This is a fantastic article on "Procrastination" and why we do it. Click on the link at the end of this blog post and read its entirety.
I posted a few excerpts below:
"In the immediate present, putting off a task provides relief — "you've been rewarded for procrastinating," Dr. Sirois said. And we know from basic behaviorism that when we're rewarded for something, we tend to do it again. This is precisely why procrastination tends not to be a one-off behavior, but a cycle, one that easily becomes a chronic habit."
"We must realize that, at its core, procrastination is about emotions, not productivity. The solution doesn't involve downloading a time management app or learning new strategies for self-control. It has to do with managing our emotions in a new way."
""Our brains are always looking for relative rewards. If we have a habit loop around procrastination but we haven't found a better reward, our brain is just going to keep doing it over and over until we give it something better to do," said psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Judson Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation at Brown University's Mindfulness Center."
"Don't wait to be in the mood to do a certain task. "Motivation follows action. Get started, and you'll find your motivation follows," Dr. Pychyl said."
"Ms. Rubin also suggested that we make the things we want to do as easy as possible for ourselves. "
"examining the relationship between stress, self-compassion and procrastination, Dr. Sirois found that procrastinators tend to have high stress and low self-compassion, suggesting that self-compassion provides "a buffer against negative reactions to self-relevant events. In fact, several studies show that self-compassion supports motivation and personal growth."
and finally, "Procrastination is deeply existential, as it raises questions about individual agency and how we want to spend our time as opposed to how we actually do. But it's also a reminder of our commonality — we're all vulnerable to painful feelings, and most of us just want to be happy with the choices we make."
I use many of these techniques with my clients as we all fall into procrastination in our everyday lives.
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