Ask Out of the Rain: How do I stop procrastinating?!

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Dear Out of the Rain,

How do I stop waffling between procrastinating and doing too much? I procrastinate stuff until it builds up, then I feel like I've got to get it done all at once in one big rush. I get pretty overwhelmed and get stuck feeling like I HAVE to figure it all out so I don't disappoint.

-Merging In and Out of the Fast Lane

Dear Merging,

Thank you for taking the time to write in.

What you’re describing is a vicious cycle that many of us get stuck in from time to time. We have so much in front of us that we become anxious and procrastinate. This leads to more and more stacking up on our plates, which makes it even more overwhelming, which makes us even more prone to procrastination, which makes the pile of to-dos even more overwhelming, and so on.

Luckily in many cases we can get back in control with a few simple steps.

Notice when you’re procrastinating and label it!

The first step to overcoming any challenge is to identify exactly what the road block is. Sometimes we get into unconscious habits of procrastination and have a hard time recognizing when we’re doing it.

Luckily, you’ve taken an important first step in identifying that procrastination is a problem for you. Now, when you feel yourself thinking about all the things that you have to do and realize that you turned on the TV or tapped on TikTok instead, take a second to say to yourself: “This is procrastination. This isn’t working for me.”

Recognizing these feelings and bad habits in-the-moment is a lot harder than you might think. At first, you may be a few episodes into your favorite Netflix show before you fully realize that you’re procrastinating. But the more you recognize and actively label the problem, the easier (and faster) it will be in the future.

So once you’ve labelled that you are procrastinating, pat yourself on the back for recognizing it. Then:

Just Do It! (please don’t sue me Nike)

Simple: Instead of not doing it, do it!

Now I know what you’re thinking: “Kylyn if it was that easy, I wouldn’t have sent in the question!”

You’re absolutely right! But the vast majority of the time the reason it’s not easy isn’t because the task ahead of you is too hard; it’s difficult because of the baggage you’ve built up around it.

The main way you’re going to shed some of that baggage is to work on breaking that cycle. So once you’ve identified you are procrastinating, you need to take action!

But don’t do too much

A lot of the anxiety around doing is because the path forward seems stacked higher than we can handle. A lot of us get into the habit of procrastinating until the pile seems stacked high enough to tip over in a landslide and bury us. At that tipping point, we go on a “doing” blitz to make up for as much lost time as we can and compensate for the procrastination we’ve been doing.

But… aren’t things getting done? So then what’s the problem?

This mad dash is exhausting. It can be both emotionally and physically draining. Often after that tornado of “doing” we’re left feeling worse than before and still looking at a mountain of work ahead of us.

So what do we do?

Break it up into smaller, more manageable chunks. Different methods work better for different people, but the primary tool will be prioritizing what’s most important to get done first. Some people like to tackle whatever the biggest task on the pile is and get it out of the way so it’s no longer looming. Others prefer to knock off as many little things as they can in one go and feel satisfaction in seeing the list start to shrink. Typically it’s prudent to tackle the most time sensitive issues first. The important thing is that we don’t try to do too much at once.

How do I know what’s “too much”?

A half hour to an hour of “doing” at a time is a good starting point for most people. It will feel at first like you’re not doing enough. You’ll find yourself thinking “if I only worked another half hour I could have finished a few more things” or “man I really should have started earlier so I could work longer.”

What you’ll find, however, is that over time you’ll be getting a lot more done. A half hour a day consistently is better than an 8 hour binge every other week. You’ll get to see that little progress every day start to gain momentum, and won’t feel like you’ll end up stuck doing one miserable task after another for hours at a time. This will leave you feeling better as well as being more productive with that time.

Set a schedule and make a list!

If you’re a regular reader of Baggage Check, you’ll probably be tired of seeing this suggestion, but it really is one of the best things you can do for managing your habits and tackling challenges.

Set aside time in advance as “to-do list time” and mark it on a calendar, whether that’s physical or digital. I suggest averaging it out to a half hour a day, and no more than an hour at a time. The act of adding it to your calendar and fitting it into your schedule sets the intention that you will use that time as you’ve planned, and gives you a visual reminder as you go throughout the week to help with accountability.

While you’re at it, make sure to schedule in regular “me time” on your schedule as well (and take a minute to read our previous question How can I get more time? for more tips on the importance of “me time” and how to find more throughout the week).

Then make to-do lists of everything you have coming up. Keep two lists: One for tasks in the next week or two (or that may have already passed) and another for tasks that are more long-term. Try to order them based on priority as we talked about above (a digital to-do list makes it easy to drag-and-drop to reorganize your list).

Then when you hit your “to-do list” time on your schedule, set a timer for a half hour, pull out your to-do list, and start checking things off! Once your timer goes off, wrap up whatever task you’re doing at that moment and save the rest for next time.

Hopefully that can help get you started on a healthier path with your procrastination. Make sure to celebrate the little improvements as you go along (maybe this time you kept the blitz to 2 hours instead of 4, or worked on things three days this week instead of just one etc.).

Feel free to write back to update us on how things are going or if you have any follow-up questions.

If you would like to learn more about how Out of the Rain can help you navigate the challenges in your life, you can reach out at outoftherain.life/contact.

If you have a question you’d like to see answered in Baggage Check (or feedback/follow-up on today’s topic), you can submit it at outoftherain.life/ask.

-Kylyn