Procrastination is lying to yourself. (7 ways to quickly cure it forever.)

Its 7pm. You know that project is due tomorrow…

Its time to buckle down, open your computer and… Check your phone.

“I’m not feeling energetic…” Maybe I’ll just watch youtube.

“Oh I forgot, I haven’t eaten, I should probably make dinner…”

“It’s getting pretty late, maybe I should just try again in the morning…”

This is the cycle of procrastination, I can assure you, we have all been there.

Why do we procrastinate even though we know its bad for us?

Well, putting something off isn’t always procrastinating. Often in our busy lives we must prioritise tasks from most important to least important.

The tasks we really do procrastinate are often intimidating tasks that are big, daunting and important.

Behind the procrastination facade.

Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do for no good reason, despite expecting the act of delay to bring negative consequences.

Obviously its not logical to do something you think will harm you.

The worst part is, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us, specifically by avoiding tasks we see as threatening.

When you remember you have to do the thing you have been delaying, we unconsciously react as we do to any other incoming threat.

The infamous: Fight, Flight or Freeze response comes up…

(The path of least resistance is often delaying the daunting task in favour for one less demanding.)

This response sounds extreme, after all, its just a task, not skydiving from an aeroplane or being chased by a tiger…

But we are much more likely to procrastinate on tasks that evoke negative feelings such as fear, incompetence or insecurity.

F alse
E vidence
A ppearing
R eal

Worse yet, the perception of how difficult the task is increases the more you delay.

I have been known to set alarms for tasks I need to do, the more I delay them, the more stress builds and so does the strength of the habit of delaying the task.

Because procrastination is linked to negative emotions, people with difficulty regulating their emotions or have low self esteem are much more likely to procrastinate.

Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure, by putting things off because they are afraid their actions won’t live up to perfectionist standards.

Scary stuff…

Let’s see what we can do to help.

How to replace procrastination with progress.

It all comes down to following through with our words and actions.

The more flawless we become with it, the less negative emotions, unfinished tasks and bad habits build up and the happier we are.

Before we start, lets first make one crucial mental shift.

Imagine your automatic habits like a toddler. These habits are reactive, impulsive actions usually in relation to environment, emotions and desires.

Imagine your conscious actions as a wise old man. These more elaborate plans are usually long term, thoroughly planned and thoughtfully executed.

Now, lets imagine this toddler is a superhuman, he can do as much as you can possibly give him. (Within the restraints of time)

The wise old man lacks energy and time, he has to be careful how he uses it.

Basically, we need to help our toddler form and maintain healthy habits with the use of our wise old man.

Eat the damn frog.

Mark twain explained this well, he argues we all have a frog to eat every day.
(The frog resembles the hardest beneficial tasks we must do.)

No one wants to eat it, yet we must to improve our lives.

If we delay it until the end of the month, we would have a massive 30 frogs to eat…

He emphasises the importance of making a healthy habit of getting it out of the way in the morning while we have mental will power so as to set the tone for the rest of the day.

This is also a brilliant cure for procrastination.

A good trick to do is make your bed as soon as you get out of it, from there, drink the bottle of water next to your bed, then brush your teeth and moisturise.

This is called habit stacking but its ultra effective if we stack after tough tasks because everything after feels easier. Give it a shot.

Purify your physical environment.

If we exist in a chaotic physical environment then we create a chaotic mental state, which then creates a chaotic mental state etc etc.

It’s a paradox.

By cleaning up and ordering our physical environment we also change our mental state.

So clean your desk, sort your house and tidy possessions.

These are all keys to a clear mind and more productive action.

(Minimalism helps this a lot, lets be honest you don’t need everything, we just want it. You can’t be stressed about organising what you don’t have.)

“Do something” principle.

People think emotional inspiration is the prerequisite for motivation and therefore action.

But really, inspiration, motivation and action are not a linear sequence, its an endless loop. (You can start with any one of them, including action and obtain the others)

It can be hard to start a task if it feels big, instead, set a timer and commit to working on it for 10-20 minutes, then see how you feel.

“I need motivation to take action, thats the whole problem here…”

If motivation was replaced with intention this would be true, but we all do things on a day to day basis that we don’t feel motivated to do, like getting up early, studying or having our vitamins.

By making things we know we should do into habits, we use that habitual action to fuel inspiration and motivation into the formation of new habits.

Purify your digital environment.

How cluttered is your digital home?
Apps everywhere, notifications binging every 2 seconds?
Having a day off technology feels like loosing a limb?

Been there, not fun…

The method for taking back control of our choice is taking back control of your environment which directly influences choice.

Its often the smallest things like a new notifications, messages or alerts that spin us out from the task we should be doing, into one less productive.

The problem with the most important work in our lives is it often requires deep, unwavering focus for hours at a time. Every single interruption causes a break in flow state then takes time to get back into it again.

Every notification is like Zuckerberg himself knocking on your door or pulling on your shirt trying to sell you something…

At some point you have to ask yourself:
Are you the master of your life, or is Zuck?

Read more on curing social media addiction here.

60 Second Stare Rule - Andrew Huberman - Neuroscientist Stanford

Focus on 1 letter of 1 word for 60 seconds.

Do not break eye contact and breathe deeply while you do so.

Doing this will focus your clouded, chaotic and often impulsive mental state and allow you to dial yourself in effectively to a specific task.

This shows the link between physiology and psychology and how focused eye movement can help achieve stronger mental focus.

This is the concept of EMDR Therapy.

3-2-1 Rule.

When we were little, bandaids made everything better.

But have you ever ripped one of these devils pain strips off as a child?

Every 5 year old knows it seems like the scariest thing on the planet.

But luckily, every parent has a secret weapon... The 3-2-1 method.

Sometimes its telling a child off, sometimes its ripping a bandaid off.
But without a doubt, it’s the multitool of every parents arsenal.

When it comes to habits or tasks, its surprisingly just as effective.

Next time you don’t want to do something, I dare you to close your eyes, count 3-2-1, and rip that bandaid off.

You will thank yourself in the long run.

Set the start bar very low.

To overcome procrastination, set your goals lower than your actual capacity for the initial week or so.

For example, I aimed to meditate for 30 minutes daily but became more consistent when I reduced it to 5 minutes, often exceeding my expectations.

This approach helps you tackle the hardest part—starting—by shifting your mindset.

This mental shift breaks the start barrier, fostering a stronger lasting habit.

Once the habit is established over a long enough time period, gradually increase the demand.

With these simple tips, you can expect some big changes in your life.

For me, I noticed increased happiness, productivity and self love.
(Among many, many other things)

I do not generally like sharing preferences but if there is only one newsletter to read and change your life, it’s this one.

If you can master these, you can basically master 90% of your life.

Personal Progress 13th July - 20th July 🤯

Weekly discovery:

I learn’t how much stressing over things out of our control can hurt us.

I also learnt the power of being great at one thing vs good at many things.
To be outstanding, stand out. - Stand out by mastering your craft.

Favourite quotes of mine this week:

Current Reads:

Currently reading: “Meditations” - Marcus Aurelius

About half way through and has massively surpassed my expectations so far. Would recommend to anyone looking for solid life principles and some brilliant mental shifts.

So far its changed my life and I’m only half way through.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I can give you the tools, information, and resources to change, but at the end of the day, you are the only person who can change your life.

Reading this will do absolutely nothing unless you take ACTION.

Your dream life is around the corner. The only person stopping you is you.

My purpose in helping you is two fold:

1. Help you live with purpose to experience your ideal life.

2. Help you escape the system to unlock financial, location and time freedom.

I hope this edition helps you do just that.

To help another person master procrastination - Share, Like and Comment.

Until next week,
Leigh.