How to Beat Procrastination. Part of the sequence: The Science of Winning at Life My own behavior baffles me. I find myself doing what I hate, and not doing what I really want to do! - Saint Paul (Romans 7:15) Once you're trained in BayesCraft, it may be tempting to tackle classic problems "from scratch" with your new Rationality Powers. Today, I want to tackle procrastination by summarizing what we know about it, and how to overcome it. Let me begin with three character vignettes... Eddie attended the sales seminar, read all the books, and repeated the self-affirmations in the mirror this morning. Three blocks away, Valerie stares at a blank document in Microsoft Word. In the next apartment down, Tom is ahead of the game. Eddie, Valerie, and Tom are all procrastinators, but in different ways.1 Eddie's problem is low expectancy.
Valerie's problem is that her task has low value for her. But the strongest predictor of procrastination is Tom's problem: impulsiveness. The Procrastination Equation But there's more. Flow Energy. Motivation and the Power of Not Giving Up. Listen Have you ever set a goal for yourself, like getting fit, making honor roll, or being picked for a team? Like lots of people, maybe you started out doing great, but then lost some of that drive and had trouble getting motivated again. You're Not Alone! Everyone struggles with staying motivated and reaching their goals. Just look at how many people go on diets, lose weight, and then gain it back again!
The reality is that refocusing, changing, or making a new start on something, no matter how small, is a big deal. But it's not impossible. Getting Motivated So how do you stay motivated and on track with your goal? First, know your goal. Make it specific. Getting Motivated (continued) Make it realistic. Let's say you want to run a marathon. Part of staying motivated is being realistic about what you can achieve within the timeframe you've planned. Write it down. Break it down.
Reaching frequent, smaller goals is something to celebrate. Staying Motivated Check in with your goal. How To Be Motivated: 4 New Insights From Research. Sometimes there is not enough coffee in universe to get you going. How to be motivated is something we all struggle with at some time or another. Or, um, daily. Motivation is such a mystery. It’s a feeling and we understand it so poorly it feels impossible to do anything about it. Is there anyone who can unravel the science of how motivation works and tell us what to do? Dan Pink wrote the book on motivation. He’s the New York Times bestselling author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
His books have sold more than 2 million copies. Here’s what I love about Dan: He’s not the type to write a book and just move on. Here’s what you’ll get from this post: Why you don’t feel motivated.What the research says really produces motivation.The single most motivating thing there is and how to have it in your life.The biggest mistake you’re making when it comes to motivation. Let’s get to it… 1) This Is Why You Don’t Feel Motivated Rewards like money are tricky.
Here’s Dan: Autonomy. 7 Ways You Can Easily Increase Your Willpower. In general, people have an overly positive vision of themselves and their abilities. But what’s the one thing surveys show most everyone will admit they have a problem with? Self-control. And who is most likely to give in to temptation?
Ironically, it’s the people who think they have the most willpower. Via The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It: Research shows that people who think they have the most willpower are actually the most likely to lose control when tempted. So how can we really increase willpower? I’ve posted a lot about the subject — from research to interviewing the foremost expert on the subject.
Here are 7 ways you can increase your own willpower and live a better life: 1) “Keystone” Habits Are A Magic Bullet Everyone wants a magic bullet. The primary one is exercise. It also makes you eat better. Exercise leads people to create other, often unrelated, good habits: Going to the gym is too much for you? At night. How To Motivate Yourself: 3 Steps Backed By Science. You make goals… but then you procrastinate. You write a to-do list… but then you don’t follow through. And this happens again and again and again. Seriously, what’s the problem? Why are we so good at thinking of what to do but so terrible at actually doing those things? The problem is you’re skipping an essential step. Here’s what it is… The Mistake Every Productivity System Makes Productivity systems rarely take emotions into account.
We can’t ignore our emotions. And we can’t fight our feelings. Via The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking: …when experimental subjects are told of an unhappy event, but then instructed to try not to feel sad about it, they end up feeling worse than people who are informed of the event, but given no instructions about how to feel. So what does the unavoidable power of feelings mean for motivation? In their book Switch, Chip and Dan Heath say that emotions are an essential part of executing any plan: Focus on emotions. 1) Get Positive.