Audio Transcript:
There are many reasons why we might procrastinate or put things off. Often it’s as simple as “It’s late in the day, and I should try again tomorrow, during my high energy time in the morning.”
But there are a couple of common causes of procrastination that I’d like to address.
One cause is a lack of crystal clarity. What exactly am I planning to do, and when am I going to do it? Another cause of procrastination is fear of pain and discomfort. We don’t want to do something because it seems too difficult, painful, or boring.
So if we put things off because we lack clarity and/or we dread discomfort, how can we make our tasks clearer and easier? Here are a few suggestions.
First of all, think on paper, and plan on paper. Deciding specifically what we’re going to do and writing it down provides needed clarity. We can be totally stuck in an unproductive fog, but 5 minutes of planning on paper can lift us out of it. After that, we should really keep our plans in sight so we can stay on track. Seeing a to-do in writing is more powerful, more motivating, than some vague obligation in our heads.
A quick aside: Folks with ADHD have working memory challenges. We have trouble juggling, retaining, and imagining ideas in our head. That’s why writing things down on paper can help greatly to order our thoughts. Rather than fretting, feeling overwhelmed, or endlessly looping information in our head so we don’t forget important stuff, we need to plan and solve problems on paper. Once to-dos and solutions are safely written into our planning system, we don’t have to fret about them anymore.
Okay… but what about when I write down a list of to-dos on my Daily Page and I still can’t get started because I’m unsure of what to do first. I need a bit more clarity. In those cases, I number the tasks in the order I’ll do them, at least the first two tasks. This lets me focus on one task at a time instead of being stuck in a mire of indecision.
Oher times, I’ve written to-dos, but I still can’t get started for another reason: the chosen task seems too overwhelming! The reason may be that I need to break that big, vague task down into a list of tiny, doable steps. Once again, instead of overwhelming my working memory by juggling all those steps in my head, I write each step down. Then, I number the steps in order, keep the list where I can see it, and do each step one at a time, crossing them off as I complete them.
For instance, maybe I have a to-do on my Weekly Page that says, “change oil in lawn mower,” but I just keep putting it off. For good reason! If I haven’t changed the oil before, this is not even an actionable task, so no wonder I put it off. It’s too vague. How do you change the oil in this mower? I don’t know! Until I break this task up and write it out into little doable steps, I can’t actually do it because it’s not even really one task; it’s a series of little tasks.
So, to get started, I schedule a specific time to do it, either today on my Daily Page or in my Monthly Planner. Then, I put my pencil to the paper, and I decide what my first little step is going to be. So I write:
- #1, Go check what model mower I own.
- #2, “Watch a youtube video on how to change the oil in my mower, or find my mower manual online and read how to change the oil.”
- #3, “Write out a list of steps in order.” This is going to involve things like “Go buy SAE 30 oil at home depot,” “find a pan to drain the oil into,” “run the mower for a few minutes to heat the oil,” etc.
After I have my written list of steps, then I can start doing each little step, one at a time. And that list of little tasks is much more motivating and less threatening to me than one vague to-do that simply says “change the oil,” unless I’ve done it a bunch of times before.
Another way to break tasks down into doable chunks so I can get started is to use a timer. On my daily page, I write “work on video outline (or whatever the task is) for just 10 minutes.” I say to my phone, “Okay, google, set a timer for 10 minutes,” and then I work on the task for just 10 minutes.
Experience has taught me that just getting started is often the hardest part. At the end of 10 minutes, I am free to stop, but a lot of times I’ll feel like I can keep going for a little longer, that the task is starting to engage my mind. If not, I’m free to take a break, then set a timer for 10 minutes more, and keep chipping away at it until I start to get into it. At some point I often find that I’m now so into the task that I even have trouble stopping and switching to another task. (This is often referred to as hyperfocus, or perseveration.)
Another way to provide clarity and get unstuck is simply to schedule a specific time in my Monthly Planner for when I will tackle a certain task. A written time and place greatly increases our chances of actually doing something. Using my monthly planner to schedule tasks in advance for a certain date has made a big difference in terms of me getting around to routine maintenance tasks, like changing the water and filter in a cold plunge, charging electric bike batteries during the winter, changing the oil in small machinery, etc. Thinking that I’ll get around to it someday sort of means never, but when I commit to a specific date in advance, it tends to get done. This is the power of clarity, and glancing at my Monthly Planner every morning.
Now, for those really big, overwhelming jobs that you never seem to get around to, you might want to consider using the power of two – with a friend, loved one, or coworker. The power of two is what my wife and I call it when we set an appointment together to tackle a certain job, like changing the water in the hot tub, or cleaning out the garage, or putting together furniture that we bought months ago. We both write the specific date and time into our schedule, and then the power of two gives us the courage to tackle that overwhelming task when the time arrives.
Finally, it is good to identify habits that can help you to focus and tackle hard things. For instance, for me, planning for 5 or 10 minutes each morning and keeping my plans in sight makes a huge difference, as does lots of exercise, scheduling hard things in the morning, cold plunging (believe it or not), a very consistent sleep schedule, keeping my blood sugar stable with a healthy low-carbohydrate diet and not snacking between meals… these are all things that greatly improve my ability to sit still and concentrate, and to procrastinate less. Think of what habits help you to focus and avoid procrastination.