Pre-crastination, the Antidote to Procrastination

Does your to-do list become your "list of things to put off?" If you're like most people, you procrastinate. You rationalize it. You may even joke about it with your friends.

But that's the problem. Everybody does it, so you don't feel so bad about it. You tolerate it. You know it’s a problem but you don't do anything about it.

Well here's your chance to finally stop procrastinating. Are you ready?

Okay, here it is: right now, think of the biggest task that you've been putting off.

Now, grab a pen and paper and write this down: "I commit to spending 5 minutes on this task today."

Set the exact time in your calendar today when you will do it. Make it your number one priority of the day. Do it at the exact time planned. This is what I call pre-crastination. Instead of pro-crastinating, you commit to do the exact opposite!

Your 5 minutes can be as simple as doing an internet search, or writing an email draft. Need to do your taxes? Print out the tax form online and write your name on it.

Wait, just 5 minutes? That won't get the job done! Of course it won't. But what you are doing is something much more important. You are training your brain to understand that the task is not going to kill you.

You see, procrastination is caused by the belief that a task is more painful than it actually is. Your brain is wired to avoid pain. The more you put off a task, the more you make your brain believe that it’s going to be painful.

Eventually, you build up such a mythology of pain, that you never even start the task. You make, as the saying goes, “a mountain out of a molehill.

But when you do bite-sized 5 minutes blocks of the task, you start climbing the proverbial molehill. More importantly, your brain starts to see that the task is doable.

Soon you will start to like the 5-minute chunks of work. Soon you will increase them to 10 minutes, then 15 minutes. But a warning here: don't go any longer than the time allotted, even if you want to!

Wait, that's crazy, why wouldn't I do more? Because you are developing self-discipline, a lost art. Your commitment is a deal with yourself to the time chunk. If you do more than you promised, you will subconsciously feel "overworked" and be tempted to procrastinate the next day.

By not working any longer than the time promised, you will be hungry for more the next day. That's the point. You want to crave the work. It's all part of the retraining process!

Most people can do the prescribed mini-chunks of work and make some progress. For a while...

But then the status quo comes knocking on the door: "Hi, excuse me, this the status quo. We've noticed that none of your friends use this weird chunking technique. You should relax and be like everyone else. You should start procrastinating again."

Don't listen to the status quo! You deserve to feel good about developing self-discipline. You deserve to have that feeling of accomplishment and making progress.

Just like brushing your teeth, you should pre-crastinate daily. Get a jump on "productivity decay" with a 5, 10, or 15 minute task every day. Read a page of book, do sit-ups, or work on a budget. Set a timer. When it beeps, stop. Repeat the next day.

Anyone can commit to pre-crastination. It's easy. Soon you'll be "putting off" pro -crastination... for a long time! Now, get to work!