We’re all guilty of procrastinating, but for many of us it can become a destructive cycle of putting off important tasks, causing added stress and limiting our potential. The good news is that procrastination is a habit we can break, and we’ve got the expert insight you need on how to get stuff done now—not later! 

What is Procrastination?

It’s important to understand why we procrastinate before we tackle how to set yourself up for success. A lot of people think it’s just laziness or bad time management, but it turns out there’s a lot more to it.

Psychologists have found that procrastination is actually a coping mechanism that we use to avoid unpleasant tasks or anything that’s considered a “downer”, so we instead fill that time with a distraction that gives us a little mood boost while we delay that important thing. Timothy Pychyl, a professor at Carleton University who studies procrastination, calls this avoidance behavior “giving in to feel good.” Essentially, it’s a self-regulation problem.

Another way to think of procrastination is looking at our tendency towards instant gratification—especially for us millennials and gen-z’s. In behavioural psychology, they talk about a phenomenon called “time inconsistency,” which means the human brain values immediate rewards more than future rewards. Unfortunately for us, we’re pretty much hard-wired to want to put off those boring, time-consuming tasks. 

But there are a number of ways to kick procrastination to the curb. Read on for seven ways to get ahead of those procrastination habits…before you get behind:

1. Find out why you specifically are putting off certain tasks: 

This starts with identifying your own habits and what exactly you’re avoiding. For example, if you’re procrastinating administrative duties because of poor organization, start putting processes like scheduling, time management and to-do lists in place so you can tackle those tasks. 

Another cause of procrastination could be a mental or emotional block (you could be putting something off because you’ve had bad experiences associated with it), or you’re a perfectionist who avoids taking action for fear of failure. It’s hard to ignore those emotional barriers, but Dr. Pychyl makes a key point that we don’t have to be in the right mood or emotional state to do a specific task...we just need to get used to overcoming those initial feelings and get started. The solution? Focus on taking action and adding an enjoyable element to each task, like listening to music or setting the right ambiance to help you get in the zone.

2. Reframe your Internal Dialogue 

If you’re still stuck on TikTok instead of tackling those tasks you hate, reframe how you think of it. Instead of “needing to” or “having to” do something, empower yourself by shifting to “choosing to.” When you’re actually “choosing” to have a clean kitchen, for example, you’re in control of that goal. 

Or, try to focus on the "long game." Research shows that it’s super effective to combat our desire for short-term gain by focusing on the long-term benefits of completing the task. Look at its overall meaning and relevance to make it more worthwhile to just do it. And once you do, it probably won’t be as bad as you expected it to be!

3. Break your Work into Smaller Chunks 

We often procrastinate because we find something overwhelming and don’t know where to begin. Simplify things by breaking down the task into smaller parts and focusing on completing one piece at a time. 

This tactic has the added benefit of using small measures of progress to keep the momentum going. Our confidence in our own abilities increases with each task we’ve completed, so finishing the overall project comes easy.

4. Create a Detailed Timeline 

Having just one deadline to work towards can allow for a lot of procrastination. Creating a specific workback with due dates for every step of the project will add more urgency and accountability for each step. A thorough plan and schedule will also keep your priorities clear – it helps keep us in line when we inevitably try to avoid the important stuff for trivial chores.

5. Get Rid of Distractions

Figure out your biggest pitfalls when procrastinating… whether that’s Instagram or Netflix or laundry or organizing the files on your desktop. When it’s time to get down to work, remove yourself from those distractions, turn off notifications, put your device in a different room, or just work elsewhere.

6. Reward Yourself for Doing Things NOW

Make the benefits of actually doing the work outweigh the immediate payoff of procrastinating. We learned about bringing future rewards into the present through James Clear, and he calls this “temptation bundling”. (The concept was founded by a behavioural economics researcher Katy Milkman at The University of Pennsylvania.) Basically, you bundle a behaviour that has positive long-term effects for you with a behaviour that gives you instant gratification.

This means always operating with this formula: Only do [THING YOU LOVE] while doing [THING YOU PROCRASTINATE ON].

For example: 

• Only listen to audiobooks or podcasts while exercising.

• Only watch Netflix while doing household chores.  

• Only do a facemask while powering through admin tasks

7. Get yourself an accountabili-buddy

Align yourself with someone who is also working towards a goal and needs accountability. Share your goals and plans with them, and help keep each other on track with regular check-ins. 

We hope this inspires you to break free of any procrastination tendencies so you can get stuff today!