What are you avoiding?
Thoughts on procrastination
Hi friends,
Greetings from LA!
I was super excited to get out of Hong Kong and take a well-deserved break. But at the same time, I was also feeling a little anxious - partly because I didn’t have much planned for the trip.
I knew that thinking of a general plan would help ease the anxiety but I kept putting it off until I was “in the mood” to plan and pack.
When I noticed I was getting nowhere, I pulled out all the strategies I’ve tested over the years to deal with my procrastination. So for this week, I thought I’d share my holy grail strategies for overcoming procrastination. These have worked for me, so maybe they will work for you too. And thanks to Ali Abdaal’s podcast episode with Dr. Tim Pychyl for inspiring this week’s newsletter.
Focus on the next action
You may have heard the advice to break down your large tasks into smaller tasks to make them more manageable to complete. This strategy is similar in that it gets you to think of the project/task you need to accomplish as a set of actions. As David Allen puts it in Getting Things Done:
You don't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it.
Another way to put it is that we don’t do goals, we take actions toward those goals.
Breaking down the task/goal into actions is the best strategy for me when I feel overwhelmed. I ask myself: what is the next immediate action I can take? If I’m putting off the gym, I get myself to put on my workout clothes. If I need to cook dinner, I start by taking out all the ingredients that I need. The best “next” actions are usually the ones that require the least perceived effort. Getting started is the most difficult part for many of us so next time you are procrastinating, find the next action and get started.
Block out time for it
All of us have busy lives, often with very packed schedules. The non-work or school-related tasks will not be at the top of your to-do list or scheduled into your calendar. Setting up a designated time for a task is my favourite strategy to use when I feel scattered. When I’m feeling scattered, I tend to avoid tasks by claiming that “I don’t have enough mental energy to think this task through, so I’ll do it later”. Committing to and intentionally carving out focus time for a task helps you prioritise it and allocate mental resources for that task.
Manage the emotions behind the procrastination
Dr. Tim Pychyl, a leading expert in procrastination states that,
Procrastination is an emotion-regulation problem.
He suggests that we need to deal with the emotions that are leading us to procrastinate. Thinking of procrastination in this way made me utilise the strategies to cope with procrastination better, in that choose the strategy that tackles the emotion behind my procrastination best. For example, I use “focusing on my next action” when I feel overwhelmed.
But how do you identify the emotions that are dysregulated and are causing you to procrastinate?
It is not easy but it starts with being more self-aware and mindful. A framework you can use is RAIN - Recognise, Accept, Investigate, Non-identification
R: Recognise your emotions by taking a mental note whenever you feel a strong emotion coming up. Naming the emotion can be quite difficult - you can use emotion wheels/lists online or get a friend to listen and name the emotion they notice.
A: Accept your emotions as they are. The more you try to suppress or fight them, they will come surface in unexpected and uglier ways.
I: Investigate the reasons behind your emotions. This is key to more conscious and effective coping with procrastination.
N: Non-identification means remembering that you are not your emotions. These difficult emotions will pass and be managed with whichever strategy you choose.
Whether it is boredom, fearfulness, anxiety, or frustration, managing these emotions will be useful for helping you accomplish everything you’ve been putting off.
My final recommendation is that you should experiment with what works and find the strategies that fit best with your situations and emotions. Let me know how you deal with procrastination and whether you’ve found any of these tips useful - I would love to hear from you!
This week’s collection
📰 Newsletter: Logan’s Love Letter
I’ve been subscribed to Logan Ury’s weekly newsletter for a while now and I’ve been loving it. Logan is the author of How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love, which is a best seller that I have yet to read. Her weekly newsletter is free and gives a lot of modern dating and relationship advice that is quite insightful.
🎥Movie: The Batman
I’m a bit late on this one but it’s because it usually takes a lot for me to sit down and commit to watching a movie. I finally watched The Batman on the plane and I enjoyed it a lot. It was dark and gripping - kept my attention for 3 hours which was very impressive.
🔴 Apps: Capcut and Inshot
Capcut and Inshot are my favourite apps for making Instagram reels and story collages. They are both free and so intuitive to use. With both these apps, I can edit all my content efficiently and on the go! You can Inshot for both photo and video but I prefer Capcut because of their fonts.
💎Jewelry: Ana Luisa
I’ve been wanting to try Ana Luisa earrings for a while now and I’m so glad I got them. They don’t irritate my ears and hug nicely around my earlobe. If anyone is curious, I got the Elios earrings!
A question for you!
What is something or someone you’ve been avoiding?
Always open to learning more and hearing from you 😊
Thanks for reading!
Stay inspired,
Viv