5 Ways to (Actually) Fight Procrastination
Summary
TLDRIn this Park Notes video, host Parker Scott explores five strategies from Cal Newport's book to combat procrastination. Key tips include keeping a work progress log for self-awareness, maintaining proper nutrition to sustain energy, making a big deal out of the most daunting tasks for accountability, establishing a routine to protect time for tasks, and planning intense workdays to tackle challenging projects. The video offers practical advice to enhance productivity and intellectual goals.
Takeaways
- 📝 Keep a work progress log to track daily tasks and identify procrastination patterns.
- 💧 Stay hydrated by drinking water constantly to maintain mental energy.
- ☕ Monitor caffeine intake to avoid crashes and maintain productivity.
- 🍽 Treat food as fuel for energy, avoiding heavy meals that can lead to sluggishness.
- 🚫 Don't skip meals, as they are essential for providing the body with energy for the mind to work well.
- 📅 Make an event out of the worst tasks to create accountability and motivation.
- 🗓️ Build a routine by setting aside specific times for cognitively demanding tasks to reduce the likelihood of procrastination.
- 🌞 Schedule difficult tasks for the morning when mental clarity is typically at its peak.
- 📈 Plan for hard days in advance to manage workload and avoid last-minute stress.
- 🤔 Consider intermittent fasting as a personal strategy for maintaining mental clarity, though it may not be suitable for everyone.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is fighting procrastination, specifically discussing five ways to combat it as outlined in Cal Newport's book 'How to Become a Straight A Student'.
What is the first tip for fighting procrastination mentioned in the video?
-The first tip for fighting procrastination is to keep a work progress log, which helps in tracking tasks and increasing self-awareness about one's productivity.
How does keeping a work progress log help in fighting procrastination?
-A work progress log helps by showing how much time is wasted on procrastination and whether tasks are being completed. It provides a clear view of daily productivity and can motivate better time management.
What is the second tip for fighting procrastination discussed by Parker?
-The second tip is to feed the machine, meaning to maintain high energy levels to avoid procrastination, which includes drinking water constantly, monitoring caffeine intake, treating food as a source of energy, and not skipping meals.
What is Parker's opinion on Cal Newport's nutritional advice?
-Parker suggests taking the nutritional advice with a grain of salt, especially considering the book's age and the fact that nutritional advice can vary widely. However, he agrees that taking care of one's body is important for mental productivity.
What is the third tip for fighting procrastination?
-The third tip is to make an event out of the worst tasks. This involves telling people about a difficult task, planning to work on it somewhere out of the way, and committing to a specific time to work on it to create a sense of accountability.
Why is it suggested to tell people about a difficult task?
-Telling people about a difficult task creates accountability, which can motivate one to complete the task and avoid embarrassment or the need to explain why it wasn't done.
What is the fourth tip for fighting procrastination?
-The fourth tip is to build a routine by setting aside and protecting certain hours of the day for cognitively demanding tasks, ideally in the morning when one is most alert.
Why is it recommended to do cognitively demanding tasks in the morning?
-It is recommended to do cognitively demanding tasks in the morning because many people are naturally more alert and focused during this time, and there are fewer distractions compared to the afternoons and evenings.
What is the fifth and final tip for fighting procrastination?
-The fifth tip is to choose your hard days, which means planning for days when you will focus on completing difficult tasks or projects, but spacing them out so they don't occur back-to-back.
How can planning hard days in advance help with procrastination?
-Planning hard days in advance helps by providing a clear timeline and goal for completing significant tasks. It reduces the stress of last-minute work and allows for additional time to refine and improve the work.
What does Parker suggest about mixing time block logging with bullet journals?
-Parker suggests that one can mix time block logging with bullet journaling to effectively organize and schedule tasks, which can be a powerful strategy to combat procrastination.
What is Parker's personal experience with intermittent fasting and its effect on mental clarity?
-Parker shares that he has been intermittent fasting for two to three years and finds that his best mental clarity is from waking up to lunchtime when he is not eating. He feels alert and productive during this fasting period.
Outlines
📝 Combating Procrastination with Work Progress Logs
The video begins by discussing the detrimental effects of procrastination on productivity. The speaker introduces himself as Parker, a philosopher, and the aim of his channel, Park Notes, which is to help viewers study, think, and read deeply. He then dives into the first of five strategies to fight procrastination from Cal Newport's book, 'How to Become a Straight-A Student'. The first tip is to maintain a work progress log, which involves noting down daily tasks in a notebook and marking them off as completed. This practice is suggested to increase self-awareness about time spent procrastinating versus being productive. Parker also suggests integrating time blocking into this log, assigning specific tasks to certain time blocks of the day to enhance productivity. He shares his personal preference for using notebooks and how this method has been beneficial for him.
🥗 Feeding the Mind: Nutritional Tips to Avoid Procrastination
The second paragraph focuses on the role of nutrition in combating procrastination. Parker outlines four nutritional rules from Cal Newport's book to maximize mental energy. These include staying hydrated, monitoring caffeine intake to avoid crashes, treating food as a source of energy rather than satisfaction, and not skipping meals. However, Parker shares his personal experience with intermittent fasting, suggesting that it has helped him maintain mental clarity. He emphasizes the importance of finding a nutritional routine that works for each individual to support both body and mind in avoiding procrastination.
🗓️ Prioritizing Difficult Tasks with Public Commitment
In the third paragraph, Parker discusses the strategy of making an event out of the most daunting tasks to avoid procrastination. He suggests publicizing these tasks to create a sense of accountability, which can motivate one to complete the task. The idea is to schedule these tasks in a way that makes it inconvenient to leave and return, thus encouraging focus and completion. Parker appreciates this approach and often uses it by working in locations that require a significant time investment to reach, thereby committing to the task for the day. However, he differs with Newport on the approach of talking negatively about the task, preferring to maintain a positive outlook to enhance motivation.
⏰ Building Routines to Structure Learning Time
The fourth tip presented in the script is about building routines to structure learning time effectively. Parker explains that late afternoons and evenings are often prone to distractions, making it harder to focus on cognitively demanding tasks. He suggests shifting these tasks to the mornings and protecting these early hours from procrastination. By establishing a routine and dedicating specific hours each week to the same type of work, one can create a structured learning environment that fosters productivity. Parker shares his personal experience with designing self-learning courses and how creating a routine helped him stay ahead in his academic pursuits.
💪 Planning for Hard Days to Overcome Procrastination
The final paragraph addresses the inevitability of hard days in one's intellectual pursuits and suggests planning for them to prevent procrastination. Parker recommends looking ahead at one's calendar and scheduling hard days, during which one can focus on completing challenging tasks or projects. He advises spacing these hard days far apart to avoid burnout and to allow time for revision and improvement. Parker shares his own method of pretending that deadlines are earlier than they are, which motivates him to complete major tasks ahead of time, giving him additional time to refine his work.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Procrastination
💡Productivity
💡Work Progress Log
💡Time Block Logging
💡Nutritional Rules
💡Accountability
💡Event
💡Routine
💡Hard Days
💡Self-Talk
Highlights
Procrastination can hinder productivity but might also lead to creative ideas.
Introduction to five ways to fight procrastination from 'How to Become a Straight A Student' by Cal Newport.
The book is based on interviews with straight A students and the author's insights.
First tip: Keep a work progress log to track daily tasks and procrastination.
Using a notebook can help manage tasks and fight the urge to procrastinate.
Combining time block logging with a bullet journal can be an effective strategy.
Second tip: Maintaining good nutrition can help fight procrastination.
Drinking water and monitoring caffeine intake are key nutritional tips.
Treating food as a source of energy, not satisfaction, can boost productivity.
Intermittent fasting can provide mental clarity for some individuals.
Third tip: Make an event out of the worst tasks to increase accountability.
Creating a sense of commitment by telling others about a task can help avoid procrastination.
Fourth tip: Build a routine to protect time for cognitively demanding tasks.
Designating specific times for certain tasks can make them a habit.
Fifth tip: Choose your hard days to tackle challenging tasks.
Planning for hard days can prevent them from catching you off guard.
Spacing out hard days can help manage stress and improve task completion.
Invitation for viewers to share their thoughts on the video and tips.
Encouragement for viewers to comment with their own tips for fighting procrastination.
Transcripts
procrastination saps productivity now
maybe there are good times to
procrastinate maybe that can help you
come up with new and fascinating ideas
but when you need to get some tasks done
procrastination is the enemy so if
you're anything like me then you need
some help fighting procrastination hey
welcome to park notes I'm Parker head a
case I'm a philosopher and this is a
channel where I help you study think and
read more deeply in this video I'm going
to cover five ways to fight
procrastination from K newport's book
How to Become a Straight A Student this
is a pretty old book but there's still
some gems hidden in here and so I've
been mining this looking for new ways to
fight procrastination help me be more
productive and help me accomplish my
intellectual goals I think Cal wrote
this book when he was in grad school or
when he just finished grad school he
surveyed a bunch of straight A students
from undergrad and then he coated all
their responses and added his own wisdom
and turned it into a book so in here he
gives five ways to fight procrastination
now I don't wholly agree with all five
of his ways as I go through all five of
his ways I'll let you know where I
disagree and maybe that'll be
instructive for you so make sure you
watch the whole video so you get all
five tips for fighting procrastination
let's Jump Right In okay so the first
tip to fight procrastination is to keep
a work progress log one of the problems
with procrastination is that it often
hides from us we're not always aware
that we're procrastinating in the moment
but even if we are we often don't know
how much we've procrastinated in a given
day keeping a work progress log can show
you how much you've been procrastinating
this idea is super simple you just get
yourself a notebook and each morning you
list off all the tasks that you have to
do for that day throughout the day as
you complete those tasks put a check
next to them or an axe or a line through
them show yourself that you've completed
them and then come back at the end of
the day and see how much progress you've
made on all of your tasks now maybe this
will show you that you actually are
crushing it and you don't need to worry
about the little amount of
procrastination you've been doing
alternatively maybe it'll show you that
you just have too many tasks that you're
trying to accomplish each day and it's
overwhelming or just not feasible or
possible free to do all those tasks in a
given day but it also might show you
that you're wasting the time that you
have to accomplish these tasks by
procrastinating so keeping a work
progress log is a good way to gain some
self- knowledge how am I spending my
time do I have realistic goals and is
procrastination destroying those goals
now I think this is the best tip that
Cal offers but this is the park notes
Channel I'm kind of obsessed with
notebooks I think they're one of the
most beneficial tools for aiding your
intellectual life and since Cal wrote
this book he has become a major
proponent of time block logging where
you look at your working day and you
block off each section and you get a
name to it this is what I'm doing in
this hour block or this half hour block
or this 90-minute block then you can
actually plug your tasks from your task
list into different blocks so you show
yourself here's where I'm going to try
to actually finish these tasks I think
you can mix this with a bullet Journal
as well especially bullet Journal
notation and I think this is a really
easy way to fight procrastination you
see all the tasks that you have to
accomplish you've given them each a time
of the day to work on them and so you
know right now if I'm scrolling through
my phone instead of working on this this
task I don't have any other time
throughout the day to complete it so I
better stop scrolling on my phone now I
did a whole video on how you can mix and
match time block Logs with bullet
journals if you want to see more on that
check out this video up here but that's
tip number one keep a work progress log
use a notebook to keep track of your day
and fight the urge to procrastinate tip
number two to fight procrastination is
feed the machine low energy breeds
procrastination now when it comes to
nutritional tips I'm a little bit uneasy
nutrition is like the wild west I think
everyone's got an opinion people keep
giving contrary advice and this book is
from 2007 so definitely take this advice
with a grain of salt or not if you're
like low sodium diet or something
anyways here are Cal's four nutritional
rules for maximizing mental energy tip
one is drink water constantly now I
generally think that's a good rule drink
a lot of water stay hydrated it's good
for your brain rule two monitor your
caffeine intake so this one's really big
for me if I end up having too much
coffee I'm going to crash and be super
unproductive for the rest of the day
I've noticed that this happens if I
drink coffee too early in the day I've
heard that you should avoid drinking
caffeine for the first 60 to 90 minutes
after waking up let your body wake up
itself and then you can have your
caffeine after your body's already
naturally woken up I've heard this will
help you avoid a crash later in the
afternoon as well rule three treat food
as a source of energy not satisfaction
so when it's productivity time food is
just fuel don't eat something big and
heavy that's going to mess with your
brain something that's going to make you
all sluggish for me if I have a lot of
carbs a lot of sugar then I'm going to
feel super lethar IC afterwards so I've
actually been trying glucose hacks this
is supposed to help stop insulin spikes
you can check out the glucose goddess
method for more on that I feel a little
bit weird saying yeah I follow the
glucose goddess method but it is what it
is you can find that book in the
description if you're interested at all
and then rule number four is don't skip
meals now I actually think this is
exactly wrong I've been intermittent
fasting for like two or 3 years now and
I find my best mental Clarity is from
when I wake up to lunchtime because I'm
not eating at all I'm just drinking
water and coffee I feel good I feel
alert and my mind comes alive every time
I step off of this pattern of fasting
and I eat breakfast I end up losing that
mental Clarity so that works for me you
might try it yourself but whatever the
case you can take or leave these
individual rules but the main sentiment
remains true you are a body and a mind
and they work together they interact
with each other so you have to take care
of your body if you want your mind to
work well so get your nutrition right do
what works for you and help your mind
avoid procrastination so tip number
three for fighting procrastination is to
make an event out of the worst tasks so
you have your task list you have your
work calendar you have your course
syllabus and the schedule for the full
semester whatever the case you know
there are big things coming that you
will definitely be tempted to
procrastinate on Kel says make an event
out of your worst tasks He suggests
telling people about this task maybe
even talking up how bad it is and then
plan to go somewhere to go work on it
somewhere kind of out of the way so it's
a hassle for you to leave and come back
so you won't be tempted to bail on that
time that you've allotted for that
difficult task the reasoning goes like
this if you tell a bunch of people hey
on next Tuesday I'm going to accomplish
this task it's a bear it's going to take
me all afternoon but I'm going over to
that coffee shop Two Towns over and I'm
going to hammer it until it's done then
there will be a certain level of
accountability they will hold you to
that and maybe they don't even need to
follow up with you maybe just telling
them is enough to signal to yourself hey
I I better get this done I don't want to
be embarrassed I don't want them to have
to follow up with me and me tell them oh
no I actually didn't get that done I
procrastinated all day so I actually
really love this suggestion I do this
often I have a couple places that are a
half hour away from me to an hour away
from me so it's a little bit of a drive
and this gives me like a burn the boats
kind of mentality there's no way I'm
driving all the way back an hour and
then try to go back again no I'm out
there for the day I'm out there until I
get enough of this project done that I
need to get done I also like the idea of
telling people that I'm doing this one
might be for safety hey this is where
I'm at but two is hey on this day I'm
going to be unreachable I have to get a
of this project done I have to get a
bunch of this idea down on paper I have
something that I'm doing all afternoon
or all day so if you send me a DM an
email a text there are so many different
ways that I get messages today if you
send me one of those on this day don't
expect me to get back to you right away
so I love to get out to one of these
spots turn off my phone and then just
dial in and get to work on what I need
to do this is often essential for me to
get big tasks done now I disagree with
Cal on talking up how bad this task is
going to be if I do that that it's just
going to make it worse for me the more I
say this is difficult and hard and man I
hate doing this kind of stuff the less I
want to get this task done man if it's
really that bad I'll just find a way out
of it so I may say that this is
difficult or hard or it's not my
favorite thing to do but I like to
emphasize when talking with others that
this is manageable I can get it done if
I go out there and give it the time
required to get it done I'm definitely
going to get it done that kind of
positive selft talk is really helpful
for me so I don't recommend you talk up
how difficult and hard the task is going
to be but again to each his own okay so
tip number four to fight procrastination
is to build a routine Cal Newport and
the students that he interviewed all
argue that time in the late afternoon
and early evening is super susceptible
to being globbed on to by other things
other than the tasks that you need to
get done now maybe your unique life
situation makes it so that you can only
do your cognitively demanding tasks at
night but if you can't avoid it then
shift that kind of work to the mornings
I think there actually is some
literature on doing cognitively
demanding things early in the morning
for best results but I don't know I'm
not an expert on that and I feel like
this literature changes a lot
anecdotally I'll say that I do my best
work a half hour to an hour after I wake
up all the way through noon or like 1:30
I can force myself to do cognitively
demanding things after that but it's
much more of a SLO and it takes much
more effort to do but even if that
weren't a psycho physiological type
thing still people want to hang out with
you in the afternoons you want to leave
your work you want to leave your class
you want to go hang out with friends and
family and see your kids whatever the
case afternoons and nights are harder to
protect for cognitively demanding tasks
and it's much easier to procrastinate
once the sun goes down try to set aside
and protect those earlier hours he also
recommends using those hours to do the
same kinds of work every week so maybe
you look at your schedule and you say
Hey Monday Wednesday Friday I have an
hour and a half in the morning that I
can set aside to study this to work on
this project to learn this new skill and
you make that your learning time your
progress time your getting your tasks
done time there's something about making
it a routine that really helps this is
not my time to procrastinate this is my
time to do X Y or Z I know that cuz I do
it every Monday Wednesday Friday or I do
it every single day or I do it every
weekday now I love this tip this has
been really helpful for me as I designed
my own University style courses to teach
myself new things before I went to grad
school I spent 5 years teaching myself
the kinds of things I'd go on to learn
in my three master's degrees this helped
me a ton it put me ahead of a lot of my
classmates and it put me in touch with a
lot of my professor's Works before I
even knew them I would set apart days
where I'm studying philosophy or
specifically logic or Systematic
Theology or the works of Cs lwis I made
my own courses and pretended I was in my
own University and then I scheduled out
class periods to watch YouTube videos
and I scheduled study time to read and
to write it was a really helpful way to
structure my autodidactic journey my
self-learning Journey if that's
something that interests you guys I did
a whole video on that you can check that
somewhere up here so that's tip number
four build a routine look at your week
find out when you have some free time or
carve out some free time protect that
time from procrastination and use those
same hours to do the same kinds of
things to build a routine okay and last
but not least tip number five to fight
procrastination choose your hard days
sometimes in your intellectual Pursuits
you're going to have really really hard
days these are days where you have to
finish writing a paper or write a paper
from scratch been there that's terrible
you're going to have to do a lot of
study sessions you're going to have a
bunch of test on the same day or you're
at work and you got behind on a project
and you just have to buckle down settle
in and Hammer something out these kind
of days are going to come but they don't
have to catch you off guard you can plan
for them so Cal recommends looking at
your calendar and plan out those long
arduous hard days but make sure you
separate them from each other there's
nothing worse than getting blasted by
two hard days in a row set those things
far apart from each other so let's say
you're a student give yourself two or
three weeks before the end of the
semester or before that final paper's
due and use a hard day to knock out a
penultimate draft of your final paper
now you have the bulk of it complete and
in front of you and you can use those
two or three weeks to further revise it
to tune things up to get feedback from
friends and you're going to have a much
better paper I really like doing this I
used to be someone who would let
procrastination push all my assignments
right up until the due date but I
started combating this by pretending
that the due dates were two or 3 weeks
sooner than they really were then I
could still give myself that positive
you stress and I could give myself one
of those really hard days which I used
to knock out the brunt of my papers and
then I had two or three bonus weeks to
really sharpen up those papers now if
you manage your time and your tasks well
maybe you can avoid some of these hard
days but I actually like using them to
knock out a major portion of a project
or a paper or a cognitive task then I
can breathe it's not hanging over my
head as bad and I have bonus time to
tighten it up so choose your hard days
plan for them don't let them happen to
you you go and happen to them all right
so that's it there are five tips for
fighting procrastination from Cal
newport's book How to Become a Straight
A Student if you made it this far into
the video then leave me a little thinky
Emoji so I know who the real ones are
you guys are awesome if you liked this
video then make sure to leave me a like
and I want to hear from you guys leave
me a comment which tip do you think is
best or most helpful do you already use
some of these tips and if you have a tip
that is not on this list please let me
know in the comments I'm always looking
for help fighting procrastination all
right that's going to do it for now I'll
catch you guys next time
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