Are you a chronic procrastinator?

We have established that we all procrastinate. Do you identify as a chronic procrastinator? According to watchwellcast, 20 percent of the population identifies as chronic procrastinators. We are told that procrastinating is about lying to ourselves. We tell ourselves that there is plenty of time before we need to do X, Y or Z. I cannot help but wonder if it is not a lie when we believe that we do have plenty of time. However, this video is only five minutes, so let's take a look.

In this video by watchwellcast, we are offered a three step program to help us stop procrastinating. The video begins by describing a study on two groups of University students. Each group has three papers to write in three weeks. One group can hand the papers whenever they want and the other group can has strict deadlines. 

If you have not watched the video, which group do you think is more successful?

Yes, the group with the deadlines did better on their papers.

The video explains that "clearly humans are not the best at regulating themselves, and so when it comes to procrastination, you have to trick yourself into getting the job done."

Enter the three step method.

Step One: Eat an Elephant  (Those of us, who are vegetarian or vegan, are now very concerned, but this is the first of three metaphors.)  We told that if one were to eat an elephant, he would do it one bite at a time. We are encouraged to break down what we need to do into manageable steps so as not to feel overwhelmed. Furthermore, we are encouraged to reward ourselves after completing smaller steps, instead of waiting until we finish the entire project to reward ourselves. We are advised to write down specific steps describing how we will tackle the project. 

Step Two: Pick off the Goblins (This appears to be getting weirder, but remember it is another metaphor.) We are told that the hardest part of any project is starting the whole project. This is sort of  tricky step, and in my opinion is not always possible, but we can we are told to begin with some aspect of the project that is pleasant.

Step Three: Ignore the Siren Song (This is the best metaphor that the video uses.) It refers to Homer's epic poem The Odyssey  in which beautiful creatures called Sirens lured sailors into the rocks. To avoid procrastination, we need to clear away things away that will distract our focus. This suggestion may be absolutely horrifying to some people. We are told to get someone to change the password to the internet until we finish what we are doing, assuming that what we need to do does not involve the internet.

No one has to eat an elephant, pick of goblins or ignore strange music that does not really exist. If we want to avoid procrastination, we need to break down our projects into smaller parts, and determine when we will have the smaller parts done by. We need to remain focused. I like to do the harder parts of a project when I am most energetic, and the more enjoyable parts when I am tired. Each one of us needs to find what works for him or her, and there is some useful advice in this video.