Do you want to give your productivity a boost? This three-step intervention can help you diagnose and beat some of your most persistent procrastination habits.
Step 1 – Assessment: Diagnose the Problems
Each person is different. What triggers your procrastination?
Procrastination is at its worst when we’re not aware of it. The first step in this intervention is therefore to increase your awareness of what’s tripping you up. You’ll want to get as much insight into yourself as possible, recognizing any problematic habits, or any patterns in your thoughts and behaviors that are getting in your way.
With that goal, keep a productivity journal to collect some data about yourself. You can download a template here and print it out.
Here is how it works: the night before your workday, write a to-do list and a schedule for the following day. Make sure to schedule realistically, including breaks and transition times.
Next to the planned schedule, have an empty column. As your workday unfolds, write into the empty column what you actually did.
– Warning: this may be painful! –
Throughout that day, take notes of what happened when you did or didn’t stay on track. Were there outside interruptions or emergencies? If not, what caused any deviations from your plans? Were you aware, at any moment, that you were procrastinating? What were your thoughts and feelings in that moment?
Keep this log for at least several days (more is better, but they don’t need to be consecutive days), then start analyzing patterns. Are there things that repeatedly throw you off?
Step 2 – Treatment: Change One Thing
After analyzing your logs and seeking patterns, choose one issue to fix: what is the one thing you could do differently that has a potential of making things better? Choose the lowest hanging fruit first. Try an intervention, targeted at one trigger at a time. See it as an experiment you do with yourself. Whatever you try, do it for at least one week, or better yet, three weeks. Keep journaling throughout this time.
If you like the change you see, stick to it for another two weeks, even if it’s hard, because it takes a while for habits to form. By that time you will likely find it easier and will be able to keep the new habit, if it is making a positive difference in your life. If you find it hard to make the change, keep the mindset of a scientist: how could you make it work?
Step 3 – Repeat: Experiment, Tweak and Practice
Remember that this is an experimental approach. Whatever you try, see it as an experiment that may succeed or fail. Either way, you learned something important that will help you fine-tune your work habits.
After going through Step 1 (Assessment) and Step 2 (Treatment), you will likely observe some changes. If you don’t like them, or if you feel that there could be even more improvement, repeat both steps. If your assessment in Step 1 gave you a lot to work with, you may only need to repeat Step 2 by trying a new intervention, or by tweaking what you tried before, to make it work even better.
Also, remember that it takes a lot of time, grit and practice to become an expert, and to truly master a difficult skill. Managing our time (and yourself!) well is an inherently difficult skill to master, so be patient with yourself and don’t give up if things don’t improve right away. Take on your next obstacle and try the next intervention.
It is also a good idea to do the entire intervention with other people, such as with a friend, in a group, or with a coach. Not only does this give you accountability, which sometimes makes all the difference, but it also adds more creative thinking power to the process. When other people are helping you think about your problems, it will be easier to diagnose your triggers and design new solutions that may work for you.
If you would like my help with any of this, schedule your first coaching session or a brief phone call to discuss options.
by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), Portland OR
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