How to Approach Solving Procrastination (Hint: Think Magnifying Glass, Not Tips & Tricks)

(Update: This post deals with behavioral causes of procrastination. However, persistent and debilitating procrastination may actually result from an underlying mental health problem. [7]. A big thanks to reader Greenman2001 for pointing this out.)

Procrastination is the uber-problem - the meta problem, if you will - of productivity. It encompasses almost every "can't make progress" behavior, and is one of the top issues that clients come to me for help with. It's a tough one, and has been a problem for centuries (see How to Procrastinate Like Leonardo da Vinci). This explains why it's one of the most blogged-about topics on the web. Search for 15 seconds and you'll find every form of advice available, mostly a smorgasbord of common tips and tricks like: do the worst/pleasant/easy part first, never stop work at a bad point, break tasks down, focus on the process, make a start, poke holes in it, etc.

Unfortunately, having a toolkit of activities isn't adequate to solve it, or we'd be done. Having enough how-to information isn't the problem.

No, what makes procrastination so nasty is that it's an umbrella concept with multiple possible causes and deep underpinnings. I like how Wikipedia puts it: a complex of bad habits. These can include fear of failure/success/being wrong, poor discipline, distractions, lack of interest, perfectionism, and so on.

This is why grab-bag blog posts, while easy to write and quick to peruse, often by themselves don't help: Taking action to solve a problem without knowing its cause can only have limited success. You might get a temporary boost from the novelty of trying something new (our brains might have novelty detectors built in [1]), but unless you address the underlying origin(s), improvements won't be lasting.

So what we have is: Important problem. Difficult to solve. Unknown causes. Many possible activities/solutions. Expensive to try changes. Time pressure. In other words, A Hard Problem. So what do we do in such a situation?

Experiment!

Here's how to apply this [2]: Try a small number of activities (here's where grab-bags come into play), collect information, analyze your results to see what worked, and decide what to try next. Iterate until you're happy with the progress/results/state. Tips: Keep the turn-around as short as possible (days or weeks, say, not months), make the experiments as small as possible (Kaizen-style [3] tiny changes, for example), and observe and record diligently.

In sum, treat yourself as a complex creature in the wild whose behavior you're trying to understand and adjust [4]. Tap your curiosity: What makes you tick? What gets in the way? Why do you do these counter-productive activities? When do they activate? What are your feelings when they kick in? Who knows, you might actually turn off the fear [5] and start enjoying the ride [6]. Finally, consider getting some help, such as asking a friend to be an accountability partner.

Happy experimenting!

I'm really curious...

• What's your #1 procrastination challenge?
  
• What have you tried to solve it?
  
• How did it work out?
  
• Have you tried this kind of experimental approach to productivity?
  
• Any generalizations that come to mind?
  

References

• [1] Learning By Surprise: Scientific American
  
• [2] While descriptions of scientific methods range in complexity, we've simplified it to "Think, Try, Learn." Wikipedia's Elements of scientific method gives us more detail: The essential elements of a scientific method are iterations, recursions, interleavings, and orderings of the following:
  
  
  
  • Characterizations (observations, definitions, and measurements of the subject of inquiry)
    
  • Hypotheses (theoretical, hypothetical explanations of observations and measurements of the subject)
    
  • Predictions (reasoning including logical deduction from the hypothesis or theory)
    
  • Experiments (tests of all of the above)
    
  • Analysis & interpretation [added by us]
    
  
  
• [3] Check out related posts, or read Robert Maurer's One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way.
  
• [4] A big thanks to Pam Slim of Escape From Cubicle Nation fame for this perspective. If you're thinking about jumping out on your own, give her a call. She's been a tremendous resource.
  
• [5] Check out 10 Strides from Fear to Freedom.
  
• [6] Enjoy The Ride is one of thirteen maxims from Patricia Ryan Madson's delightful little book Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up. For the rest see Whose job is it? Mine!.
  
• [7] From the Procrastination and mental health section of Wikipedia's procrastination entry:

  Procrastination can be a persistent and debilitating disorder in some people, causing significant psychological disability and dysfunction. These individuals may actually be suffering from an underlying mental health problem such as depression or ADHD.
  
  While procrastination is a behavioral condition, these underlying mental health disorders can be treated with medication and/or therapy. Therapy can be a useful tool in helping an individual learn new behaviors, overcome fears and anxieties, and achieve an improved quality of life. Thus it is important for people who chronically struggle with debilitating procrastination to see a trained therapist or psychiatrist to see if an underlying mental health issue may be present.
  
  People who exhibit procrastination and decreased impulse control appear to be prone to internet addiction.

  
  
• [8] "How to Procrastinate Like Leonardo da Vinci": Though the official page is now for subscribers only, I found two other locations: An on-line digital version at The Chronicle of Higher Education - February 20, 2009 and one from the author's site at How to procrastinate like Leonardo da Vinci. Thanks to ever-vigilant reader Amanda for noticing!
  

Comments

[cresur]

1. What's your #1 procrastination challenge?
— I wish I knew. I just feel an overwhelming resistance to doing stuff. Sometimes I can identify some lack of confidence on my capabilities, sometimes I think it's just hopeless to do them. But, every time, I simply feel my energies get somehow drained whenever I think about doing it. And when I do go through and do it anyway, I do not feel good for having accomplished something afterward. I just feel validated in whatever my previous feelings were.

2. What have you tried to solve it?
— Everything that's ever been written about the subject. Granted, I did not *try* as hard as I probably could have because the same whatever-it-is that keeps me from accomplishing everything else is also there when I try to do something about it. So I don't know how to break the cycle.

3. How did it work out?
— As stated above.

4. Have you tried this kind of experimental approach to productivity?
— Not yet, because just thinking about all the hassle involved in maintaining such rigidly controlled experiments makes me feel uncomfortable. But I love science and I'm willing to give it a serious try, because at this point, honestly, it's all or nothing, and it's the only thing I haven't tried.

All that said, this is the most sensible post on the subject I've ever seen. At no point I encountered any mental resistance to the ideas proposed (you know, like "hmm… I don't think the universe is as a personal gift catalog"), and that's a great start. Thanks.

[matthewcornell]

Hi cresur. Your comment is really helpful; thank you for it. Your frank and detailed description shows how terrible procrastination feels, and it is distressing. Your language also shows another facet of the problem: Blaming ourselves and feeling guilty, which fuels the cycle.

Regarding the perceived rigidity, I understand. I resist it too. In this case, I've found that naming the problem, explicitly thinking of it as an experiment, and starting tracking some basic observations is a relief. I.e., a welcome kind of structure and a framework supporting getting deeper into the causes.

I'm encouraged that you think this approach might help, having tried everything else, and that you're willing to give it a go. Please consider my point about support - once you have an experiment in mind, ask a friend to help. At a minimum she can listen to what you'll try, what you've learned, and give feedback. Also, feel free to [ contact me | http://matthewcornell.org/contact.html ] for help.

the most sensible post on the subject I've ever seen

Much obliged, cresur.

"hmm... I don't think the universe is as a personal gift catalog"

Ha! Having gone through many New Age programs like massage school and yoga, I totally get you :-) "No Woo Woo" is part of my brand. Thanks for the chuckle.

At no point I encountered any mental resistance to the ideas proposed, and that's a great start

Your point about resistance is important. I've found that this experimental approach sidesteps what Mark Forster calls the "reactive brain," sort of "Recording data? That doesn't seem threatening. I'll just relax." Thanks for reminding me about it.

Thanks.

You're welcome, and good luck with it. Report back here if you want to share your results.

[Greenman2001]

If you feel no more satisfaction after performing the task than you did while you were resisting it, then I think you have a problem that goes well beyond procrastination. As a practical matter, if there's no reward regardless of what you do, then there's no reason for you to do anything. But regardless of the practical issues, these statements:

"... sometimes I think it's just hopeless to do them. But, every time, I simply feel my energies get somehow drained whenever I think about doing it. And when I do go through and do it anyway, I do not feel good for having accomplished something afterward. I just feel validated in whatever my previous feelings were...."

are classic symptoms of serious clinical depression.

[matthewcornell]

Thank you very much for pointing this out, Greenman2001. This was a huge omission on my part. I've updated the post to start with this.

[Greenman]

Like so many of your blog posts, Matt, there is almost too much here to begin to comment on. And like so many other productivity strategies, these techniques can work whether you're suffer from procrastination or not. But since you're coming at this specifically from the perspective of procrastination, I'd like to make an observation: procrastination works. There's usually a very, very good reason -- in the procrastinator's mind -- for putting off that task. The fact that putting it off snowballs into a much bigger problem may not necessarily be a problem -- in fact, I suspect the ancillary effects of procrastination are not nearly as serious a problem as the one you're successfully avoiding in the first place. Procrastination, like any kind of neurosis, functions effectively, and if you start to mess with it, you need to be prepared to confront the underlying problem, which may extremely unpleasant, maybe even unsolvable. If you watch the A&E television program "Intervention," you'll notice that the addicts who say they're so unhappy they want to die are the ones who refuse free help during the intervention. Change can carry a very, very high price. For those who are serious procrastinators -- those paying a price for not getting things done and who resist change anyway -- I would begin by asking a question: "are you willing to change your life as you're living it in order to stop procrastinating?" and then listen carefully to the answer. Underneath the excuse-making, self-justification, and rationalizations, the answer may simply be "no."

Not many people have commented. I wonder if these questions:

"What makes you tick? What gets in the way? Why do you do these counter-productive activities? When do they activate? What are your feelings when they kick in?"

are making people uncomfortable. I think they are.

[matthewcornell]

Hi Greenman (same as Greenman2001?).

> Like so many of your blog posts, Matt, there is almost too much here to begin to comment on.

Is this good or bad? Seriously, I'd like to distill them down. A lot. Thoughts?

> There's usually a very, very good reason -- in the procrastinator's mind -- for putting off that task.

I wonder whether it's as conscious as that. I suspect not always (or often?)

I agree that thoughtful delay can be beneficial - of course. Some problems go away or become far less of a concern after time. Making mature/principled decisions about that is important, though.

> if you start to mess with it, you need to be prepared to confront the underlying problem, which may extremely unpleasant, maybe even unsolvable... Change can carry a very, very high price.

Thanks for those important points, Greenman.

> Ask "Are you willing to change your life as you're living it in order to stop procrastinating?" and then listen carefully to the answer. Underneath the excuse-making, self-justification, and rationalizations, the answer may simply be "no."

A great reminder. In my consulting, spending significant money is usually a strong indicator of willingness to change. Certainly willingness to explore the problem. This is why I can't guarantee some kinds of outcomes, like, "Your procrastination is solved." I wouldn't trust anyone who claimed that. I do guarantee that we'll do specific trials, record the results from them, summarize lessons and insights at the end, and make a plan for future steps.

A related dynamic is the threat that adopting an improved self-management system can pose (often subconsciously). When a client has learned a system for staying on top of his work, he'll discover that some excuses have been removed: I lost that. I forgot to follow up. I didn't have time. Etc. Though it's rare, "failure to thrive" happens in this business. This is true for any behavior change work, I'm sure. I suspect you know a lot more about it than I do.

> Not many people have commented... questions making people uncomfortable?

That's helpful. I ask questions in each post as thinking points - thoughts to reflect on. Maybe I need to make that clearer.

I'm deeply grateful for your comment.

[Anonymous]

There's procrastincation because it's a sunny day out and you want to play, and there's procrastination that disables your ability to live without anxiety. I assume we're talking about the latter, not about thoughtful delay (which is indeed a useful technique, especially for high-level, "jump? how high?" managers), and, if we are, I think the forces at work are often unconscious and subconscious. In that instance, procrastination is the unhappy marriage you stay in, the abusive relationship you can't leave, the drug you can't stop taking.

I like very much your application of "failure to thrive" in the work environment. Failure to thrive is one way that psychologists and psychiatrists know that they're dealing with a serious problem. Procrastination tends to be minimized in this culture because this culture tends to look down on "work" -- why wouldn't you put off something you're supposed to hate doing? It's hard to get a real fix on the problem when you're seeing it in that kind of fun house mirror. Putting off work becomes a kind of peer criteria to establish that you're a good guy. Failure to thrive = individualism and fighting the Man. I suspect that in your work you see just how serious a problem procrastination can be. I wonder what led you to write this post. Have you encountered smart, successful managers for whom GTD and emptying their inboxes didn't nearly suffice? For whom "Doing It Tomorrow" wasn't just a clever brand tag? That's the kind of procrastination I'm interested in addressing.

For that kind of procrastination, your mini-experiment method is an extremely powerful too. But if you're serious about changing, that kind of disciplined, fearless self-examination (do you recognize the language I'm using?) is going to open doors to some scary issues. I can see we don't disagree about this; I'm emphasizing a different aspect of the problem.

I'm curious about something: do you ever go back to old clients and see how they're doing? Did the fixes take? And did you ever successfully unwind a pathological procrastination problem? What did that involve?

If you want to talk about distilling your blog posts, drop me a line. I'm a big fan of yours, and I have a couple of suggestions.

[Greenman]

Sorry, that's me, not anonymous.

[matthewcornell]

Thanks very much for another insightful comment, Greenman.

I like very much your application of "failure to thrive" in the work environment

Thanks, Dan. It's a harsh term, I admit. Wikipedia says it's "poor weight gain and physical growth failure over an extended period," which could arguably apply.

Procrastination tends to be minimized in this culture because this culture tends to look down on "work"

This is a really interesting point. I'm a big critic of most television programming (99% is crap, I believe), with one reason being the attitudes about work that are promoted, at least implicitly. [ Jim Kunstler's | http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/ ] been an influence on this. He regularly argues that magical thinking is typical in our culture (just wishing for things is enough), and claims our financial meltdown is in part due to "something for nothing" thinking. I agree. [OK, on a rant there...]

It's hard to get a real fix on the problem when you're seeing it in that kind of fun house mirror.

Now we're into the paradoxes of self-awareness. Plus the thought that Einstein expressed, that [ No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. | http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins130982.html ] This applies very much to the US government's honest attempts to fix our problems. But the system that created the problem (rich special interests, say) can't fix it. Unfortunately, I think making the necessary changes requires significant upheaval - short term sacrifice for long term gain. Bailing out large, failing companies, for example. (Of course I'm what my wife calls a "jackass" - in the sense of the 2x2: Strong opinion, Little Knowledge.) These issues were made clear in [ Charlie Rose's conversation with Marc Andreessen | http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10093 ]. Made me think.

Failure to thrive = individualism and fighting the Man.

You'll have to explain that one.

I suspect that in your work you see just how serious a problem procrastination can be. I wonder what led you to write this post.

Personal (I struggle with it too) and professional (how to best help my clients). I want something that's more effective - more effectively applied, perhaps - than what's readily available.

Have you encountered smart, successful managers for whom GTD and emptying their inboxes didn't nearly suffice?

Yes - they're the second category above. It's rare - spending a good chunk of money is both a filter and a motivator, but responsibility to change is ultimately my clients' responsibilities. I go all out to support change, of course.

For whom "Doing It Tomorrow" wasn't just a clever brand tag?

Mark's book's been an influence, but I don't care for the tagline.

... mini-experiment method is an extremely powerful too. But ... that kind of disciplined, fearless self-examination is going to open doors to some scary issues.

Agreed. There's a pain-change threshold in operation here. I like the idea that "knowledge can't be un-done." (There's a better way to put it. How about "ignorance-knowledge transformation is (mostly) one-way"? Not too catchy...)

disciplined, fearless self-examination ... (do you recognize the language I'm using?)

No. Please remind me.

Do you ever go back to old clients and see how they're doing? Did the fixes take? And did you ever successfully unwind a pathological procrastination problem? What did that involve?

Like the initial motivation, this kind of feedback usually originates from them. I'm driven to do all I can to help, but my clients are ambitious and busy, so I don't send many "How are you doing?" messages. I'm very open to suggestions on this.

[Sunny]

i hope this can help as this method have helped me overcoming procrastination quite often. as procrastination is the mechanism of coping with anxiety of not knowing how to do (or we think we dont know). my explanation to this is that we all want it to be perfectly done on our first trial. so what i did was i stop caring about how the result is. im aiming to make a rubbish and fine-tune it. so it takes off my perfectionist pressure.

[Joe]

The number one biggest source of procrastination for me is the list of things I know I should be doing and the fact that most of them are online. When I need to focus on a task on the computer (writing a blog post, performing a security audit, or whatever), it's so easy to get distracted by checking email, updating Twitter, researching another project, reading blog posts (Google Reader makes this so easy and so easy to waste time), or doing anything else but what I should be doing.

The most effective tool I've found for breaking through this is setting deadlines. At work if one isn't set for me I try to set one for myself. For my blog, I've set a posting schedule that I follow, and it keeps me on track even when I'm tired and just want to call it a night.

[matthewcornell]

Thanks, Sunny. That's a big problem.

[matthewcornell]

Good comment, Joe. Thanks. The pressure and structure of deadlines can certainly help. I've found it depends on the person. Almost all of us can benefit from a little planning, and for some, having a time limit can reign in perfectionism (an application of Pareto).