Procrastination: Sprinting Through Stuff You Don’t Want to Do

You know the feeling. That heaviness in your arms, the lethargy that overwhelms you the moment you think about that distasteful task you need to get done. You skate around it for a while, busying yourself with distractions until it’s too late to do the task today.  Then you feel like a terrible failure for not having completed it.

We’ve all been there.

But to have any real success in any serious business or personal endeavor, there will always be things you need to do that you don’t like.  But you shouldn’t let those things stop you from achieving your goals.

Sprinting Through Procrastination

I want to share with you a technique that I learned a while back and have fine tuned for myself.  It has worked great for me in overcoming this tendency to avoid tasks I don’t like, and it might help you, too.

1. Think about the task that you want to complete.  What about the task makes it distasteful to you? Why don’t you want to do it? Accept the reasons why you don’t like the task.  It’s perfectly OK to not like something.
2. Decide how much time you are willing to be uncomfortable while doing the task.  It might be 2 minutes, or 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes.  DON’T think about how long it is going to take to COMPLETE, the task. You only want to know how long you are WILLING to ENDURE the task.
3. Agree that you will endure the task for this particular amount of time.  Say to yourself that you know you will be uncomfortable and that you won’t like it, but you are willing to do it for that specific bit of time.
4. Set a timer for the amount of time you agreed to.  This should be a countdown timer with an alarm.  A cooking timer works great.  If it doesn’t have an alarm or you try to use a standard clock, then you will find yourself constantly checking to see if time is up yet. Use an alarm.
5. Prepare to begin the task.  This is IMPORTANT! Very often, we use preparation as a procrastination technique.  We shuffle papers, do some research, go to the bathroom so nature won’t interrupt us, etc. This preparation time does NOT count.  If you find yourself over-preparing, STOP and GO BACK to step 1.  In some cases, it might help to prepare WHILE you are doing step 1.
6. Take a deep breath. Then start your timer and begin the task. As you start, REMIND yourself that even though you don’t like the task, you will only have to do it for the agreed upon time.
7. When the timer goes off, STOP.

Newton’s First Law of Motion

I find an interesting thing usually happens when I get to the final step, especially if it was a very short amount of time.  Typically, I don’t stop.

Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. This happens with our thoughts and activities as well.

Once you have momentum with a task, even one you don’t like, you will often find that either the task wasn’t as bad as you thought, or you just want to keep working until it is done so that you can get it off your list.

In some cases you may find that you do want to stop, especially if it is something you really despise. That’s perfectly OK, it was part of the agreement you made with yourself.

Either way, you’ve made PROGRESS.

And either way, you’ve kept a COMMITMENT to YOURSELF.

That’s a great feeling.

Tasks You Can’t Stop

What about a task that you can’t stop once you’ve started? Well, unless you are skydiving or riding a roller coaster, most things you CAN stop.  It might not be ideal to stop painting halfway through a room, or to end a customer call prematurely, but it CAN be done.

For these tasks, have an exit strategy.  Chances are you won’t use it, but it will give you COMFORT to know that you have it in case the situation becomes completely unbearable.  Think of it this way: is it better to get SOMETHING done and stop early, or is it better to do NOTHING? What’s the outcome of doing nothing? What’s the outcome of doing something?

Using Progress Instead of Time

You don’t have to use time as your marker. You could, for example, agree to complete two paragraphs of a blog post, or to paint just one wall of a room, or to call only one prospect.

The important thing is to come to an AGREEMENT with yourself.  So often we think a task must be all or nothing.  It doesn’t.  It just needs to be SOMETHING. You’re not looking for COMPLETION, you’re looking for PROGRESS. Completion only comes with progress, so just focus on progress.

Rewarding Yourself

Chances are the accomplishment toward a goal will be enough of a reward in itself.  It’s a great feeling to have the task done and off your list.

However, allowing yourself to do something you really love as a reward for enduring a distasteful task might provide that little boost of energy you need to get started. Maybe a scoop of you favorite ice cream, playing a video game or surfing the Internet for 15 minutes, or taking time to call and chat with your best friend. Agree to your reward between steps 3 and 4, before you actually begin the task.

Hopefully you’ll find these steps to be as effective as I have for overcoming procrastination.  Note that this technique only works when you are procrastinating something you don’t like or don’t want to do.

There are plenty of OTHER reasons why people procrastinate.  In future articles I’ll be touching on some of those other reasons, and how you might be able to move past them.

In the meantime, go get your timer and start making progress!

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Talk To Me! Have you ever fought with procrastination on things you just don’t like to do? What did you do to overcome it? Please leave a comment and let me know!

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