5 procrastination traps - beat them

"The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you." - Tom Bradley.

Our brains have habits that stop us from achieving our goals. Knowing what prevents us from pursuing our dreams now gives us a chance to change it.

We see our future selves as strangers.

A study by Princeton psychologist Emily Pronin found that in the future, we are almost as hard on ourselves as we are on strangers. ¹

Kelly McGonigal wrote in "Willpower Instinct" that brain scans show when we think of our future selves, our brain barely reacts, like we're thinking of a stranger. We set difficult goals for this future "me." It feels like this future version of ourselves can do anything, but that's not happening anytime soon. We think, "It's not me now, so why should I care?"

We plan for a year or even five years ahead. But our brain doesn't connect well with our future selves.

Imagine your goal is to get 1 million YouTube subscribers by the end of the year. If that's all you wrote down, how will your brain know what to do next?

Just break your big goal into smaller goals and then into specific tasks. Small goals are easier to handle. So it's better to set goals for the next 90 days. This feels more immediate, like something we need to act on now, not just a distant dream. If long-term goals are still important, you can set them too. But break them down into smaller goals every three months. This way, we focus on what we can achieve in the next 90 days, not just the far future.

Our brain sees a goal as something complex and often too hard.

This makes us frustrated because our brain is scared and doesn't know how to reach the goal. If there's a big, important task you've been avoiding for hours by looking at your phone or getting sidetracked, try breaking it down. Use your planner to list very simple steps.

Our brain just loves checking things off the list. It gets the reward hormone dopamine. Easy tasks like turning on the computer feel worthwhile because they are quick and rewarding. Once you start, it's hard to stop. You've begun, you're making progress, and your brain wants to keep going and checking more things off.

Planning fallacy

This term was proposed by Daniel Kahnerman² and Amos Tversky³.

We set goals when we feel motivated. Imagine waking up to a sunny day, feeling awesome, and writing down a great idea in your diary. We then think it will always be like this. But we don't consider that we might get sick or be in a bad mood where we don't feel like doing anything.

To beat this habit of expecting everything to go perfectly, cut your goal list in half. Just drop the goals you probably won't reach. This also helps clear your mind. If you have four goals, keep only two. Or you can keep all your goals but aim for half of what you originally planned.

“What-the-hell effect”

The "what-the-hell effect" is a term coined by researchers Janet Polivy⁴ and C. Peter Herman⁵. It describes the vicious cycle of indulgence, which leads to guilt, which in turn leads to more indulgence.

Ever been on a diet and eaten something you shouldn't have? Then you thought, "I've already messed up my diet today, might as well eat more. I'll start the diet again tomorrow." If this sounds like you, you've gone through the "what-the-hell effect."

You’re not a superhero…and that’s ok

When you make a bad choice, it doesn’t mean that you’re an inherently bad or weak person. It just means that you’re human.

Forgiving yourself and promising to do better next time works better for making changes. Many studies have proven this by showing how different ways of talking to yourself can affect your motivation to change behavior.

You might see this in yourself when you put off a task. Instead of thinking, "I've wasted 5 hours, but if I work for the next 3 hours, I can still get it done and be okay."

Lack of mindfulness

We often set goals but forget to check if we're meeting them. When we don't finish tasks, we feel guilty and don't look into why.

Planning, managing, and reviewing our actions are key skills.⁶
Studies show that thinking before acting helps us achieve our goals.⁷

If you have a monthly task list, check it every week. When planning your week, decide which tasks you can finish within the week. Always include time for rest in your plans. If you're delaying a task, figure out why and how to overcome it. After three months, look at what you've achieved and what you haven't. Note what helped you with completed tasks and what held you back from the others. Use this information to plan better for the next three months, organizing your goals by month.

Click below to explore the awesome newsletters 👇

Each mindful small step today will become a giant leap for your well-being tomorrow.

Warm regards,
Kos