How to Stop Procrastinating

First let's start with the usual Oxford Dictionary definition: Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing something that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it.

But the question I ask is, who decides the “should”? Your boss? You? Your mum?

Here's 3 scenarios. 2 are procrastination, 1 is not. If your boss wants you to put together a presentation deck that you know will take hours and nobody will care about, is that procrastination? I guess so. You still have to do what your boss says.

If you want to put a deck together for senior management to get approval to initiate a project and of course look good for your career, but you put it off because you fear public speaking or avoid self-promotion, that definietly is procrastination.

If you want to put a deck together but it's just not a priority for you or anyone else, then no, that's not procrastination. That's hopefully, good prioritization.

Emphasis on the "How" over the "Why"

Staying with decks, I once worked with a client who kept putting off creating them until the last minute, simply because they found using Microsoft PowerPoint frustrating. Avoiding the feeling of frustration was the automatic response. He would leave it until the last minute when the motivation was high enough to outweigh the frustration.

Here was how he overcame it long term. His solution wasn’t to suddenly become great at PowerPoint or even break it down into simple steps, he found someone who was really good at PowerPoint and delegated it! He leaned into his strengths instead: relationship skills, persuasion, negotiation.

He didn't get too hung up on the "Why". He focused on the "How" to stop procrastinating. I see so many people getting hung up on trying to understand why they procrastinate instead of solving it. Awareness is powerful, but don’t stay there too long. Labelling yourself a perfectionist for example is only as helpful as the action off the back of it.

Look for the solution. And remember, sometimes, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

What a horrible metaphor by the way...

Now let's get into the tools. I've pulled these from coaching sessions over the years.

Tools to Stop Procrastinating

1) Psyche Yourself Up

Imagine there’s a piece of work sitting with you. Your boss hasn’t asked about it in a while. You hope they’ve forgotten, but deep down you know it’s going to come up again. So instead of pushing another week, commit to starting it one day this week, but psyche yourself up first. You can follow this system:

Plan the evening before: a) Write down what you’ll attempt. b) Write down what time you’ll attempt it. c) Write down what you’ll do beforehand to get into the right mindset. (A cold shower is a good one. Takes 1-3 minutes and returns are massive given the boost to dopamine, the motivation molecule.)

And remember, have no expectation of an outcome, sitting down to honestly attempt it in that block of time is the win.

2) Find What’s In It for You

Go back to the example of the deck your boss asked you to put together that nobody will look at. Ask yourself, what is in it for you? Being seen as reliable? Dependable? Being trusted with a more visible project in the future?

In other words, reframe it to your benefit.

3) What's in it for them?

This is a sneaky one. It comes up a lot in my work with leaders. Keeping work to themselves in order to control the outcome or avoid the discomfort that comes with delegating to someone unapproachable. But here's a different perspective, as a leader, your job is to develop others. They can't grow if you're overly protective. Even the unapproachable employee longs to grow deep down somewhere. Decide what you can afford for them to try and fail in.

Isn't that how your best leaders developed you?

4) Do the Hard Thing First

A previous boss of mine said this to me once - "Do the Hard Thing First". Often, we tend to pick the easy and familiar task first. It makes no sense when you think about it through the lens of energy levels. For me, I’m sharpest in the morning for deep work. Why spend that energy on easy tasks that don’t require much focus?

Find your optimal time of day and attach the hard task to it.

5) Sit With the Feeling

Probably the most underated skill of all. The ability to tolerate difficult emotions. A big mistake many make is trying to run from shame, fear, or discomfort for it only to come back stronger later. As the psychologist Carl Jung said:

“What you resist, persists.”

Instead of distracting yourself from the emotion by scrolling your feed, eating a bag of crisps, or watching Netflix, sit and breathe deeply into it. No analysis. No judgement. No trying to work it out in your mind. Just breathe into it. Into the body part you feel it most.

Ride the emotion like a surfer rides the wave in the ocean. Before you know it, more waves will have come and gone, all representing different shapes, sizes, and intensities. Eventually, the sea becomes calm.

Spend a few minutes trying to be fully immersed in the emotion. After that, you can decide if you still want that bag of crisps.

The Bigger Picture: 1% Better

As I reflect on this never-ending topic of conversation, I can’t help but zoom out to the bigger picture of life. It truly is a marathon and many try to sprint to the finish. Start where you're at and look to grow from there.

If you find yourself constantly procrastinating, your first step is to commit to getting 1% better. When you’re at 1%, move to 2%. That’s the game.

Compare yourself to your own progress, not others. The only comparison worth making is one where you learn from others, not judge yourself against them. I promise, if you start looking at your growth through this lens, procrastination will be in your rear view mirror in no time.