How to Stop Procrastinating on Your Goals
There are methods for keeping procrastination away, but it can be hard to get through on mental strength alone.
Adding in a visual cue can prompt you to action simply by you seeing it, as they give you a physical reminder to do your task.
One cue you can use is called the “Seinfeld Strategy”.
Brad Isaac was a young comedian starting out on the comedy circuit.
One fateful night, he found himself in a club where Jerry Seinfeld was performing and asked him if he had “any tips for a young comic.”
Here's how Isaac described the interaction with Seinfeld:
"He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day.
He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day.
“After a few days, you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”
Here’s how you can do it:
#1 Pick Your Task
No matter what strategy you employ to be productive, the universal pitfall is biting off more than you can chew.
Choose a task that is simple enough to be sustainable, but also meaningful.
For example, doing ten push-ups a day.
#2 The Strategy
The Seinfeld Strategy relies on the idea of consistency.
The way that this strategy ensures success is by creating a visual cue to remind you to do your task every day.
Specifically, it calls for a big calendar and a red marker.
Hang your calendar somewhere you can see it and every day you complete your task, put a big red X over that day.
Soon, there will be a chain of big red X’s.
You’ll like seeing that chain and your only job is to not break the chain.
#3 Keep It Up
Professionals don’t let the urgencies of daily life bog them down and keep them from their work.
Don’t let yourself get demotivated by a bad performance or day.
Just settle right back into the pattern the next day.
The Seinfeld Strategy is ideal for this because it removes the focus on individual performance and puts the emphasis on the process instead. All you have to do is not break the chain.