Doer: Overcome Procrastination

In this lesson you’ll learn to use commitment devices and reminders to achieve long term goals.

Key ideas:

There are three critical factors required to accomplish a long-term goal:

1️⃣ Turn vague intentions into a specific and actionable plan. 

2️⃣ Set commitment devices that hold you accountable for making progress, even when you don't feel like it. For instance, scheduling regular updates to trusted individuals can serve as a commitment device.

3️⃣ Set reminders that keep your goal at the forefront of your attention. They should be tied to actions you will definitely do. Even if the main task can't be completed, have a shortened version of the task to keep up with the habit.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

In this lesson you’ll learn a practical time management system designed for procrastinators.

Key ideas:

1️⃣ Capture: Begin or end each day by writing down your daily tasks. This will free your mind from the burden of remembering everything.

2️⃣ Prioritize: Organize your daily to-do list based on both importance and urgency. Give priority to tasks that are important and urgent, and remove tasks that are not important.

3️⃣ Divide: Breakdown the top one or two items on the list into smaller, actionable steps. By focusing on the smaller aspects of the overall task, you can eliminate ambiguity and reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed.

3️⃣ Schedule: Estimate the time required for each step and incorporate them into your daily schedule. Enhancing your ability to estimate time is a valuable skill for overcoming procrastination.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

In this lesson you’ll learn to replace self-criticism with motivational self-talk that can sustain change.

Key ideas:

1️⃣ Self-criticism makes it hard to start because it builds up even more pressure around the task. It creates the need to escape by procrastinating. 

2️⃣ To get yourself unstuck, you can replace self-criticism with motivational self-talk.

3️⃣ Effective self-talk has three characteristics: (1) It separates your behavior from who you are as a person (2) It focuses on what can be done now and in the future, rather than dwelling on the past (3) It replaces phrases like “I have to” and “I should” with “I choose to” and “I will”.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

In this lesson you'll learn the skill of managing discomfort in order to complete difficult tasks.

Key ideas:

1️⃣ Many people experience flashes of discomfort when approaching a task, leading to procrastination as a coping mechanism.

2️⃣ Breaking the cycle of procrastination requires accepting and understanding discomfort, rather than avoiding it. Our minds are naturally prone to wandering, often resulting in negative thoughts. Focusing on the present moment is an antidote to unproductive mind wandering.

3️⃣ Riding the Wave Technique - Discomfort is temporary and often fades if given attention. Recognizing and observing moments of discomfort strengthens our ability to tolerate such feelings.

4️⃣ Grounding Technique - Helps divert attention from negative thoughts by focusing on one of the five senses. Touch and sound are practical senses to concentrate on for immediate grounding.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

In this lesson you'll learn to recognize and challenge the unhelpful thoughts that hold you back.

Key ideas:

1️⃣ Rationalizations are justifications we create to avoid tasks and give ourselves permission to procrastinate.

2️⃣ Rationalizations follow a pattern of identifying a truth about the situation and drawing an unhelpful conclusion. Unhelpful conclusions harm us in the long run by deluding us into waiting for a "perfect time" to start a task.

3️⃣ Recognizing and challenging rationalizations is a crucial skill, often used in cognitive-behavioral therapy.

4️⃣ Overcoming rationalizations and making progress on tasks involves three steps: noticing the rationalization, checking the evidence supporting the conclusion, and generating a more helpful alternative conclusion.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to modify tasks to get you past the starting threshold.

Key ideas:

1️⃣ Unclear, vague tasks induce discomfort, leading to avoidance. Make tasks less ambiguous; specify them clearly. 

2️⃣ Large tasks can be overwhelming and inhibit action. Break tasks into smaller components to overcome the "getting started" threshold. 

3️⃣ Procrastinators often overplan as a way of avoiding the task. Define only the first few steps to prevent falling into this pitfall.

4️⃣ Establish a habit of using these strategies by including these two questions at the top of your to-do list: (1) "Is this task specific enough - do I know the exact steps I need to take?" (2) "Is this task small enough for me to easily cross the 'starting threshold'?"

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

This lesson is designed to move you into a motivational state that maximizes your chances of successfully changing your habits.

Key ideas:

1️⃣ The procrastination cycle consists of six steps: (1) Contemplating an important task, (2) which triggers an unhelpful core belief, (3) leading to a feeling of discomfort, (4) which causes us to create rationalizations, (5) resulting in choosing an alternative task, and (6) leading to experiencing both positive and negative outcomes that reinforce the cycle.

2️⃣ Cognitive-behavioral therapy-based techniques are identified as the most effective ways to overcome procrastination. These methods focus on understanding the interplay among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

3️⃣ Four strategies have been identified to disrupt the procrastination cycle: (1) Modifying the task or environment, (2) learning to dismiss rationalizations, (3) adjusting unhelpful core beliefs, and (4) cultivating the ability to tolerate discomfort through mindfulness meditation.

4️⃣ The likelihood of successfully changing procrastination habits hinges on three factors: (1) The willingness to change, (2) belief in the value of change, and (3) confidence in one's ability to enact change.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

This episode explores "reinforcement factors," which are the outcomes of procrastination that keep you procrastinating.

Key ideas:

1️⃣ Procrastination persists over time due to 'reinforcement factors', which are the outcomes or consequences of an action that motivate us to repeat it.

2️⃣ There are positive outcomes associated with procrastination, such as discovering amusing content and avoiding discomfort, like boredom or overwhelm.

3️⃣ Negative outcomes associated with procrastination include feelings of guilt and stress from delaying tasks.

4️⃣ Both the positive and negative outcomes of procrastination make us more likely to repeat this behavior in the future.

5️⃣ Understanding your own reinforcement factors is one of the keys to overcoming procrastination. Once these factors are understood, you can begin to manipulate them.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

This episode uncovers the core beliefs that drive procrastination.

Key Takeaways:

There are six unhelpful core beliefs commonly drive procrastination:

1️⃣ Fear of judgment: feeling the need to do things perfectly.

2️⃣ Need for control: needing to be the one making decisions.

3️⃣ Need for pleasure: the belief that fun should always come first.

4️⃣ Fear of uncertainty: needing to know what lies ahead.

5️⃣ Intolerance of low energy: believing that you can't do things when you're feeling fatigued or unmotivated.

6️⃣ Lack of self-confidence: feeling incapable or inadequate.

Becoming aware of the unhelpful core beliefs contributing to your procrastination is key to changing your behavior.

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Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song

This episode lifts the hood of the psychological process that sustains procrastination.

Key Takeaways:

1️⃣ The science of overcoming procrastination is well understood from over 1,000 studies on interventions for procrastination.

2️⃣ The basis of procrastination is the avoidance of brief moments of discomfort that arise when thinking about certain tasks.

3️⃣ Rationalizations are the seemingly logical reasons we give for not starting tasks. In reality, they are an unconscious mechanism for dealing with moments of discomfort.

4️⃣ The process of rationalization happens quickly, making it hard to modify. Practicing 'procrastination reflections' help you slow down and observe each step of the procrastination loop.

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More resources - explore more content and delve deeper into the world of "Doer".

Email: [email protected]

Host: Jordan Gabriels

Producer: Kemble Song