Here’s Why You Procrastinate

The good news: It’s entirely within your control.

Why do we procrastinate?

Why do we put off stuff that we know will produce all kinds of amazing benefits? Stuff we actually want to do, even?

As I’ve said before, it’s because we fear discomfort.

It all comes down to one simple, ugly fact of human life: We put off the crap that doesn’t feel as good as other crap.

I don’t mean “feel good” in some vague future sense. I mean “right here, right now” feel-good. I mean, we are creatures who crave immediate gratification, no matter how slight, and will do anything to avoid the least bit of discomfort.

Actually, I mean we’ll go to great lengths and tie ourselves in knots to pick whatever option feels better in that moment. (A slight distinction that carries a great deal of difference.)

When faced with action A, guaranteed to produce immediate comfort or pleasure rating a 2 on a 1 to 10 scale, or action B, guaranteed to produce pleasure rating 8 in six to seven months, it’s no contest.

We’ll take action A. Every. Damn. Time.

Here’s the kicker: That’s true even if action B doesn’t actually feel uncomfortable right now.

Action A will produce a little more comfort in the immediate moment, so A wins.

It’s probably due to brain structure — yep, neuroscience can even explain your tendency to procrastinate! — with the limbic system acting like a little devil on your shoulder (“Heeeeey, go ahead, skip the gym, eat the donut! You know you want to…”) and the neocortex struggling mightily to get you to Be Good Because It’s the Right Thing to Do.

The problem? That limbic system has been around for a lot longer, and is a lot louder and stronger. It can toss the neocortex into a footlocker, shut it, lock it, wrap it in chains, haul it to the docks, and toss it into the ocean before you even know there’s a debate going on.

What’s a Couch Warrior to do, then? How do we conquer our primitive immediate-gratification-seeking brains, or at least quiet them down long enough to get our creative shit done?

Here’s a little insider secret for you: Most productivity advice really boils down to tactics designed to trick yourself in varying ways and to varying degrees.

And you know what? That’s OK. You’re probably already aware that you are your own worst enemy — just like I am mine and Stephen King is his and Ira Glass is his and Kathryn Bigelow is hers and J. K. Rowling is hers and and and …

We need to figure out how to get out of our own damn way(s).

So let’s look at some ways to trick ourselves out of procrastination, then.

1. Get clear on your reasons why.

Why are you doing this thing? What’s really at stake here for you?

Getting clear on this is your first task because literally everything else flows from it.

We each of us do things — or choose not to do things — for one of two kinds of reasons: either (A) we’re seeking a comfortable, pleasurable event or feeling, or (B) we’re trying to avoid an uncomfortable, unpleasant event or feeling. Usually, there are elements of both types of motivation behind any serious procrastination problem.

Here’s what I mean. Let’s pick something I have personal experience with: quitting smoking.

If you want to stop smoking, you’ve got a number of reasons why this has become a thing you want to do, most likely. Under category A — the pleasurable, comfortable things you’re seeking — you could list things such as …

• Smell better
• Have more money
• Breathe more easily
• Be more socially and professionally accepted in group settings

Under category B, you could list items like:

• Getting lung cancer, COPD, or Buerger’s Disease (NB: do not go Googling images related to that last one, trust me on this)
• Feeling like you’re held hostage to an addiction, especially when you can’t smoke (long plane trips, for example)
• Being treated like a social pariah

These, then, are your reasons-why for quitting smoking. When I did this, I had a list of over 20 reasons in each category. I did go Google-image searching for all the horrible diseases related to tobacco. I wanted those images seared into my brain.

I also wanted to keep those category-A reasons why front-of-mind, too. I loved collecting these really beautiful, quite pricey silk scarves at the time, and I never felt comfortable wearing them as a smoker, since silk grabs hold of those odors and also dear God what if I dropped a live ash on one holy crap no. So when I quit, I tied one of those scarves on every single day.

Right there, around my neck, was a fraught-with-importance emblem of my Reasons Why.

Figure out your reasons why. Write them down. Write down as many as you can.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, make them as emotionally resonant as you can. You want these reasons to speak to you on a deep, cellular level.

2. Figure out what you’re getting out of procrastination.

Where’s the comfort in not-doing for you?

For instance, writing is tortuous work sometimes. By not-writing, I’m avoiding that brain-busting, frustration-triggering mindslog — even though I’m also avoiding the ultimate pleasure of completing and publishing that work, and all the potential benefits that process might yield.

Not-exercising means I don’t improve my fitness and health, but it also means I don’t have to wrestle into uncomfortable clothes, I don’t have to physically exert myself(which feels uncomfortable initially, at least), I don’t have to sweat, I don’t have to subject myself to the real or imagined negative judgments of others at a gym or wherever, etc.

You’re getting something out of not-doing the thing. You have to figure out what that is to have any hope of convincing yourself it’s not as cool as what you’ll get from doing that thing.

3. Get clear on your pain vs. pleasure calculus.

Write out the ways in which the comfort you can gain from doing the thing will utterly kick the puny ass of the measly pleasure you get from not-doing the thing. Why is doing-the-thing better than not-doing-the-thing?

And yes, I do mean physically write it out, preferably by hand, in a blank book or a journal. The process of writing by hand connects us to our emotions and thought patterns in a more visceral, immediate way than typing or dictating.

(Obviously, if that’s not an option for you, then do what works best for you. But if you do have an option here, go for the handwriting, even if you think your handwriting sucks.)

4. Change your stakes.

You can raise them by either making the thing-doing more pleasant, or making the not-doing more unpleasant. Or a little bit of both for a maximum wallop.

Or you can lower the stakes. If you’re not the sort who can successfully browbeat yourself into doing what’s best for yourself — you little rebel, I like you! — then look for ways to ease yourself into the project/thing.

Can you carve things up into even smaller, less-fraught nuggets of doing? Maybe instead of “call three potential interview subjects” you can try tackling “research and write down the numbers for three potential interview subjects”?

It might sound like a silly mind-game, or an avoidance tactic — and yes, at some point, you will have to actually make the damn calls — but remember, right now we’re trying to uncover the most effective and least costly way to trick yourself into throwing up less resistance to the thing in question.

If all it costs is diving into a more granular, nitty-gritty level, then what have you got to lose? (Very little, except your procrastinating tendencies.)

5. Enlist some outside help.

Sometimes all it takes is a public pronouncement.

Example: last week, I announced my intention to launch the Pajama Productivity podcast in June. I’ve been struggling with this project for months — I’d originally planned for the first episode to drop this past January! — so I knew I needed a little extra incentive to get back on track.

If that’s a little scary or inappropriate, go digital. Apps such as stickK and Beeminder can help you stay on track and keep yourself moving forward.

If you’re more motivated by the fear of pain or discomfort than the promise of pleasure or success, you’ll need a threat hanging over your head. One popular method: Put some significant amount of money aside — it doesn’t have to be thousands of dollars. It just has to be sizable to you and your budget. Give control of it to a friend you trust, along with clear, written instructions.

You’ll be reporting in to this friend every week. If you can’t show you’ve made acceptable progress towards accomplishing your goal or finishing your project, your friend will donate that money in your name to a cause you despise.

The tl;dr

You procrastinate because it feels better right now to do so. If you want a different result, you’ll have to change that fact.