Addressing Procrastination

Emotional regulation has been identified as a core reason why people procrastinate. When a responsibility triggers negative emotions and you feel unequipped to manage those feelings internally, externally managing them by delaying the task can provide instant relief. Your procrastination may be motivated by:

· Discomfort of potential failure

· Defiance or resistance to the demands of others

· Mental health diagnoses: AD/HD, Major Depression, anxiety

· Other issues

12 Tips & Tricks to Help Manage Your Procrastination:

1. Change your motivators and reward yourself during and after tasks.  What kinds of positive supports make you care more about the tasks and feel more excited about working on them? This may include listening to music while working on them and putting distracting items away. Other rewards can be chatting while doing the tasks or going to a unique location to make the task seem more appealing.

2. Create a schedule. Without one, an aimless day can lead to feeling overwhelmed and delaying responsibilities. Try planning out your days each morning or at the beginning of each week and list the necessary steps of each task. Try using a fun app like Routinery for task management.

3. Start imperfectly and work on tasks piecemeal. Not knowing everything from the start is OK. You can always improve your work later. Consider using the 2 or 5 minute rule. Commit to do just two minutes of work. This often turns into following through with 2 more minutes and so on…

4. Another strategy helpful for focus and paced time management is the Pomodoro Technique. This involves using a timer for three 25 minute intervals of focused work, with a 5 minute break between each. After the 4th interval, you can take a 30 minute break before repeating the process. You can tailor this to your needs. These methods also help combat the all-or-nothing thinking that can make a task seem too daunting and leading you to feel paralyzed.

5. Stop making your to-do lists so long. A gigantic list can feel overwhelming and keep you from starting. Write down a few important tasks and if you do all of them, then you can add more.

6. Prioritize tasks according to urgency and importance using the Eisenhower Matrix. This tool divides tasks into 4 categories:

· What to do first

· What to schedule for later

· What to delegate

· What to delete

7. “Chunk” a larger task into smaller tasks. This could help you take more manageable bites out of your workload.

8. “Eat the Frog” – Tackle the most difficult or dreaded thing first to get it out of the way. This may serve to create a sense of ease about the rest of your tasks.

9. “Avoid the Frog” - Alternately, do all of your smaller tasks first to create momentum and a sense of accomplishment.

10. Consider how you could be harming yourself. Though you shouldn’t be too self-critical by thinking of the chaos, distress, or relationship problems that could result from procrastination, it is sometimes necessary. Consider the fact that just as you don’t want to let others down, you also deserve to experience things such as ease, cleanliness, health, and a sense of accomplishment.

11. Try mindfulness techniques. Quietly sitting with your emotions, doing breathing exercises, or meditating can help you regulate any distress related to task completion.

12. Make sure your foundation is right. Getting enough good-quality food, sleep, exercise, and relaxation can also support the energy levels needed for motivation, attention, discipline, and emotion regulation. Also, take stock of your social supports.

If you'd like support for your child, schedule an appointment with Dr. Sina today.