Procrastination, productivity, and perfectionism
The real life struggles of a master procrastinator and what I've learned so you can finally do your tasks before the deadline. Way before the deadline.
Hello, hello!
Welcome to another issue of MindfulMess, the newsletter where we talk about all things in life and how our messy minds work.
Today, we’re here to talk about the P words: procrastination, productivity, and perfectionism. How they are tied together and what to do to kick two of those to the curb and actually become productive. Once and for all.
TL;DR
Master of procrastination: my life-long struggle with the anti-productivity monster
How to finally master productivity: how to stop chasing cheap dopamine highs and actually finish the things we dread—from my experience and science
Memes!
Let’s now get right into it and talk about procrastination.
Master of Procrastination, Master of None: Realizing I had a problem
Let me begin this MindfulMess issue by showing you two of my early 2016 Instagram posts:
Now, as you can see, I knew I was a Master Procrastinator. And pretty skilled at it, if I may say so. I would do anything in my power to stop myself from finishing things before the deadline.
Homework needed to be done before Friday? Why not a Dexter marathon all Thursday night?
A paper needed to be submitted in four weeks? Why not sign up for a new extra curricular that would occupy all my time up to a day before the deadline?
A response to an email had to be sent before EOD? Plenty of time to do groceries, attend a yoga class, and go on a YouTube rabbit hole learning about some obscure serial killer cases.
I was constantly putting off doing what I HAD to do and I was constantly chasing what I WANTED to do.
However, I was lucky.
I did pretty good in university, and with certain tasks I would surprise myself and do them not one week before a deadline but weeks before. I was either an exemplary student or a master procrastinator, why?
Not a clue.
However, being a successful procrastinator lead me to think that I had no real problem. That I had it under control. Hey, if I’m passing my exams above the average, why does it matter that I do things last minute?
People were also encouraging my behavior. They saw me as a high-achiever and one that could handle many things and somehow still meet the deadlines. So, what’s that, Cris? You have a deadline for tomorrow? Oh, come on, just hang out with us, we’re going for a movie and drinks, I’m sure you’ll finish your work before the deadline as you always do…
Well, with time, I realized that the last-minute-achiever started to become a person-that-asked-for-extensions, that was getting sick often, or that would finish the task on time, but not well. After all, I couldn’t expect much from my brain when caffeine and cortisol were flooding it.
The problem took such a hold of my life, that I started to miss and postpone even the things I wanted to do. I started to underperform. And more importantly, I was constantly anxious, stressed, and feeling so much guilt it was ri.di.cu.lous.
So, I took the matter into my own hands and I started Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT, for short).
It truly was a life changer.
Not just with my procrastination, but with my anxiety, my constant low moods (at some point of my teenage years I was even diagnosed by a psychiatrist with dysthymia, but that’s a story for another time), and even my low self esteem.
However, the one thing that hit me when learning about procrastination with my therapist was that it wasn’t just about me being a lazy potato not wanting to do what I was told to do. It wasn’t about time management tricks. It wasn’t about buying a colorful agenda.
No.
The problem went a bit deeper.
Because, let’s be honest, procrastination is more about our self-confidence, our self-esteem, and how we deal with discomfort.
“Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there could be negative consequences for doing so. It is a common human experience involving delays in everyday chores or even putting off tasks such as attending an appointment, submitting a job report or academic assignment, or broaching a stressful issue with a partner. It is often perceived as a negative trait due to its hindering effect on one's productivity, associated with depression, low self-esteem, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy.”
—Wikipedia (yes, I know, but this isn’t for a B2B blog or a university paper, so just, shh).
It’s not that we don’t want to do a task, or that we’re actually so tired we can’t do it (after all, procrastinators will have the energy and mental space to do just about anything besides the task they need to do). It’s due to a subconscious issue.
So, I got deep into my therapy and realized that there were a lot of mental stories I kept about myself that stopped me from doing a task.
I was lying to myself by thinking that the little dopamine hit from watching YouTube or Instagram for a while (a few hours) before starting the task would relax me.
Truth is I wasn’t able to relax or rest because in the back of my head the pending task was always looming. And by the time I actually started the task, I would have more guilt, regret and shame leading to even more exhausting anxiety.
I was lying to myself by thinking that I was just waiting for the right time to start the task. That I just wanted to be prepared for it.
In reality, I could have started it right there, right now and I did have everything I needed to accomplish the task.
I was lying to myself thinking I wasn’t capable of doing well in the task.
I was more than capable, I just needed to take better care of my inner dialogue.
It was lie after lie after lie that kept me in that cycle.
I also had some self imposed perfectionism that was stopping me from making any progress.
I actually noticed that this not only applied to university tasks but also to my own life.
I was postponing my dreams because I was waiting for the perfect moment. Or I thought, since I won’t be the best ever chemist in the world, then what’s the point in even trying to study this s#it?
Honestly, my inner dialogue was down right cruel. The way I treated myself inside my head was something I never noticed was so bad until I started therapy.
Anyhow, all of this is to say that we have to look deeper at the reasons why we’re procrastinating. It’s not laziness. It’s usually some deeper subconscious programming that we have that’s stopping us from advancing in our studies, careers, and even life goals.
If you catch yourself constantly procrastinating, I would strongly encourage you to start looking into it, what is happening inside that messy head of yours. Because believe me, no task is worth your stress and anxiety like that.
Now, let’s move forward to now.
This isn’t a hero story, my procrastination is not completely gone. I won’t lie to you, it comes and goes in waves. But this year it’s been one of my best years.
So, what happened?
Long story short, I started the year hiking up a mountain. However, I failed to reach the summit. And that crushed me. I had also been experiencing damaging burnout from work. So, I had plenty to talk with myself.
I started to reconsider a lot of my habits, my mental habits, my physical habits, and looked back at how I had gotten out of a rut before. I went back through my journals and started to see certain patterns repeating itself, procrastination was one of them.
And, I promised myself this year would be the year of “doing the hard things.”
Taking the cold shower—even when it’s freezing outside.
Going to the gym—even if it’s rainy outside.
Making that call—even if I hate being on the phone.
Start this newsletter and keep at it—even when I don’t feel like it or imposter syndrome kicks in.
Saying that thing—even if it might bring some temporary discomfort.
Taking a rest day—even if my ego is screaming at me not to.
Finishing that project today—yes, even if the deadline is in a week.
Focusing on only one sport—even if I was using doing various sports as an excuse to be average at each one of them.
I’m trying to teach my brain that the temporary discomfort of doing one small thing—that would actually benefit me in the long run—is more important than the temporary relief of the discomfort of the moment—that would actually bring me more discomfort in the long run.
I’m trying to teach my brain that I don’t need to be in constant comfort, the good things in life are outside our comfort zone and all that.
Now, let’s see ways in which you can beat procrastination to the curb and finally become as productive as you want.
How to Finally Master Productivity
Now, there’s plenty of research and methods that might help you. However, if it’s really getting to be too much, you might want to go to therapy. We’re all crazy (how can we not in a world that’s so far away from our nature?), so no worries, it’s not a bad thing. Professional help might be exactly what you need to work on those underlying programmings that are making you procrastinate.
Having said that, here are some ways to help you become more productive, whether you’re a constant procrastinator or just a casual one:
The two minute rule
Know that task you want to put off with your soul? Just do it for 2-min.
Two minutes is really not much time. If you work on it and the bell rings saying the 2-min is up and you totally hated doing it, then fine. Leave it for later.
However, chances are you got the momentum going and those 2-min will turn into 30-min or even a few hours, or to you finishing the task on time.
Whoop-whoop!
Be kind to your future self
There’s been studies that show that we’re awful to our future selves. We lack empathy and we just toss all of our problems to them.
“That’s a problem for future me,” how many times have we said or thought that?
Many. Many times.
Be conscious that future you is, well, YOU! So, be kinder to yourself and do those tasks now and let future you enjoy the free time and peace of mind—they/you deserve it.
Forgive yourself for procrastinating
As the Colombian saying goes “don’t cry over spilled milk.” If you already procrastinated this week for a task, forgive yourself.
It’s done, you can’t un-do it. However, letting go of that guilt and shame will actually improve your chances of not procrastinating on your next task. Don’t believe me it works? Here’s a study that proves it. 😉
Reward yourself with better dopamine after the task
Instead of using lousy dopamine-increasing activities to procrastinate, teach your brain that AFTER achieving the task there will be some amazing dopamine-rich activity.
Plan a nice dinner with your friends for after you submit that paper.
Go to the gym with your partner to do your favorite spinning class AFTER you’ve done that call.
Go to the movies with your BFF once you’ve finished meal prepping for the week.
Have a reward for AFTER the task.
How many of us have actually finished a long uni paper on time just because we wanted to go to a sick halloween party and knew the next morning we would not be able to look at a screen? You know it works. Use it to your advantage.
Increase your discomfort tolerance
A lot of procrastinators have low discomfort tolerance. Doing hard things that we don’t want to is the only way that our brains will get used to doing them.
So, start your day with a cold shower, or have that multivitamin smoothie you don’t love but know you have to take. Do little urgh-I-don’t-want-to-do-this-activities throughout the day and slowly your brain will get better at just doing what you tell it to do without wondering if it’s fun, boring, or whatever.
Lower your dopamine peak
Dopamine doesn’t work like a tank. It doesn’t have a full limit. The minimum needed dopamine to feel happy is dependent of your previous hit of dopamine.
Let me explain.
If you wake up and at 6am and go skydiving. The rest of the day your dopamine will be pretty depleted and you’ll need something more exciting than that to feel the dopamine rush again.
The threshold is set to a new limit everyday.
That’s why after our favorite concert, finally running a marathon, or kissing our crush for the first time it feels like the rest of the day is hard to get that dopamine rush again. Even with things that the day before made us pretty happy.
How can you apply this to your day assuming your not skydiving at 6am? Well, social media.
I know, I know, but you’ve got to.
Don’t wake up and look at your phone. Let your brain get used to normal levels of dopamine first. Going through Instagram or TikTok reels early in the morning is a dangerous sport. Social media, especially those evil 30 and 60 second videos are like heroin to our brains. The dopamine hit is way too big.
However, it has a super short on-set and a super short off-set. Which means, that incline it’s even worse for your brain. From then on it will look at finding something that can spike it’s dopamine at a similar not just level but rate.
So, do yourself a favor and enjoy some nice walk, slow breakfast, or chill read in the morning. Your brain will thank you for it, and so will your productivity.
Learn to prioritize
Here’s a little help:
Memes!
Staying on-topic with this week’s memes:
That’s it for today!
As always, thank you for reading!
My inbox is always open to hear what you liked or didn’t, and what else you would like to see me rambling about. 😅
With MindfulMessy love,
Cris. 💌