I don’t know about you, but I often get the feeling that my perfect life is just around the corner, just one tiny step away from me and if I only get myself to make that step it will all fall into place.
And then I do nothing.
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You see, procrastination and I have had a very long and turbulent relationship. Like an old lover, I always come back to it again and again, no matter how many times I say it’s over. Nonetheless, It is a very one-sided relationship, meaning I get nothing from it than anxiety, and procrastination just grows stronger. Not fair at all. So I decided it is time for a final break up, but this time, I’m doing it differently. Usually, I just kick myself in the ass again and again until I finally push my urge to continue procrastinating aside and get the work done. It’s effective, but it takes time and it is not pleasant at all. And most importantly, it is a very short lived solution. Since I started digging deep into the concept of hygge and how adopting this mindset can change my life for the better I realized
it doesn’t always have to be hard to be effective.
So this time I thought – what’s the point in having a BA in Psychology if you don’t use what you’ve learned to improve your life? Duh!
So here are my tips on how to beat procrastination the hygge way
1. Get clear and honest about your whys
Mindfulness is a huge part of hygge, huge! Being clear and honest with yourself about the true motives behind you putting off what you KNOW you need to do is the first step towards beating it. That’s the first thing you need to clear out for yourself – what’s stopping you, what in the task you need to do makes you sidetrack it again and again and being so creative in finding “reasons” not to do it.
With me, that’s usually the fear of failure. I don’t like failing, I don’t think anyone does actually. I realize that in most cases the failure I envision is not life threatening or even life-changing but it’s still scary to me.
Other common reasons for procrastination are the hugeness of the task, the fact that it involves some unpleasant components etc.
The important thing here is that no matter what it is, you are 100% capable of dealing with it! But first, you need to know what you’re dealing with. Know your inner saboteur, acknowledge him, even take him for a cup of coffee, look him in the eye and kindly let him know that this relationship is over. You will feel so much better, I promise, so lighter and freer and ready for step two.
The second step is much more fun: you need to get clear and honest about your second why – why you want to actually accomplish what you’ve been putting off.
For me, this process is like a very purposeful day dreaming. I get a pen and a piece of paper and start listing all the nice things that will come to me after I get things done. I get so hyped that I sometimes get to the point that I can’t wait to do what I’ve been dreading just moments ago. I know it sounds crazy and you’re probably thinking I’m exaggerating, but that’s the truth.
When searching for your reason why, just make sure you get as personal as possible – that way the motivational boost will just skyrocket your ability to get things done.
2. Break it down
Most of the times we procrastinate because the task we have to accomplish is so huge it overwhelms us with its complexity. In order to deal with this, all you need to do is break it down, and then down again until you have many small, relatively simple tasks. In this moment you’ll almost hear your brain’s sigh of relief – “Oh, I can totally do that”.
For example when I started researching what I needed to do to start a blog I almost gave up, there were so many things to take into consideration, so many things I had no idea of. But when I broke it down it looked far more manageable. Since you’re reading this, it means that I made it – I actually finished the gazillion things I had to do in order to launch this blog. Me :1, procrastination:0!
Breaking things down not only makes the tasks more comprehensible, but it also gives you a nice to do list. Which in turn triggers the Ovsiankina effect – a pretty neat tool in our arsenal when battling procrastination. The Ovsiankina effect is basically the need you feel to complete a task when someone interrupted you midways. In your case, when you have your to-do list with manageable little tasks, you will have intrusive thoughts urging you to move forward and complete it all the way through. And that is how we hack a stubborn brain 🙂
3. Set your environment for success
Procrastination is one very sociable b*tch! It likes to make friends with every distraction we come across and have long, deep conversations with it. But, there’s a way to deal with this. If you know you are inclined to procrastinate, but want to do something about it – get organized. Block a time in your calendar to work on the task you’ve been putting off and eliminate all the distractions you can think of – silent all the alarms and notifications on your phone and computer, put a “Do not disturb sign” on your door knob, have a cup of coffee and some water on your table to avoid getting up and losing half an hour in the kitchen talking to colleagues (if you’re at work) or cleaning the countertop (if you’re at home), and so on, you catch my drift. Your brain may continue looking for that rope of distraction, but when you’re not so quick to provide it, it will probably get bored and tackle the task instead. Neat, ain’t it? 🙂
4. Doubt the doubt
Doubt is one of the key reasons for procrastination. We doubt we’ll do a good job, so we don’t start at all. This uncertainty is the surest way to keep us from completing what we want and ultimately, living the life we long for.
So how to deal with it?
Start doubting the doubt. It takes some exercising in mindfulness as first you need to catch yourself doubting yourself. And whenever you do, start doubting that doubt. Like ” Am I really not sure I’ll do this right? What are the odds of something terrible happening?”.
A study shows that shaking your head in disbelief while having a doubtful or generally negative thought can decrease noticeably the level of uncertainty. May sound silly, but what can you lose by trying it?
5. Show some support and understanding
I told you in the beginning how I used to deal with procrastination – by beating myself up about slacking off till I would finally give up and do what needed to be done. However this method is not really effective in the long run – it takes a lot of time to start working, and I get less and less inclined to use it, as it fills me with negative emotions.
What I should have been doing is the exact opposite – show some understanding to myself for not being as perfect as I want to be. Like I would have talked to my Baby Boy in a similar situation – I would never put him down and tell him that he is a lazy-ass-good-at-nothing-son-of-a-gun who has to get his sh*t together and stop slacking off! Right?! I would instead look him straight into the eyes and acknowledge his struggles, cause I know it’s hard. And then tell him that he will feel a ton better if he just starts. A little TLC can go a long way, even (especially) when it comes to ourselves.
You are now armed with a strong arsenal of anti-procrastination weapons, so go and put them to good use. After all, the cozy, comfy, HAPPY life, meant just for you is right around the corner. Go get it! But please come back to tell me how it all worked for you or better yet, share some of your own ways to kick that annoying procrastination habit to the curve and get your hygge on!
Disclosure: If you purchase anything from links in this post or any other, I may receive some kind of affiliate commission. However, I only ever mention products I love and would recommend whether I was being compensated or not. You can read my full disclaimer here.
