Interrupt Procrastination

I have been putting off writing this piece for a while. Ironically, that’s precisely what makes me so qualified to write it. Procrastination is deferring items from your current to do list into the future. But the introspective research for this post made me aware of a troubling behavior trend: Patterns. Nurtured by routine and repetition, patterns accelerate procrastination, leading to a lifestyle of stress and disappointment. Awareness is the key to interrupting this process. This post will identify some of these patterns, and provide ideas for how to interrupt them.

There are no bad tools, just bad ways to use them. Delaying action can be a valuable strategic tool. Strategic procrastination will be addressed at another time. Right now, we are going to explore the compulsive and counterproductive brand of procrastination.

The lowest common denominator of all pattern based procrastination is FEAR. That fear manifests most commonly in these 3 symptoms:

1. Over-commitment (fear of saying “no,” fear of disappointing others): These fears contribute to an overly optimistic assessment of capacity. This leads to over-commitment and self-imposed stress, which is both unnecessary and completely avoidable.
2. Perfectionism (fear of not being good enough, fear of not living up to expectations): The concept of “perfect” is, at best, an unhelpful collision of fantasy and perception. Perfectionism inflates the time and energy required to complete tasks. The solution seems simple enough: Put things off until there is ample time to complete them perfectly.
3. Indecision (fear of regret, fear I won’t be able to get everything done): When everything is important, nothing is. When nothing is important, everything is easier to defer until later.

Procrastination is built on the foundation of fear. These underlying fears can not be addressed until behavior patterns are interrupted. Otherwise, we will spend all our time reacting to the real world symptoms of this illness. This is the most insidious aspect of procrastination. Urgent overt symptoms obscure the covert issues.

Identifying and interrupting patterns is an effective way to take a step back and benefit from a different perspective. This provides an access point to address the underlying issues (fear) identified above. Let’s take a closer look at a common pattern.

Consider the following equation:

To do list + calendar items = more time required than hours available.

This unrealistic workload creates a “manufactured urgency,”  which I used to believe was valuable fuel for a sustainable drive to achieve. Motivation is essential. But there are ways to harness the positive aspects of urgency without the stressful side effects.

Occasionally, the feeling of being trapped under an unreasonable number of commitments leads to intense motivation and productive momentum. But it’s easy to just go through the motions, becoming increasingly reactive along the way. Choosing to focus on one task can even lead to guilt for neglecting the others.

During the day, some combination of the following usually occurs:

• To do list tasks take longer than anticipated
• Urgent issues arise that require immediate attention
• Family commitments expand to require more time than normal

There is a tipping point sometime during the afternoon. It becomes obvious the remaining to-do items will take far longer than the remaining time. The solution is seductive in its simplicity: Prefill tomorrow’s to do list by deferring a block of today’s tasks. Groundwork for continuing the pattern is set: Tomorrow, just like today, will start with no extra bandwidth – no margin.

Procrastination starts small. It gains scale and momentum through patterns.

Newly minted awareness is a reason for optimism. Each driver of procrastination is also an access point in disguise. These are opportunities I have identified to shift focus and live in better alignment. Everyone has different nuances to their patterns, so you will want to create your own list. The resulting increase in Personal Leverage™ is dramatic.

I can only share ideas that have worked for me personally. Below is a list of the problems and solutions for each genre of patterns. Take what works, adapt what does not, and if you like, share your experience in the comments section.

Over commitment

Problems

• Large, unscheduled calendar blocks. A certain amount of unstructured time (a.k.a. “margin”) is a critical daily shock absorber. Too much margin is a license to be lazy or inefficient, 2 behaviors which are highly predictive of procrastination.
• Disconnect between calendar and task lists. Working through my task list requires time, but I don’t use my calendar to manage my tasks. I’m missing a real time reference for how much time my task list will take. 

Solutions

• Smaller calendar time blocks. No more 2 or 3 hour chunks of unscheduled time between meetings. I have found 30 to 45 minutes to be the ideal size for non-meeting time blocks. Remove the illusion of having lots of time, and it is easier to say “no” to the non-essentials.
• Schedule “margin” every day. Margin is simply a block of time on the calendar labeled as “margin.” It is a critical shock absorber that allows for tactical flexibility. Some days it is only 30 minutes, other days it might be a couple hours. I’ve found putting it in the middle of the day is most helpful. This time can be spent in whatever way makes the most sense. It could be used for having coffee with a friend, or to catch up on to do list items for work.
• Schedule the 2 most important items from your to do list onto the calendar. I manage my time first, and my task list second. Whatever is on my calendar gets first priority. I only revert to my task list when I’m not in a scheduled engagement. On a busy day, I might live completely on my calendar and never get to my “non-urgent” but still important tasks. When I put the most important 2 tasks from my list on my calendar, I feel less overwhelmed and am less prone to over committing.
• Change physical location at least once during the day. Work the same number of hours, but spend either the first or last 60-90 minutes of your day working from a different location. Coffee shops and parks work well, but an empty office down the hall can be just as effective. Use this change in venue to create productive manufactured urgency. Let’s say you have an hour left before you change locations. You think you can accomplish 4 to do list items during that time. Challenge yourself to complete 6 items. Don’t let rushing degrade the quality of your work. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Watch what happens to productivity.

Perfectionism

Problems

• Reluctance to delegate. It is hard enough to measure up to my own standard of perfection. Teaching someone else to operate according to that same standard is impossible.
• Not knowing where to start. Picking a starting point is daunting when everything needs to be done perfectly.

Solutions

• Empower direct reports with delegation accountability. Scheduling recurring 1:1’s is effective. As a mechanism for accountability, consider using a standing agenda that includes a review of previously delegated items.
• Begin each day by immediately completing any 2 tasks. The power of inertia should not be underestimated. I find it much easier to build on existing momentum than to get started.

Indecision

Problems

• Too much coffee. A moderate dose of caffeine can enhance focus. Too much leaves me feeling frantic and fragmented. Taking decisive action through these feelings is tough.
• False urgency. Some tasks can be completed quickly, giving the illusion of productivity. These tasks can appear urgent, which makes them easy to justify. The most common example is returning email as it comes in, instead of responding in batches.

Soutions

• Replace coffee with Kava tea. Executing slower but more consistently can yield greater work output.
• Pomodoro time management technique to create productive urgency. Want to really amplify the effectiveness of this tactic? Spend your 5 minute break doing one full circuit of Wim Hof breathing.

Leave a comment below with strategies and tools you use to mitigate procrastination!