, you're more likely to do it.
- Name the feeling. “I'm avoiding this because I don't know where to start” points to the fix: work out where to start.
- Lower the bar. Give yourself permission to do it badly. A bad first draft can be fixed; an empty page can't.
- Be kind to yourself about yesterday. In a study of students, those who forgave themselves for procrastinating on one exam procrastinated less on the next. Guilt feeds the cycle.
- Sort what really matters. Sometimes we procrastinate on a task because it shouldn't be done at all. The Eisenhower matrix helps tell the difference.
- Work beside someone. Having another person present, even on a video call, makes starting easier; see body doubling.
When it's more than procrastination
If you're putting off almost everything, all the time, and it's affecting your work or life, it may be worth talking to a doctor or therapist: persistent procrastination can be linked to depression, anxiety or ADHD, and those are treatable.
Make starting the easy part
In Flight, starting a focus session means picking somewhere to fly: a short hop if you're doing ten minutes, a long-haul if you're feeling brave. Once the plane has taken off, the only thing to do is the work until it lands.