The Dark Truths Behind Procrastination

The Clock is Ticking

“Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday."?–?Napoleon Hill

Dear Friend,

I typically send this newsletter out every Thursday at around 11 am. Today, as I write this, it is 1:26 pm and I have just let the demons of procrastination win over me! Read on and by the end, I will share with you why this happened to me! :)

We often delay completing some tasks as long as we can. Even the most organized people tend to procrastinate for different reasons. One of them could be that our minds cannot comprehend the benefits of completing those tasks early, call it abstract benefits of uncertainty. Some of us enjoy living in uncertainty. Adam Grant shares that procrastination can actually give you time to consider divergent ideas, think in nonlinear ways, to make unexpected leaps.?

Maybe that is what happened to me. I was waiting for the spark to come to me. What should the newsletter this week be about??

Typically, we do not understand the repercussions of delaying a task. Our mind tells us that it's okay if you delay it by one more hour, one more day, or even a month for that matter, it wouldn’t make much difference. This leads to unfinished tasks and projects in the long run. Behavioral Researchers called it Present Bias.?

Now we can debate the costs and benefits of Procrastination but I think it is even more important for us to resolve it. The problem can be solved by -?

1. Magnifying the benefits of action and why the action is worth achieving
2. Diminishing the costs and making the actions look smaller and temporary

Magnifying the benefits of action and why the action is worth achieving

When you are attempting something, make sure that you visualize what lies at the end of the tunnel. Two good questions to ask are - When I am able to achieve this, what changes for me? Why should I do this today??

I also recommend that if you know you are going to falter on something, make public commitments. Let the people in your life or people on Social Media know that you are pursuing something and you will accomplish it in a specific timeframe! There is nothing like a community that adds pressure to your life! :)

Diminishing the costs and making the actions look smaller and temporary

The resistance to doing something is real. I hear you. I understand. What can be the smallest first step you can take towards achieving?it? For instance, when I was procrastinating on this newsletter, the first step I took was to open a Google Doc where I write my newsletters. That was not hard. I was able to achieve it quickly.

The next step is to remove the roadblocks. My meetings, my calendar, emails, etc. were not allowing me to focus on this so I closed all tabs and had only one tab opened. Walah! Not that hard.?

The Sufferers of Procrastination understand the costs it brings to them. How they want to achieve their desired future but are unable to do so. There is one tool that can help you break free from these limiting beliefs and that is your mindset.?

Like always, let's turn the lens towards you -?what can you promise yourself right now to make progress on the task that you have been delaying since the last week, last year, last decade??As a river flows, similarly our lives also flow, but without an intention, the river will not reach the ocean. Similarly, without intention, you will not achieve what you set out to achieve.??

Let this simmer in the neural fluid of your brain and I look forward to hearing what emerged for you. I read all the responses so share in the comments or email back as to how this newsletter impacted you.?

By the way, the reason I was procrastinating on this newsletter was that I had a calendar full of meetings. Last week, a video was released (link below) on YouTube (it has 107k views till now) and that has led my life to go on a whirlwind! Enjoying while it lasts. :)

Until then, live well.?

Utkarsh

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