Identify procrastination-inducing thoughts

Do you find yourself wanting to procrastinate and feel an excuse for putting things off coming to mind? If so, count down slowly in your head: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Your rational mind needs about 5 seconds to kick in. By counting consciously, you give your brain time to reconsider the situation.

After those 5 seconds, ask yourself: Is putting it off really a good idea right now? Often, the urge to seek a distraction will have already subsided by then.

You don’t have to believe or act on every thought. By observing thoughts without getting caught up in them, they lose their hold on your behaviour and your feelings.

Do you notice an unhelpful thought?

- Observe and name it. See what thought is coming up and name it. “Ah, there’s that ‘this-is-so-difficult-I’ll-never-get-it-done’ thought again.”
- Accept it. Don’t judge it; just let the thought be.
- Let it go. Let the thought drift away and carry on with what you were doing, e.g. reading the scientific article.

- Here’s how to let go of your thoughts (infographic)
- Accepting and letting go of thoughts (video, 3’)
- Using the strategy of emotion surfing (document)

Try to turn procrastination excuses into more helpful thoughts. There are two ways to do this:

• rephrase 

You can turn some unhelpful thoughts into more helpful ones by rephrasing them. You can do this as follows:

• Add the word ‘yet’
  ‘I don’t have an overview of everything I need to do.’ → ‘I don’t have an overview of everything I need to do YET.’
• Replace ‘but’ with ‘and’
  ‘I do want to get started, but I’ve got absolutely no motivation.’ → ‘I do want to get started AND I’ve got absolutely no motivation.’
  → it’s OK to feel reluctant, whilst still getting started.
• Replace ‘have to’ with ‘want to’
  ‘I have to study’ → ‘I WANT to study for an hour now’ or ‘I’m choosing to study for an hour now’
• Add ‘I think’
  ‘I’ll never manage this; it’s too much work.’ → ‘I THINK I’ll never manage this.’
  → This phrasing creates some breathing space; it leaves open the possibility that your thoughts aren’t necessarily the truth.

• replace them with helpful thoughts

Do you find yourself making excuses for procrastination? If so, replace them with a realistic, helpful thought.

Question your excuse for procrastinating:

• Is this thought true?
  E.g. Will I really suddenly be more motivated tomorrow than I am now?
• Is the thought really true; does it match the facts?
  E.g. Have I actually performed better in the past by waiting for motivation, or did that procrastination actually cause extra stress?
• Always?
  E.g. Have I only ever been able to study when I was 100 per cent up for it, or have I sometimes started with little motivation, only for things to go quite well as I went along?
• Under all circumstances?
  E.g. Does ‘no motivation’ mean that nothing can happen under any circumstances whatsoever?
• What evidence do I have for that?
  E.g. What hard evidence do I have that I can only start once I’m motivated?

A few more questions to challenge unhelpful thoughts (infographic)

Formulate more helpful thoughts that are in line with reality.
Examples of helpful thoughts include:

• It’s a tricky chapter, but if I read the first three pages now, at least I’ll have made a start.
• This uncomfortable feeling is temporary; the sense of satisfaction afterwards is greater.
• I don’t need to feel like doing this to be able to do it.
• I don’t have to get it perfect straight away. A messy first draft is better than a blank page.

Critical questions to help you debunk your excuses for procrastination (document)
29 daily affirmations to stop procrastination (website)