procrastination and how to tame your instant gratification monkey
We all procrastinate. Perhaps you are one of those stuck in a cycle of nearly-missed, panic-achieved deadlines, clinging onto a rollercoaster of stressful ups and downs. Perhaps you only have a mild case of procrastination, and you drag yourself to the task at hand after a little bit of dalliance. But, maybe, your procrastinating behaviour is severely impacting your enjoyment and performance and you know you need to get it under control, but just don’t know how. Wherever you sit on that scale, you have options.
Why do we procrastinate?
Firstly, not because we’re lazy.
Tim Urban blames our Instant Gratification Monkey who, he says, gets in the way of our rational decision maker, lives only in the present and doesn’t care about future rewards. This monkey wants an easy and fun life and can only be overcome when the mostly dormant panic monster is called upon to help us meet that deadline. He says we need to invoke and engage the panic monster before we run out of time in our lives. It’s a fun analogy, and one my 16-year-old daughter drew my attention to when explaining why she wasn’t revising for her GCSEs. But it doesn’t explain why our Instant Gratification Monkey is in our heads to begin with, and nor does it really help us to come up with strategies to manage our collective procrastination issues.
So what can we do?
Filter Out
I would start by referring you back to my article in 2022 which explores how we can find more time in our lives for the things that really matter. Are you procrastinating because a) your list of tasks is actually too long, b) some of those items will have minimal meaningful impact, c) you are neither proficient or passionate in the task, and/or d) maybe the task simply belongs on someone else’s to-do list? If any of those apply, then perhaps it’s time to ditch the task.
Create a well-formed outcome
With your task list shortened to those things that really matter to you, next it’s time to consider, is the task too vague? If so, employ the principles of a well-formed outcome as described in Lynne Cooper’s Business NLP for Dummies. A well-formed outcome goes well beyond a SMART goal because it encompasses sensory-specific information which helps to make your goal more real to you. Lynne explains that we need to know:
what we do want (not what we don’t want)
that we are in control and able to initiate the outcome ourselves
what you want specifically and how you will know when you have it
the context; i.e. where, when, and with whom you want it
the resources you need, internal and external
the impact on you and others. I particularly like the questions here, ‘what will happen if I have this outcome’ and ‘what will happen if I don’t have this outcome’
Create bite-size pieces
The task may be clear, but perhaps it’s overwhelming. In which case, it’s time to chunk the task down into manageable bite-size pieces. What could you achieve right now that would set you on the right path? What is a small thing you could do to get things moving in the right direction? What else could you have a go at? How would you feel if you achieved that?
Confront the fear factor
By this stage, we’ve examined some practical reasons that could be feeding our procrastination and applied some self-help strategies to overcome them, but something is still stopping us. Fear. The question is why.
Are you a perfectionist and worried you won’t achieve the very thing you most want to do? Is there an inner voice telling you all the reasons you should be afraid to do this? If so, it’s time to acknowledge that inner voice and one by one, counter all the fears that are holding you back.
One technique (best practiced with a coach) involves picturing, sensing, hearing that voice, recognising where it’s coming from and then diminishing its power and sending it packing. If you’re interested, when I applied this technique, I managed to turn my inner voice into a squeaky, purple splodge that squelched under my foot. And yes, that was a very satisfying experience.
For those, for whom that may be a little too quirky, then I recommend again a writing exercise to give your “shitty committee” of inner voices the slip. Whatever technique you employ, your objective is to face the fear and then counter it. What’s the worst that can happen – and, on a scale of 0-10, how likely is that?
Clear our heads
Sometimes, noise gets in the way. Life fills our head with distractions, and we can’t shake them out. It stops us from focusing and can be very debilitating. A simple, effective technique is the pomodoro technique: set a timer for 25 minutes and tell yourself that’s all the time you’re going to spend and for that period only, you have to focus. It’s surprising how often we continue beyond the timer. For deeper set distractions, consider meditation – even just a simple three-minute breathing exercise can bring calm and focus. The Calm app has many helpful meditation exercises to help.
Commit, reflect and reward
In my creative writing community, we have accountability buddies. This is a person with whom we share our writing goals for the week, and we check in with to see how each other is progressing. Declaring your intention to another person makes it real and you feel an accountability to do what you said you would. It’s also someone you can discuss your barriers and fears with.
Reflecting after you have achieved what you set out to do is another powerful tool. It helps us to remember how we felt (good, hopefully!) so that next time we have to do this thing, we are more motivated to get on with it.
And, finally, what’s your reward? I’m currently in the early stages of drafting a new novel. I have a first draft deadline date and I’ve booked a mini break away with my husband for the weekend following. If I really wanted to imprint that incentive in my brain, I could print out a photo of our chosen destination and stick it somewhere I will see at my desk every day. In fact…
In summary
You don’t have to give your brain over to the Instant Gratification Monkey. It’s time you took the control back. Be kind and patient to yourself. Good luck!
To find out more please get in touch / +44 (0) 20 7298 7878
