Tag: Habits

Procrastination Interruption

Are you tied up in knots by “I would have, I could have, I should have _______” self-talk? How often do you interrupt your progress in meeting a goal with procrastination? If you have ever relied on procrastination’s crutches, you have lots of company. The procrastination part of me lingers too long on some projects. Let’s interrupt our procrastination!

Retired professor and researcher of procrastination at Carleton College in Canada, Timothy Pychyl maintains that poor time management is not the cause of procrastination; rather, the culprit is our emotional regulation. The key reason we avoid doing something is not due to lackadaisical time management, but the task at hand generates some uncomfortable emotion – fear, anxiety, and/or self-doubt.

Research by Pychyl found another procrastination myth — that we work best under pressure. While stress might force you to complete something, it may not result in your best work. You may gain an adrenaline rush and believe that without pressure, it’s difficult to “find” motivation.

Pychyl prefers to call procrastination a choice. For example, we may choose to read some self-help book instead of addressing a distracting emotion. We may learn some information and tell ourselves, “I learned what I need to do!” When we take in some new information in this way, there may be a temporary relief that we are closing in on a solution. Brains love learning. In learning there is a sense of “solving” some concern. Yet, research suggests that this fleeting satisfaction might get in the way of actual motivation to follow up with actions. After all, most of us are elaborate excuse-makers.  

It is good to learn about change! Actual change is the real pearl.

So, what is the procrastination story? Pychyl writes a “Don’t Delay” blog with Psychology Today. He advocates taking small, achievable steps to address both your stress level and deliver a jumpstart to your motivation. In an interview with Eric Zimmer, the creator of “The One You Feed” podcast, Pychyl offered tips from his book, Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change:

  • Present-self explains there is benefit from procrastination. Future-self reaps the results.
  • Ask yourself, “How are you actually going to implement this goal?” Your implementation intention can start the engine of motivation.
  • Leverage a positive habit you already have: “After I brush my teeth, my next morning action is _______________.”
  • We do not do projects; we do actions.
  • Follow this quote by a monk: “You’ve got to give the monkey something to do.” 
  • Most of us seem to believe that one must be in the mood to do something, that motivation proceeds action. However, it’s often the other way around.

Research offers ways to interrupt our procrastination: take action! I would add, be curious; greet your exiled emotions like old friends: “Ah, you always have my back. Let’s take baby steps together!”

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

524. When do you catch yourself procrastinating?

525. What project calls out to you to interrupt procrastination?   

A Resolution Roadmap

A recent YouGov poll found that only 16% of Brits had any intentions of making New Year’s Resolutions this year, with women more likely to engage in the practice than men; this is down from 63% in the same poll in 2015. Americans appear more inclined – YouGov polling reports 34% for making New Year’s intentions for 2024.

However, according to researchers, the percentage of Americans who complete their resolutions is only 9% while 23% OF FOLKS GIVE UP ON THEIR RESOLUTIONS AT THE END OF THE FIRST WEEK AND 43% SWERVE OFF COURSE BY THE END OF JANUARY.

Is tradition unappealing to people today? Or is goal-setting too daunting these days? Did setting unrealistic goals overwhelm individuals in past years? Perhaps people wanted rewards for their accomplishments and found no pleasure in waiting for any affirmation after their hard-earned effort.    

Here are some “rules-of-the-road” for making your resolution a reality:

  1. Expect a snafu or two — something unaccounted for may temporarily obstruct your path of completion – keep going.

  2. To make your new habit stick, you may need to keep repeating it for a minimum of 66 days, according to some research. (This is another way of hinting, “Keep going.”)

  3. Break down your resolution into chunks so that you can realize and celebrate small victories along the journey.

  4. Make some plans for accountability. Write your resolution on paper and attach it to a place you will see it often. If exercising or eating healthy choices are your resolutions, perhaps you enlist the help of a friend or coach to support your efforts.

Actually, I endorse setting a resolution anytime of the year. I like the approach of Chilean American writer Isabel Allende. When she was forced to leave her homeland during a military coup that resulted in the assassination of her relative, Salvador Allende, she wanted to keep her family memories alive. She began writing a series of unmailed letters when her 99-year-old grandfather was dying in Chile and she could not visit him. Allende’s letter-writing turned into a 500-page first novel, The House of the Spirits. Allende began her writing January 8th; she waits for that day to begin each new novel.

Allende certainly faced a major snafu in life, but she had grit, defined by psychologist Angela Duckworth as passion plus persistence. She kept writing (for more than 66 days). By writing letters, she broke down her writing into chunks. I wonder if she had an accountability partner, but maybe having 3 out of 4 “rules-of-the-road” works too.

I call making any-day-of-the-year resolutions rewiring! Brains love novelty, so you will find energy by focusing on a desired change. While it takes a growth-and-grit mindset to make some change in your life, you can succeed if you KEEP GOING!

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

251. What resolution do you want to make happen in 2024?

252. How will you include plans for making your intention come true?