The Procrastination Puzzle
15 Aug 2023
'I'll do it later' is the hallmark phrase of procrastination. And it makes sense because the word procrastination derives from Latin for 'putting forward to tomorrow'.
After watching Ali Abdaal's recent book club episode, I read the Procrastination Puzzle by Tim Pychyl Phd, a psychology professor who spent over 30 years researching procrastination.
We all have ways to procrastinate. You might feel like it tomorrow, you work better under pressure, the deadline feels far away...
Here are three prompts to consider that stood out to me:
Do you plan as a way to procrastinate?
It feels amazing to make a plan and design protocols. If you've ever done a weekly review, you'll know what I'm talking about.
We fill our calendars and to-do lists with actions for our future self.
But beware of the planning trap - it gives us a false feeling of productivity as we imagine our future superhero self mastering our wishlist.
Planning is important, but don't use it as an excuse to not do the thing now.
Planning doesn't equal doing.
2. How do you rationalise your procrastination?
Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort you feel when your actions don't align with your values or beliefs.
A cost of procrastination, which we are hard-wired to alleviate.
The Procrastination Puzzle shares some typical reactions we use to cope with this mental state. My pitfalls:
Distraction - you avoid the uncomfortable task by doing something else like social media, answering emails, ticking off easy to-dos...
Trivialization - You change your thoughts or beliefs to reduce the importance. 'One cookie isn't going to matter'.
Adding consonant cognitions - you seek out new information to support procrastinating. 'I need to research more before I start my healthy diet'.
Downward counterfactuals - 'It could have been worse'. This makes us feel better in the short-term but prevents us from learning from our mistakes.
The myth of the arousal procrastinator - 'I work better under pressure'. We excuse our failure to act, which makes us feel better.
Once you know how you procrastinate, you can better recognise when you're doing it.
Knowledge is power.
3. How to solve the procrastination puzzle?
Sometimes you also just put things off because you don't have all the info.
But once you get started, you find it better than you thought it would be. All you needed was to get started.
Just get started. It sounds too simple, but the book gives it as one of two major strategies to fight procrastination. Nike already capitlised on that thinking.
Once we begin, it can be difficult to stay on track as the inevitable happens - your boss calls with an urgent task or your pet hamster eats through your laptop cable.
Prepare for these interruptions and things not going according to plan.
The second strategy of the book: use 'implementation intentions'. If X happens, then I'll do Y.
For example, if someone calls me while I write ThreeFold Tuesday, I'll decline and tell them I'm available as of 5pm.
Summary:
Know how you procrastinate. Knowledge is power.
Just get started doing the thing you know you need to do.
Use implementation intentions to stay on top of your priorities.
What are you procrastinating at the moment? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Reply to this email or tweet at me @Sandrerooo.
Fun Fact of the Week
Okay, less fun but still riveting.
Trade beads made of coral, amber, and glass, were used as money in parts of west Africa for many centuries, stretching back at least to the 1300s and prior.
When Europeans began exploring West Africa, they observed the usage of these beads and exploited them.
With their advanced glass-making technology, Europeans could produce beautiful beads with modest effort. So, they could trade tons of these beads for commodities and other goods, and tragically human slaves as well.
Due to this technological asymmetry, they devalued these glass beads by increasing their supply throughout west Africa, and extracted a lot of value from those societies in the process.
Read more on Lynalden.com - What is Money, Anyway?
Quote of the Week
"Most advice sucks. You have to build 'advice filters' that help you take the signal and skip the noise.
One such filter is to never take advice from someone who isn’t in the arena.
Their map is entirely formed from the outside looking in and is unlikely to provide value for someone in the game."
From The Most Powerful Decision-Making Razors by Sahil Bloom
Have a great week!
Sandrero