How to Stop Procrastinating
Here is a simple three-point plan to stop procrastinating:
- Think about the painful consequences you will suffer if you DON'T do the task.
- Think about the pleasurable benefits you will enjoy if you DO complete the task.
- Just start it
1. Think about the painful consequences you will suffer if you DON'T do the task.
The reason you procrastinate is because, each time you think of doing the task, you think about how painful, or boring, or difficult, it will be.
And since you are pre-programmed to avoid pain, you avoid tasks that you find "painful", and you seek out other tasks that are more "pleasurable".
You can harness the power of your natural predisposition to avoid pain, by thinking about the painful consequences you will suffer if you don't do the task at hand.
Make a list of at least five painful consequences you will have to suffer if you don't:
- Do the laundry.
- Do your accounts.
- Tidy up the kitchen.
- Arrive on time, (to catch the train), etc.
The more you dwell on the painful consequences you must suffer if you do NOT do something, the more you will feel compelled to get-on and do it.
2. Think about the pleasurable consequences you will enjoy if you do complete the task.
Because you are motivated by pleasure, you should think of all the pleasurable benefits you will enjoy IF you complete the task. Make a list of at least five pleasurable benefits you will enjoy, when you have successfully completed the above tasks.
The more you dwell on the pleasurable benefits of completing the tasks, the more you will feel compelled to get-on and do it.
3. Just start it.
The last step is just to start.
Start with the beginning of the first part of the job.
If you have been procrastinating on working-out, just say to yourself, I will go to the gym and I will do the first warm up sets of the first exercise, then, if I don't feel like it I will come back home.
Of course, you know what will happen.
By the time you have finished your warm up sets, your momentum will have gathered its force and you keep going.
You have the best workout you've ever had, and you can go home and feel the pleasurable benefits of overcoming procrastination and getting the job done.
"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Martin Luther King Jr
Pain-Pleasure Method
The pain-pleasure method is a simple time-management tool that helps you act now. You picture the harm that delay brings, picture the rewards of action, feel the strong push-pull between them, and then take the first small step at once. This swift link between feeling and doing stops delay before it grows.
CG4D Definition
Context: Time management
Genus: Technique
- You list clear painful results that follow if you do not do the task.
- You list clear pleasant results that follow when you finish the task.
- You compare pain with pleasure to spark strong inner drive to act.
- You take the very first small action straight away to build momentum.
Article Summary
Link the task to the pain of delay, picture the pleasure of success, then take one small first step; pain pushes, pleasure pulls, and action follows.