How to Cure Procrastination (Right Now)
Procrastination can seem like an illness with no cure. Luckily, that’s not true.
Here are two tips on how to introduce immediacy into your day in order to help clear up that nasty case of procrastination.
#1 Make the Rewards of Taking Action More Immediate If you can make the benefits of long-term choices more immediate, it becomes easier to avoid procrastination.
The best way to do this is called temptation bundling. This strategy suggests that you bundle a behavior that is good for you in the long term with a behavior that’s good in the short-run.
The formula for this is: Only do [THING YOU LOVE] while doing [THING YOU PROCRASTINATE ON]. For example, if you have a TV show you really love, only watch it while you iron clothes, or clean up your room.
#2 Make the Consequences of Procrastination More Immediate Let’s face it, it’s easy to let yourself down if you don’t want to do the thing you planned to do. It becomes harder when there’s a consequence.
One quick and easy way to ensure that you don’t procrastinate on things is to agree to do them with other people. Nothing gets you to the gym like someone else who’s meeting you there. You can also use a service like Stickk to place a bet. If you don’t do what you say you’ll do, the app will donate to a charity you hate.