overcome procrastination by flipping procrastination triggers on their heads

An unattractive task can have one or all of the following attributes:

• Boring
• Frustrating
• Difficult
• Unstructured or ambiguous
• Lacking in personal meaning
• Lacking in intrinsic rewards (not fun or rewarding)

The more unappealing a task is i.e. the more of these attributes it has, the more likely you are to procrastinate.

To overcome procrastination when working on something, consider which of these attributes the task has and think about how you could reverse them.

If a task is:

• Boring - go someplace else to do your work like outside or to a nearby Cafe.
• Frustrating - try the Pomodoro Technique to block your work sessions.
• Difficult - research what you have to do before you actually do it.
• Unstructured or ambiguous - Create a detailed plan and carefully outline each of the steps involved.
  • By knowing the next actionable step, you’ve made the task easy to pick up and work on.
  • If a task or project is unstructured or ambiguous we are more likely to procrastinate on it
• Lacking in personal meaning - determine the why behind your work.
  • The key to getting tasks done is to find the motivation behind why you’re doing the task
• Lacking in rewards - treat yourself with something special when you accomplish the task.

Another good example is How to overcome Parkinson’s Law.

Source: {b} The Productivity Project

Related Topics: Productivity