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We are now well into the New Year. You may have started out with many good resolutions; maybe you have joined the gym, given up smoking, started running or cycling to the lab. You have probably told yourself that this year, you will give up procrastinating, and you will finish that paper/grant proposal/your thesis. As the new year progresses, many of us put off going to the gym, save that run for tomorrow, and that article/grant proposal/ thesis chapter? We will get to that next week, right?

The science behind procrastination
Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task which needs to be accomplished. It’s the practice of doing other (more pleasurable, or less urgent) things instead of the urgent or less pleasurable ones (1,2). While some believe that the internet gave rise to procrastination, there are some writings that suggest that even people in ancient civilizations struggled. The Greek poet Hesiod for example, cautioned around 800 B.C to not “put your work off till tomorrow and the day after”(3).
But why do we procrastinate? Are we simply lazy, avoiding failure, or maybe we just aren’t as committed to a certain goal or task? Researchers Ferrari and Pychyl conclude that procrastination in college students is often a form of self-defeating behaviour, with procrastinators undermining their own best efforts; they would rather have other people think that they lack effort, rather than lacking ability (3). Simply said; if they don’t try, people can’t say they failed.

A study led by Dianne Tice reinforced the dominant role played by mood in procrastination. Tice and colleagues reported that students didn’t procrastinate practicing before an intelligence test when primed to believe their mood was fixed. In contrast, when they thought their mood could change (and particularly when they were in a bad mood), they delayed practice until about the final minute. The findings suggested that self-control only succumbs to temptation when present emotions can be improved as a result (4). This indicates that the level of procrastination can be influenced by outside suggestion. However, a neuropsychology study by Rabin and colleagues found a correlation between procrastination in students and self-reported scores on executive functioning, such as initiation, planning/organizing and self-monitoring (5), suggesting that personality traits might also play a role.

Combating procrastination
So while research shows that procrastination is not simply the result of bad time management, and is honing in on other factors that appear to play a role, there are several things one can try to stop procrastinating.

Slice and dice
For some, who may not know where to start; those who freeze and instead don’t start at all, creating a lot of stress in the process, a solution is to just start anywhere. Break the big, insurmountable task into smaller pieces that, when faced one at the time, don’t look completely overwhelming. It is much easier to work on your paper when you have some lines down, even if you have to rewrite most of them later on.

Another benefit of slicing your project into smaller ones is that you can mix things up a little. If your sub-projects are divided into slices that take about 60-90 minutes to accomplish, you can plan your day mixing the different projects up so that you don’t get bored or burned out by working on the same thing for hours at the time. Instead every 60 or 90 minutes take a break, get up and move around a little, and then get started on another sub-project. This works even better when you mix up the bigger and harder tasks with the easier ones. You might find that checking all these sub-tasks off your To Do list is really motivating!

When you find yourself easily distracted, try clearing your workspace by taking everything off your desk except the things you need. Research shows that physical clutter can inhibit your brain’s ability to focus. And hey, cleaning your workspace can be a great way to procrastinate getting started on that paper…

Professor Joseph Ferrari from DePaul University, has another tip to combat procrastination: surround yourself with people who like to get things done! By watching successful individuals managing their time well, we are more likely to change our negative behaviors.

Structured procrastination
According to Stanford philosopher John Perry, structured procrastination is the art of putting things off while still getting things done (6). It involves doing the things that are of lower priority on your To Do list while putting off that Big Urgent One all the way at the top. The more items on your To Do list, the more likely you will be able to start ticking some off the list. By checking the smaller ones off your list you get a sense of accomplishment that will help you tackle the bigger task eventually. Alternatively, even if you still cannot get yourself to start the Big Urgent Task at the top of your list, eventually something more urgent will come up, displacing this one at the top of your list.

Minimal Enjoyable Action
According to “behavioural design” author Nir Eyal (7), the key to overcoming procrastination is forming productive habits. To form such a habit you need to create a chain of individual behaviours that will, over time change our daily actions without us even thinking about it. In his blog he describes three steps that will help you form productive habits (8):

Step 1: Have no goals
Goals are critical if you are trying to become an expert in something, but work counterproductive in the daily battle you fight with yourself. Goals seem big, and not very fun. Instead he recommends to begin a journey, which is enjoyable, endless, and easy. You will never complete these journeys, but rather you keep practicing and keep walking this journey free from the pressure of completing a goal.

Step 2: Find your Minimal Enjoyable Action (MEA)
This step is very important to ensure you will keep walking your journey. Your MEA is a behaviour that is simple, small, and just a little enjoyable so that you can see yourself doing it for the rest of your life. For instance, instead of writing an entire chapter of your thesis, tell yourself that instead your MEA will be to write one paragraph, no matter what. Even if it’s bad and you will have to rewrite it later. The action of writing that short piece of text will feel good and you can see progress being made. Over time the larger tasks will seem less daunting while you get into the habit of writing.

According to Nir the easiest way to check whether you found your MEA is the “duh test”. Stand in front of a mirror and ask yourself if today you can do your MEA. Did you say, “Well of course I can, duh?” You should feel that the behaviour is laughably easy. If so, you’ve found your MEA. But if you cringed, hesitated, or doubted, then scale it back, your behaviour is too hard.(8)

Step 3: Track it
Keeping a record of your MEAs is critically important for two reasons. First, it reminds you of the new habits you are forming, providing a checklist of things you’re working on. Second, it gives a critical jolt of positive reinforcement your brain needs to continue the behaviour. By simply checking a box that you did your MEA, you are wiring powerful circuitry in your brain to reinforce the new behaviour. As you keep track of your MEAs, these tiny behaviours will turn into habits and with time, you’ll become more skilled at completing them. You’ll want to challenge yourself with new habits that build upon old ones. The habits will grow along with your ability to do more.

But what happens if you don’t? You will inevitably not do your MEA on some days. If you find yourself not doing your MEA for a day, even two or three, don’t sweat it. Just get yourself back on track the next day with the intent of doing your MEA regularly. If, however, you find that you’re regularly missing your MEA and can’t seem to ever get it done, then you need to reassess if your MEA was really minimal enough. Make the action simpler and easier.

So there you have it, a whole set of tools to try becoming a more productive human being. Preferably test all these techniques while you really should be doing something else.

Bibliography
1. Milgram NA, Dangour W, Ravi A. Situational and Personal Determinants of Academic Procrastination. J Gen Psychol. 1992 Apr;119(2):123–133.
2. Solomon LJ, Rothblum ED. Academic Procrastination: Frequency and Cognitive-Behavioral Correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1984;31(4):503–509.
3. Why Wait? The Science Behind Procrastination – Association for Psychological Science. [cited 2016 Jan 19]. Available from: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2013/april-13/why-wait-the-science-behind-procrastination.html
4. Tice DM, Bratslavsky E, Baumeister RF. Emotional distress regulation takes precedence over impulse control: if you feel bad, do it! J Pers Soc Psychol. 2001 Jan;80(1):53–67.
5. Rabin LA, Fogel J, Nutter-Upham KE. Academic procrastination in college students: the role of self-reported executive function. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2011 Mar;33(3):344–357.
6. Structured Procrastination: Do Less & Deceive Yourself. [cited 2016 Feb 16]. Available from: https://www.structuredprocrastination.com/
7. Nir Eyal Bio – Author of Hooked and Behavior Blogger – Nir Eyal. [cited 2016 Feb 12]. Available from: https://www.nirandfar.com/nireyalbio
8. Why Your Goals Will Fail, and What You Can Do About It. [cited 2016 Jan 19]. Available from: https://www.nirandfar.com/2012/01/your-new-years-resolution-is-bound-to.html