If you’re prone to procrastination (like me) you can take some comfort in the fact that our brains are programmed for it.
In general, most of us have trouble taking action now for the promise of a future upside. That trade-off is an abstract concept, and our brains do better with the concrete rather than the abstract.
So, how can you trick yourself into tackling your to-do list in a more timely way?
The key is to make the costs of action feel smaller, and the benefits of action feel bigger. Caroline Webb, CEO of Sevenshift, a coaching and organizational behavior consulting firm, has a solid plan for making this transition.
To make the benefits of action feel bigger:
Visualize how great it will be to get it done. If there’s a call you’re avoiding or an email you’re putting off, give your brain a helping hand by imagining the virtuous sense of satisfaction you’ll have once it’s done—and perhaps also the look of relief on someone’s face as they get from you what they needed.
Pre-commit, publicly. By daring to say “I’ll send you the report by the end of the day” we add social benefits to following through on our promise—which can be just enough to nudge us to bite the bullet.
Confront the downside of inaction. Suppose you’re repeatedly putting off the preparation you need to do for an upcoming meeting. Force yourself to think about the downside of putting it off, and you realize that tomorrow will be too late to get the input you really need to make it good.
To make the costs of action feel smaller:
Identify the first step. Identify the very smallest first step, something that’s so easy that the benefits outweigh the costs of effort. Achieve that small goal, and you’ll feel more motivated to take the next small step than if you’d continued to beat yourself up about your lack of language skills.
Tie the first step to a treat. Tie the task that we’re avoiding to something that we’re not avoiding. You might muster the self-discipline to complete a slippery task if you promise yourself you’ll do it in a nice café with a favorite pastry in front of you.
Remove the hidden blockage. Sometimes we find ourselves returning to a task repeatedly, still unwilling to take the first step. Often, the issue is that a perfectly noble competing commitment is undermining your motivation. Identify it and then it’s far more likely you’ll find a way to overcome it.
Stuck on how to get started?
Be kind to yourself. Remember that your brain needs help to get moving. And take small steps at first so can turn them into big ones later.
Have a great week.
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