From Procrastination to Focused Action

I know what I want but I’m a master procrastinator! How do I get focused and into action?

Of all the time management dilemmas I hear about, procrastination is clearly one of the most common. 

Some of us are occasional procrastinators, some are “pros.” Either way, it can be hard to overcome, especially if it has become a habit to allow ourselves to avoid certain tasks.

To explore this dilemma, an obvious choice would be to consider your attention management - since we want to manage our attention toward what we have committed to, rather than what happens to pull our attention away in the moment. 

Although that would very likely provide insight, I’d like to share how you might use a less obvious choice of exploration: energy management. 

Energy management can help us overcome procrastination if we take a moment to remember the bigger WHY for this task—the reason we prioritized it in the first place. Ask yourself:

How will this task provide an outcome that is likely to take me closer to my goal or intention? 

Assuming you have clarified a truly inspiring intention for yourself, connecting back to that might be enough of a “pull” to get you over the hump and into action. 

Another important and effective approach is to make sure you break down any large, looming tasks that you find challenging into something less intimidating and more doable. Getting into action, even tiny steps, creates momentum and makes more energy available to you.

If that doesn’t quite do it, here is something useful to understand about our brains: 

As you might know, neural pathways are created as a result of our behavior and our brain saves energy by taking the route of least resistance, using the most engrained and frequently used paths. It actually takes significant mental effort to redirect away from habitual behavior toward doing something that is new, requires analytical thinking, or is otherwise energy-consuming for the brain. We can think of it as “limbic friction” (a term coined by Andrew Huberman). 

It can be really helpful to expect the first ten minutes or so of a demanding task to be difficult, due to this.

To get yourself into action on a demanding task, try giving yourself a start-up “timebox”: Decide on a short time frame (like ten minutes). Commit to giving your full attention to the task and do as much as you can during that time. After the ten minutes are up, you may make a new choice about where to direct your attention, but chances are you have overcome the “limbic friction” by then and can take on the next task with less resistance.

Last but not least, imagine the energy that will be freed once you are done! 

Rather than wasting energy avoiding the task over and over and over, take the more energy-efficient approach and just do it, thereby benefiting from the energy boost you will get by having it done!

Just like the bud in the image above, there’s beautiful potential in you, and taking steps to overcome procrastination is sure to release that vibrant energy into the world and help you achieve your potential.