A solution to procrastination
Evidence-based answers you can apply today
How many of us put off harder tasks by attempting the easier tasks first?
Do you delay brushing your teeth at night when you feel tired?
When faced with a hard task, is your default response to pick up your phone and distract yourself?
Do you find yourself saying “tomorrow I’ll start eating more healthily but for now, I am going to enjoy this bag of potato chips while I binge my favourite show.”
In full disclosure I have done all of the above.
Lately, I’ve been interested in the topic of discipline.
Discipline is not only essential for achieving our unique versions of success but it also shapes our self-esteem and wellbeing.
A sense of self-discipline can meet our basic psychological needs which according to Self-Determination Theory (SDT) are autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
My interest in discipline led me to a research article1 which reported the results of two studies that inquired into the connection between the sense of self-discipline, autonomous motivation, and procrastination.
It is useful to define these terms for a clearer picture:
Self-discipline
The individual’s conscious self-restraint to control one’s behaviour, speech, or adherence to rules without supervision.
Sense of self-discipline
The subjective awareness and feelings of self-discipline.
‘Autonomous motivation’
The combination of intrinsic motives, emphasising the individual’s choice to engage in a particular behaviour based on their interests or personal beliefs, or to act according to their own will and choices.
Finally, procrastination needs no introduction but for completeness …
Procrastination
The postponement of an intended course of action, despite knowing that such behaviour will result in adverse outcomes and discomfort for the individual; an irrational delay.
What intended course of action are you currently procrastinating about?
Why are you procrastinating?
Perhaps you feel life is happening to you and not for you and you feel overwhelmed by your life and the world we live in.
Good news.
The two studies aimed to identify interventions that can fight procrastination. And they successfully did just that.
Study 1
This study looked at individuals’ perceptions of self-discipline and surveyed 377 college students.
The students self-assessed their behaviours and emotions as they related to daily activities and their studies.
They were also asked to scale their level of consistency (completely inconsistent to completely consistent) to items such as “When I do something in my daily life or studies, it is generally because I enjoy doing it.”
Moreover participants scaled the extent to which they experienced certain feelings in their daily life, such as “I felt like my willpower was gone” and “I felt sharp and focused.”
Results
Now I am not a scientist but to interpret the results, the researches used a correlation analysis.
I have no idea what that means.
But the point is the results showed that procrastination significantly decreased when autonomous motivation and a sense of self-discipline were present.
Takeaway you can apply: for the positive behaviours you wish to adopt or tasks you wish to complete, clearly spell out the intrinsic value behind acting that way or completing the task. This can push you to willingly choose to practise positive habits and complete challenging tasks because you have an incentive.
For example, you could say to yourself-
I want to complete this challenging task because it would mean that I have completed a vital step toward levelling up my expertise and skills in this area I am passionate about. Without doing this task, I will remain stuck at my current knowledge and skills level which means I miss out on exciting opportunities.
Here, you have spelled out the value behind doing the thing that in your flesh, you may not want to do. And in doing so, can push yourself to complete the task because the cost of passing on this valuable opportunity to level up is too great.
Study 2
This study was different to the first in that rather than surveying a group of college students, the students were required to complete a task that would measure their procrastination.
97 students were selected and divided into different groups - the ‘sense of self-discipline priming group’ and the ‘control group’.
The task the students had to complete involved translating 3 English sentences into Chinese, the sentences ranging from hard, moderate to easy and record their subjective feelings during the task.
As the students completed the task, the order in which they translated the sentences was recorded.
The ‘sense of self-discipline priming group’
These students were asked to remember in vivid detail a time where they had completed a task without supervision using self-discipline and write it down. Students’ responses included things like sticking to a study plan, exercising and practicing an instrument.
The ‘control group’
These students were asked to remember in detail any event that happened the day before.
Results
Again, I am not a scientist but the researches interpreted the results using a regression analyses.
What they found was that those students who were in the ‘sense of self-discipline priming group’ had an enhanced sense of self-discipline. This meant that their procrastination score was significantly lower than the control group.
They answered the hardest translation questions first, compared to the control group who prioritised the easier questions.
Their sense of self-discipline triggered their intrinsic motivation which led to a reduction in procrastination.’
Takeaway you can apply: Increase your sense of self-discipline by frequently recalling times (and even writing them down) where you have applied your voluntary willpower to overcome a challenging task.
It will not help to recall any event you completed.
This will require you to build your willpower and consistently tackle hard tasks so that you have a repository of proof to draw from.
This will reinforce your sense of self-discipline.
You will believe that you are a disciplined person who can use your own mental strength to get hard things done.
You will then find yourself executing hard tasks with less hesitation because you know you’ve succeeded before.
For example, you could say to yourself-
I remember the time I was tempted to crack open a bag of chips late in the evening to relieve the stress of work tomorrow. But I remembered how this made me feel worse the last time I did this, so instead I swapped the chips for a more nourishing option, such as nuts.
Here, you have successfully recalled a time where you drew on your own inner strength to choose a healthier response to your stressful situation. In doing so, you remembered your ability to successfully master your emotions and not allow them to spiral you into an even worse state.
This post is a bit different to what I’ve written in the past but I wanted to provide science-backed solutions to procrastination that may work for you moving forward.
It is important to note that you’re not a failure if you procrastinate after reading this post. But, I hope that you would know that you do have the power to renew your mindset and adopt more positive behaviours and responses to the hard things we all face in our daily lives.
Summary:
Try spelling out the value behind doing the thing that in your flesh, you may not want to do to push yourself to act in accordance with your values.
Frequently recall times where you have applied your voluntary willpower to overcome a challenging task. In doing this you can affirm to yourself that you are a disciplined person who has succeeded before and you will succeed again.
I hope you took away something from this post and thank you to the researchers who wrote this research article cited below and inspired this post.
Sincerely,
Adjoa x
So, this came at a perfect time for me! THANK YOU for sharing your research and summary. I even jotted a few things in my journal to refer back to as needed. Many of us may tend to procrastinate, but some of us get stuck there a bit more often, so having this reminder...this suggestive guide of common sense...is beneficial.