Said cognitive neuroscientist Samuel McClure, quoted in "What causes your brain to procrastinate and how to face it/A study shows that there are two ways that may help in tackling procrastination — setting reminders and envisioning your future self" (WaPo).
Procrastination-prone brains were especially sensitive to the idea that doing tasks in the future was much easier.... But for non-procrastinators, the cost decreases much slower....
Procrastination is also not a one-time decision, but one we get to make repeatedly to put off the task until the proverbial tomorrow.
The procrastination is itself work! You have to carry the burden of knowing you still have to do it and explaining to yourself why you're not doing it yet while nagging yourself about finally doing it and living with the disorder of an undone task. It's always more work... unless it's one of those things that might turn out not to need to be done at all or to be better left undone.
1. "Setting reminders for the task and prompting that decision more frequently...."
2. "Envisioning your future self — the one who will be saddled with unpaid bills, looming deadlines and unwashed dishes — could remind you that procrastinating is not making the task any easier."
They didn't come up with my tip: Think about the work that is procrastination itself. That's work you can avoid by doing the task now. Rechannel your antipathy for the work of the task into antipathy for the work of the procrastination.
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When I get stuck like that, I set a timer. Say clean the kitchen for 30 minutes and then I can stop. In my head I have exaggerated the amount of work that needs to be done. I can usually finish the chore in the allotted time or I see the progress and want to keep going.
The unfortunate reinforcing reality - procrastinators often find that someone else does the task for them.
I’ve got a whole group of reminders I regularly ignore. I like the idea of viewing procrastination as a a greater burden than the work itself. Seems like a helpful way to encourage myself to just get the thing done.
1. Order self-help book
I'll read this article later.
Happy birthday, Ann Althouse.
i wanted to write a compelling comment here; and even set myself a reminder; but.......
Procrastination now....procrastination tomorrow....procrastination Forever!
I'm setting a reminder to envision my future self.
Think about the work that is procrastination itself.
Put off procrastinating by doing the task? Brilliant! I can have my cake and eat it too.
Pro tip. Don’t put off your birthday wishes to Ann.
I've been putting off death for a number of years now. I figure why hurry? Death will kindly wait for me.....Procrastination sometimes serves a useful purpose. There are some tasks that you put off not necessarily because they are bothersome but because you ultimately question the point of doing them. I always put off doing my trig homework until I fell so far behind I had to abandon the course. Best procrastination that I ever committed too. Changed my life for the better.
I can never remember anything later, so it's almost always easier for me to deal with just dropping whatever I'm doing, jumping up, and doing it, done. OHIO. Some people who know me think this is saintly, but I agree with what Ann said: I can't stand worrying about things.
Sorry, got distracted by a squirrel. Where were we? Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Althouse!
The only problem with stopping procrastinating is that I find that often the issue resolves itself, at least when it comes to work matters.
"A cognitive neuroscientist"? Is that like a life coach? Wouldn't a real neuroscientist tell you how the brains of procrastinators and non-procrastinators are different?
Yes, procrastination is work. But in some strange way, it's enjoyable work. At least to this procrastinator. Every time I put something off, I have won a battle against it. "I didn't do you, nah nah, nah nah, nah nah."
Happy Birthday, Ann! Whoo-Hoo! Big day. I see you've started off this day as you do the others. But...hopefully have have a Bloody Mary in hand. Wishing you all the best in this next year of your life. Good health...many laughs....and great adventures. Ahh, but I'm putting off getting to what I was going to say.
A lifelong procrastinator, and intensely ADHD, I found my way via work. In my work life I found I could give myself daily lists of things to accomplish. If I could manage to just stick to my list, I was a productive person. Those things that did not get done, moved to the top of the next day's list. And I attacked them with passion each day. It was good that I almost always loved my work.
But that was in work. In my personal and now retired life, it's much easier to procrastinate. To put off repainting the lamp post in front of our house until...let's say next Saturday. OK. That sounds about right. I'm sure there's something else I'd rather be doing. And so it goes. I still have lists. But there's no customer waiting on a thing. Just me or my wife. There's no sale pending my action. Just me or my wife. And so...things get done. Just not right away, and not in any order of priority. Just...as they happen.
I've also noted (as has my doctor) that my blood pressure has come way down since retiring from work, and my lists.
Tim Urban gave a wonderful TED talk about procrastination. If, like me, you procrastinate; if, like my wife, you are mystified by why we keep falling into the same trap, you should check this out:
Tim Urban TED Talk
A third way is to blow it off.
The key: “Trying to make these efforts in the future more vivid, more realistic, might increase the signal of the cost in your brain and might help you realize that, actually, the cost is going to be exactly the same as it would be now,”
That’s how I’ve found myself snapping out of it doing that online driving course I talked about couple days ago.
From the car insurance email offer:
“I also want to inform you about a discount we offer for taking our free online Defensive Driver Course! If you decide to take the course, it must be completed before your renewal date.” The renewal date is the 23 of this month. I got the email on the 4th.
On the first sit down, on the 8th, I only did one chapter out of ten. At the end of the chapter I aced a 5 question quiz. The procrastination mindset started setting in. Play one game of solitaire. Go for a cup of coffee… check the YouTube feed. Check Althouse for new posts.
More from the email:
Stay safe from home — 100% online
Mobile-friendly full-screen video
Start and stop around your schedule
Unlimited test attempts
Certificate emailed immediately
In an attempt to entice people to do it, they also sow the seeds of procrastination. ‘If it’s easy now it’ll be easier later’ - I don’t recall thinking that, however. But it must’ve been in the back of my mind…
What got me back to it, on the 9th, was the fact that I can’t predict exactly how long I’m going to be out doing ride shares on any given day. There’s a multiplicity of factors that need to come together, and when they do I could stay out driving for 10 to 12 hrs. “I’m already doing it” it’s a line I retell myself. I’m home on the PC computer screen, finish it now. I didn’t.
It’s better to strike while the iron is hot. I got back to it (on the 10th) and finished it. I got 3 wrong out of 25 in the final exam, but I only needed 70% correct to get a passing grade.
Happy bDay Professor!
You must be getting pretty old by now, what are you? 60? You Look 60
William said...
I've been putting off death for a number of years now. I figure why hurry? Death will kindly wait for me..
William is Such a procrastinator; that he'll Probably be late, to his Own funeral.
Come ON! William... Deadlines are Deadlines
Streaming movie lists is the ultimate procrastination for me.
"Don’t put off your birthday wishes to Ann."
I was going to. Seriously. Happy birthday! Don't put off any celebrations.
Some information about how we make decisions to do or not do things.
At 31:05 Huberman specifically gets into task bracketing and identifies the structures in our brain that activate when we make the go no go decision.
The entire lecture is on how to build habits and how to be more productive.
Procrastination can be more specifically described as Limbic Friction.
Using identity based goals such as "I get things done" are more powerful than goal based activities. Making a list of things to get finished is harder to reinforce than building your identity around getting things done.
MikeR said...
I can never remember anything later, so it's almost always easier for me to deal with just dropping whatever I'm doing, jumping up, and doing it, done. OHIO. Some people who know me think this is saintly, but I agree with what Ann said: I can't stand worrying about things.
Negative reinforcement is generally more powerful than positive reinforcement.
Telling yourself that you will turn into a fat blob if you do not exercise will work better at motivating than if you visualize about how good you will look if you do work out.
People who are successful and productive tend more towards the worrying/negative side rather than the happy/backslapping side.
I'll quit procrastinating when I get around to it!
Happy Birthday
Happy birthday, Professor!
@Althouse, happy birthday.
1. Order self-help book
2. Remember to use Althouse Amazon portal.
To avoid procrastination, I remind myself that nobody else is going to do the unpleasant task for me. So, do it if it needs to be done, or decide that it doesn't need to be done, and move on.
I often procrastinate doing certain things because I think they will be difficult to accomplish. But once I actually start doing them, I realize that that they aren't so difficult after all. Sometimes you just have to START them, and then they almost finish themselves.
"You know it’s going to stink in the future just as much as it’s going to stink doing it now, but internally you just can’t help yourself."
Sounds like the inner monologue of a serial killer.
"You know it’s going to stink in the future just as much as it’s going to stink doing it now, but internally you just can’t help yourself."
Sounds like the inner monologue of a serial killer.
Sometimes procrastination works. I had leaves to rake and a strong wind blew them all away. My TV lost sound and a week later (probably after restarting wifi) sound came back.
Also, sometimes you put things off because you really do have something more important to do.
On the other hand, in college the potential anxiety of last minute work on an assignment always motivated me to finish them days ahead of time. Same with studying for exams. This was very helpful if something came up like illness or having a question about it. You can all commence your 3 minute hate now.
"You know it’s going to stink in the future just as much as it’s going to stink doing it now, but internally you just can’t help yourself."
"It’s a fascinating phenomenon — that myopia you can’t escape — even though if you just stop and think about it, it’s ludicrous."
No, it isn’t, it’s completely rational. It’s simply the extension of the economic concepts of interest and present value to other aspects of life. People borrow money to buy stuff even though by putting off paying now they’ll have to pay more later. That’s the entire foundation of our economy, not to mention government. Not procrastinating is un-American.
A lot of procrastination is due to anxiety about the task you have to get done. And I'm guessing that "imagining your future self," and all the problems you'll have if you don't get things done, will only make the anxiety worse.
I'm the sort of person who will always meet deadlines, so I try to make sure I have strong inducements to get things done by a certain time. But that in itself causes a lot of stress, and it isn't a great way to live. It also ensures that spend more time on things that other people and outside forces want/need me to do, rather than being self-motivated. (So, for example, I get my professional work done, but seldom finish my own, potentially more fulfilling creative projects.)
In any case, it's pretty clear that most of the people reading and commenting on this blog in the middle of a work day are procrastinating on something else.
As Service said, “ a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.”
I can’t let myself violate the code of the trail, ever. I don’t want to be a dirty claim overstaker, or a procrastinator. If you promise to do a job, it must be done.
I had a mentor who would say, "Never do today that which you might not have to do at all".
Procrastination is one of my bigger problems. But I don't rationalize why I'm not doing something (it wouldn't work anyways; I've never been able to lie to myself), I simply don't do whatever the task is.
I'll leave a comment tommorrow.
“Happy birthday, Ann Althouse.”
Big 72. Congrats. And many more to come.
Like most of you, I started life as an amateur crastinator but I turned pro earlier than most.
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