A Diary of Procrastination

Or: Can keeping a diary help to beat procrastination habits?

I was asked this question on Quora: Can having a diary help to beat procrastination habits. Below is a slightly modified version of my response:

In short, my answer is: Maybe.

When we ask the question “how do I beat procrastination?” what we are really asking is “how do I do my work?”. We aren’t truly frustrated that we are procrastinating. We are frustrated that we aren’t doing the things we really want to do and are instead just doing things that have no real value and don’t improve our lives in any way.

“For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate… For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.” — from Romans 7

Setting aside the good vs evil thing for a moment (is watching TV shows evil?), I think this pretty accurately describes the battle of the procrastinator. I have lots of things I want to do and so much I want to achieve, but, in the moment, I do not choose to do those things. Instead I choose to do something I will regret, something that will not contribute to the life I want.

There will always be a thousand reasons to put off or not do the thing we know we should be doing, the thing we actually want to do.

In his book The War of Art, Steven Pressfield refers to this as “resistance.” Whether the reason is spiritual or physical or alien in nature, there seems to be some kind of “force” that we are facing off against when we go about our daily work. This resistance comes in many forms. Beat it off in one direction and it will rear its head from somewhere else. Pressfield has a pretty simple solution for this: set a schedule and do the work.

If you want to decrease procrastination, then you must increase discipline.

So, back to the original question: Will a diary help you to beat procrastination?

Yes, if you are disciplined about writing in it. Discipline is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it will become. Right now, it is very weak. This is why many people will choose to start with something very small - like one pushup - when they are trying to change habits.

Will keeping a diary fix your procrastination problem? No. It will not. But, if you become disciplined in spending even 5 minutes writing every single day at the exact same time, that will start changes in other areas as well. What you will find with the diary is exactly what you have found with all of your other endeavors. I know this because I have done it. It will not be any different. Eventually, you won’t feel like doing it. You will start to put it off and soon it will just be another notebook on your shelf, another half-completed project, another witness to your lack of discipline.

There are no short cuts in life.

There is no quick fix. It has taken years of practice to become as good at procrastinating as you are today. It will take years of effort and practiced discipline to change your habits.

So, write in your diary. Or do one pushup. Or play your guitar. But do it everyday, at the same time, no matter what. Only this will break your habit of procrastination.