Deadlines looming, tasks piling up, and that sneaky little voice inside our heads telling us, “Maybe tomorrow?” It’s called procrastination, and guess what? It’s totally normal! Before you label yourself as lazy or unmotivated, let’s dive into what’s really going on behind the scenes.

First off, procrastination isn’t a synonym for laziness. In fact, it’s your brain’s way of dealing with tasks it finds uncomfortable or challenging. Yep, that’s right – your brain is trying to protect you from the perceived stress or discomfort associated with certain activities.

Modern psychology helps us understand that procrastination is often linked to our brain’s struggle with instant gratification. Our minds prefer short-term rewards, like scrolling through social media or watching funny cat videos, over the delayed satisfaction of completing a more challenging task.

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Tiny Leaps, Big Changes focuses on habits you can develop in your everyday life to lead to a bigger change. This personal development podcast focuses on exploring the day-to-day behaviours we all engage in that determine the results we gain. It covers topics such as learning new skills, consistent improvement, eating healthier, managing anxiety, overcoming perfectionism, beating procrastination, etc. Hosted by Gregg Clunis, the show shares simple strategies you can implement to start moving towards your goals.

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The procrastinator speaks:
“I need to be in the right frame,
Just can’t turn on my mind like a tap;
I guess, last-minute panic drives me.”

“Oh, yeah? What kind of frame is that?”

The procrastinator’s fallacy

We like to delay things we don’t like to do. And we all know we should do them. Procrastination is more of an emotional problem than we confess. Procrastinators claim they’re overburdened, strained and tired (though they have frequently done nothing). Naïve escapists, they deliberately seek distractions, switch between tasks, claim they’re overworked and allow the imagined burden to hammer them down.

They also claim to be perfectionists, arguing that they need more time to do things right. In effect they end up putting things off beyond deadline. A variety of them even think they work better under pressure. Hence, the last-minute storm with studies, projects and important decisions. Truly, procrastination involves an abundant degree of self-deceit — wherein we fool ourselves to justify this escape from responsibility.

The rare high in moments of productivity

Time myopia
We all agree we should study today for the exam at the end of the semester. And exercise, skip junk food and sleep enough, to be healthy as we age. But all of these choices are competing with those of going to the movies, feasting on a burger or relaxing till late in bed. And the latter options clearly appear more attractive, enjoyable and comforting. But the short-sightedness distorts our vision.

When we procrastinate, we actually become myopic and see these future needs as distant, elusive and uncritical. The immediate consequences of postponing tasks thus seem trivial. And we delay them to focus on an easy today neglecting the important but far-off tomorrow. The same tomorrow, however, soon arrives, and the urgency is clearly unravelled. And the panic button signals us to action. If only we could alter our vision and see beyond the immediate gains of adjourning important tasks! We would then not delay what can be accomplished right now.

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→ No!
→ Not now!
→ It’s too early!
→ I’m not just ready!
→ I haven’t completed it yet!
→ I’m not geared to start as of now!
→ I haven’t made up my mind about this!
→ I’m still thinking and I guess I will decide soon!

When is the right time?

Learning to prioritize, i.e., filtering essential tasks from the trivial ones isn’t easy. It is human nature to second guess, procrastinate, postpone, reschedule and yet again, adjourn. It just seems like it’s never the right time, doesn’t it? Never right enough to follow a healthy diet or exercise, or sort the desk, complete your homework, or spend time with family? And then where is the time to speak the truth, to own up, to apologize and mend broken friendships and relationships? But if not for all this, what do we have the time for right now? There are big things in life and then there are little things. And we need to accomplish everything in this one lifetime. Prioritizing is hence very important.

Sort yourself

Usually the muddle is not in the room or desk or school bag. It’s in the mind. What you see around you is a reflection of what goes on within you. It is very likely that you know what you must do and when you have to do it. You don’t need anyone else to make timetables for you. It is important to go to the craft store to pick collectibles and make a birthday card for a close friend because it’s his birthday tomorrow. This may not be as important two weeks from now. But homework, class assignments, studies, exercise and family are always important. These are the big things that you ideally should always budget for. The little things can always be squeezed in once the big ones are sorted.

The clock won’t stop ticking

You can, of course, remove the battery of the clock and stop its ticking, but time still won’t wait for you. We don’t have to work like robots with every minute of our day timed and dedicated to a specific task; however, the clock does exist to remind us that time is always passing and there are things to be done. And in our life, we are the only ones who can do them. Everyone has their own preferences on how they use or misuse their time.

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Most of us have known the horrors of procrastination. We think we will get to a task and keep postponing it till the deadline is upon us and there is just not enough time to complete the task at hand. Somehow the activities I need to do seem like work and my brain attaches all kinds of negative feelings around it making the activity even less pleasurable. My mind which is always in a buzz therefore seeks distractions which will give me a greater sense of pleasure and maybe happiness. But in reality I end up feeling guilty, bad about myself and unaccomplished as I have not fulfilled the task at hand. So here are some tricks that I have learned which make me manage procrastination rather than battle it.

Time as your friend

When I have a hard task to accomplish I attempt the Pomodoro Technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo, where we take a timer and only attempt the task for 25 minutes and then take a scheduled break. Since 25 minutes is a short period of time it makes it easy to start the task. Plus the scheduled break or a scheduled quitting time can make focusing a lot easier as there is a 5 minute break just round the corner.

Reward cycle

To manage procrastination well it is important that we replace the negative feelings towards work with anticipation and pleasure. Thus, till you reach the stage where you yearn for the sheer joy of learning (yes that can happen too…) it is really useful to intersperse your focused time of study with simple rewards.

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