How to actually stop procrastinating (by a NASA engineer)
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful video, systems engineer and postdoctoral fellow at NASA, Ali Aluli, shares his personal battle with chronic procrastination and how he leveraged his professional expertise to diagnose and overcome it. He breaks down the root causes of procrastination into fear, interest-value incongruence, and overwhelm, offering targeted solutions for each. Aluli emphasizes the importance of identifying the specific cause to effectively address the issue, advocating for strategies like focusing on the first step, aligning tasks with personal values, and using 'vzero' to mitigate fear of failure. He also highlights the role of accountability in maintaining productivity.
Takeaways
- 😀 Ali Aluli is a systems engineer and a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's propulsion lab who shares his insights on overcoming procrastination.
- 🔍 The video aims to address the root cause of procrastination rather than offering generic productivity tips.
- 🧠 Aluli emphasizes the importance of understanding what's happening inside one's brain when procrastinating.
- 🎓 Despite his achievements, including a PhD at 26 and growing a YouTube channel, Aluli admits to being a chronic procrastinator.
- 🤔 He suggests that procrastination often stems from fear, incongruence of interests and values, or feeling overwhelmed.
- 🏁 To tackle procrastination, Aluli recommends identifying the specific reason behind it, such as fear, lack of interest, or feeling overwhelmed.
- 📝 For overcoming the feeling of being overwhelmed, he advises focusing only on the first step of a task to reduce the pressure.
- 🎶 To address a lack of interest, he suggests finding ways to make the task enjoyable, such as listening to music while working.
- 💪 For fear of failure, Aluli introduces the concept of 'Vzero', where one does a preliminary version of the task to reduce the fear of getting started.
- 👥 Accountability is highlighted as a powerful tool to enhance productivity and combat procrastination, especially for those who are people-pleasers.
- 🔗 Aluli offers a community for like-minded entrepreneurs for support and accountability, and invites viewers to join for further insights.
Q & A
Who is Ali Aluli and what is his profession?
-Ali Aluli is a systems engineer and a post-doctoral fellow at the NASA Propulsion Lab. He also has a YouTube channel where he shares content related to productivity and personal development.
What is the main focus of Ali Aluli's video?
-The main focus of Ali Aluli's video is to address the root cause of procrastination and provide methods to overcome it, rather than offering generic tips on productivity.
Why did Ali Aluli start his PhD at the age of 26?
-The script does not provide specific reasons for Ali starting his PhD at 26, but it does mention his achievement as a point of credibility in discussing productivity and overcoming procrastination.
What is Ali's personal experience with procrastination?
-Ali has been a chronic procrastinator throughout his life, including during his high school, college, and even the beginning of his PhD. He has used his skills as a systems engineer to diagnose and address his procrastination.
What are the three main reasons Ali identifies for procrastination?
-The three main reasons for procrastination that Ali identifies are fear, incongruence of interests and values, and feeling overwhelmed.
How does Ali suggest dealing with the fear of failure when it leads to procrastination?
-Ali suggests creating a 'V0' or a zero version of the task, which involves doing the minimum to get started without the pressure of producing a final product, to overcome the fear of failure.
What does Ali mean by 'overwhelm' in the context of procrastination?
-By 'overwhelm,' Ali refers to the feeling of being overwhelmed by the size or complexity of a task, which can lead to a sense of panic and avoidance of starting the task.
How can incongruence of interests and values lead to procrastination?
-Incongruent interests and values can lead to procrastination when a task does not align with one's personal values or interests, causing a lack of motivation and enjoyment in performing the task.
What is Ali's suggestion for dealing with tasks that are not inherently interesting?
-Ali suggests finding ways to make uninteresting tasks fun, such as listening to enjoyable music while doing paperwork, to overcome the lack of interest and motivation.
How does Ali recommend using accountability to combat procrastination?
-Ali recommends finding someone who can consistently check in and hold you accountable for completing tasks, which can provide the necessary external pressure to get started and finish tasks.
What is the 'procrastination Trident' that Ali refers to in his video?
-The 'procrastination Trident' is Ali's term for the three main causes of procrastination he discusses in his video: fear, incongruence of interests and values, and overwhelm.
Outlines
🔍 Diagnosing the Root Cause of Procrastination
Ali Aluli, a systems engineer and postdoctoral fellow at NASA, introduces his video on tackling procrastination by identifying its root causes rather than providing generic productivity tips. He shares his personal experience as a chronic procrastinator and how he applied his engineering skills to understand and address the issue. Ali emphasizes the importance of having a clear goal and understanding the productivity system, especially for individuals with ADHD. He identifies three main reasons for procrastination: fear, incongruence of interests and values, and feeling overwhelmed, and promises to provide solutions to these issues.
🛠 Solutions to Overcome Procrastination
This paragraph delves into strategies for overcoming procrastination, focusing on the three identified causes. For overcoming the feeling of being overwhelmed, Ali suggests concentrating on the first step of any task. In cases where the task conflicts with personal values or interests, he advises reevaluating whether the task aligns with one's values. To combat boredom or lack of interest, Ali recommends finding ways to make the task enjoyable, such as listening to music. For fear of failure, he introduces the concept of 'Vzero,' which involves doing a preliminary run-through of the task without the pressure of creating a final product, thus reducing the fear associated with starting.
🔗 Accountability and Progress for Procrastinators
In the final paragraph, Ali discusses the importance of accountability in overcoming procrastination. He suggests finding someone who can consistently check in and provide external pressure to complete tasks, which can be particularly beneficial for people-pleasers. Ali also mentions the value of joining a community for support and further guidance. He wraps up by inviting viewers to subscribe to his channel for more content on productivity and personal development, and signs off with a positive note.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Procrastination
💡Systems Engineer
💡Productivity
💡Fear
💡Values
💡Overwhelm
💡Interest
💡Execution
💡Diagnose
💡Accountability
💡V0 (Zero)
Highlights
Ali Aluli, a systems engineer and postdoctoral fellow at NASA, shares insights on overcoming procrastination.
The video focuses on diagnosing the root cause of procrastination rather than generic productivity tips.
Ali's personal experience as a chronic procrastinator and his journey to understand and address it.
The importance of having a clear goal and understanding why it is crucial for productivity and avoiding procrastination.
Execution is the final step in a productivity system, especially for those with ADHD.
Two common struggles with procrastination: continuing and starting tasks.
Fear as a primary reason for procrastination, particularly with important tasks.
The incongruence of interests and values leading to procrastination, exemplified by Ali's experience with paid advertisements.
Overwhelm as a significant factor for procrastination, especially for those with ADHD.
Shifting self-talk to ask 'why' when procrastinating to identify the underlying cause.
Solutions for overcoming procrastination based on the identified cause: fear, incongruence, or overwhelm.
The strategy of focusing only on the first step to combat the feeling of overwhelm.
Aligning tasks with personal values to avoid incongruence-related procrastination.
Making tasks fun through music or other enjoyable activities to overcome boredom and lack of interest.
The concept of 'Vzero' to mitigate the fear of failure by starting with a low-stakes version of the task.
The role of accountability in enhancing productivity and continuing tasks.
Ali's invitation to join a community for further discussion and accountability support.
The video concludes with a summary of strategies and an invitation for further engagement.
Transcripts
hey guys my name is Ali aluli I'm a
systems engineer and a post doctor
fellow at the nas propulsion lab in this
video I'm going to show you how you can
figure out why you're procrastinating
specifically and how to put an end to
that so this video is going to be
attacking the root cause of
procrastination and it's not going to be
one of these cookie cutter like oh nine
tips on how you can be more productive
or like six tips on how you can stop
like no this is actually going to help
you figure out what the hell is going on
inside your brain now to give you some
insight although I am am currently
working as a full-time engineer at Nasa
I did my PhD when I was 26 years old I
have grown this YouTube channel as well
as my other engineering YouTube channel
to almost 40,000 subscribers and uh I've
always been a chronic procrastinator
I've struggled with procrastination my
whole life High School College even
during my PhD in the beginning of my PhD
especially I would give my PhD adviser
heart attacks not literal heart attacks
but I would make him panic because I
would have to wait till the very last
minute to do things and when I when I
when I came near graduation I started
realizing like man why am I why do I do
this why do I do this so I figured I
would use my skills as a systems
engineer to actually figure out what's
going on diagnose the problem and that's
the system that I'm going to walk you
through and by the end not only am I
going to show you how to diagnose the
right cause of procrastination for you
but also what to do about it so
basically before we talk about
procrastination which is basically like
the hurdle to execution execution is
only the last step in a in a in a proper
productivity system any type of producct
AC it system especially if you're
someone who has ADHD or higher up on the
ADHD Spectrum must give you Clarity you
need to get crystal clear on what is
your goal and why if you don't have a
goal how are you going to have be
productive or or or not procrastinate
because your brain is constantly going
to be like why are we doing this why
what what is this working towards you
know so you definitely need to have a
clear goal you definitely need to learn
how to prioritize how to pick what the
right task is I need to understand when
to do the right task and then finally
sitting down and doing it is going to be
the part where is tend to procrastinate
right that's the execution um so there
are two things that people struggle with
continuing and starting procrastination
is really a problem of starting so
people who are not who are are
procrastinating are really struggling
with starting a task and from my
experience that comes down to three
different uh reasons and you can next
time you procrastinate you can ask
yourself like which one of these three
is it most likely one is fear right you
very often you'll notice that you're
going to procrastinate on either a big
project or something that's important or
something that's very very important for
example not many people procrastinate on
like walking to the fridge and picking
up something to eat or like going to the
mail and and grabbing something to
grabbing your mail from the mailbox uh
these are things we don't really
procrastinate on because they're not
like really that important they're
things that are like automatic we just
do them there's nothing really at stake
uh something that you may procrastinate
out of fear is like a project or like a
YouTube video they have to make or like
a presentation for your business or
something like that something or or like
a dissertation for a PhD like things
like that uh there's there's definitely
a lot of fear of like oh man what if I
do it and it comes out to be not good
enough very often that there's there's
internal selft talk around the fear but
there's also two other causes why
procrastination may happen one of them
is simply the the in congruence of
interests and values and I'll tell you a
story when I started my first Consulting
business I hired a business coach who
was very very talented very very very
talented guy I learned a lot from him uh
but when it came down to sit down and
write my ads my paid advertisements um
we had to write them in a style that he
told me and it just it just I don't know
it didn't sit it didn't sit right with
me I didn't enjoy that style I like to
be more direct more honest more like I
have this thing do you want it or not
the style in which the ads were supposed
to be written as and was kind of more
like the very typical salesy like
markety as which I really cannot stand
and when he would check in with me and
say hey did you have time to write the
ads I would always say no no I haven't
no I did this other think no this other
thing came up I was procrastinating it
and it's not necessarily because I was
fearing that the ads would not come out
to be good it's just because the the way
that task was set up uh it did not it
did not align with my with my values so
I kept just putting it off very
similarly if something you're just not
interested in doing at all for example
if you're like a product engineer and
you have to sit down and write copy for
like an ad you just don't really care
that much about marketing usually and
because you don't care about it you just
keep putting it off because it's not fun
so this is another reason why you may be
putting things off but I would say
especially for for people with ADHD the
most common one is just overwhelm right
it's like oh man I have to start this
big thing I have to like uh sit down and
do this thing oh my God I have to work
on this project like it's just whenever
whenever you think of a task and like
there's like a mini like oh my God like
Panic like that accompanies it or like
something of that nature that's usually
like your brain signaling that okay I
have a big thing that I need to tackle
and I don't know if I'm quite ready to
tackle it yet um this is where overwhelm
can be a big problem and this again
relevant for projects sitting down
writing at copy doing things that nature
so these are things that will definitely
um affect you when it comes to
procrastinating now very very important
herisk you can perform is next time you
find yourself procrastinating again
right here we're not talking about
Solutions yet we still we haven't
addressed how to solve these problems in
practical ways but next time you you sit
down and you try to do something and you
can't do it uh instead of thinking I got
to do this why am I procrastinating
shift the selft talk to just asking why
what out out of the three reasons why am
I procrastinating am I fearing that the
that I might fail or the outcome may not
be good enough um am I just not
interested or this something that I just
like really really don't want to do and
I'm avoiding for some reason or am I
overwhelmed and by overwhelmed like I
haven't really fully thought through all
the steps needed to like um improve um
upon what I got to do and sit down and
do it and this is where I introduce you
to the three different solutions so the
reason we touch on this again is because
procrastination is not a one-size fits
all you have to understand why you're
procrastinating right whether it's
overwhelm whether it's fear whether it's
like conflict of interest values um
obviously there could be other like
minute minuscule reasons but I generally
think from my experience those three um
are kind of like the main the 99% of
procrastination that's why I call this
the procrastination Trident because very
often in my casee it's one of these
three things so in the case of overwhelm
it is very very simple think only of the
first step right there's a very common
mistake I see especially with people who
have ADHD is when they when they think
about what they got to do they say oh I
got to write a proposal oh I got to make
a video oh I got to do all these things
uh but you don't actually need to do
that all you need to tell yourself is
what is the first step I got to take
like in my case for a YouTube video if I
tell myself oh my God I sit down and
record a YouTube video like and they're
a typical person that that may be fine
with them but someone higher up on the
ad Spectrum you'll just keep putting it
off because especially if your brain has
not processed like all the steps or
visualized all the steps necessary you
you're just going to put it off but if
instead you replace that selft talk and
tell yourself oh I just got to sit down
and uh write an outline for the video I
don't need to I don't need to record the
whole video I just need to write an
outline what is the first step well if I
don't have outline then I don't have a
video and then you sit down and you and
you and you write an outline or you
write the first part of the video or you
do or you do something and then that's
going to give you the momentum to keep
going and then then before you know it
you'll turn on the ring light you'll
you'll start talking you'll set up your
microphone whatnot so if you're if
you're overwhelmed think only of the
first step that you got to take that's
basically the the the cure to that um if
you are someone who is like having a
conflict of interest or values ask
yourself um once you verified that this
is something like that is congruent with
your values if it's something completely
in congruent with your values then maybe
you should not do it like sometimes
procrastination is good sometimes
procrastination is you like like telling
yourself oh I really I should not be
doing this right maybe this will put my
my uh like like this is just something
that I don't feel comfortable doing
right uh but if it's the other case of
of which is which is fun which is
boredom like the reason you're putting
it off is because you get bored and
you're just not interested in that thing
find ways to make it fun there are so
many things in my life that I have to do
that are just not fun and my my hack for
that is music I put on music that I
really really enjoy for example if I
have to sit down and do paperwork I
can't stand paperwork but if I put on
like a really nice song that gets me in
Flow State and gets me kind of moving
what on then all of a sudden the
paperwork is not so bad because I'm at
least enjoying um the music uh find find
whatever maybe it's like having someone
they sit down and do the work with
whatever it is that can make the task
more fun will definitely help you solve
the boredom or interest problem in an
Ideal World the things you don't want to
do you just delegate them but if you're
not at that stage yet then you have to
find a way to make it fun and if the
case um is of procrastination is fear
failure then what you need is something
called vzer and this is something I have
uh learned to do which is I tell myself
okay I'm I'm maybe there's a bit of fear
maybe this thing needs to be good and
I'm afraid that it's not going to be
good enough right maybe there's a fear
of a failure there or a fear of effort
wasted oh man what if I sit down and
like do this and it turns out to be not
good that tends to be a very very strong
cause of procrastination something that
I that I that I that I do is I say well
before I even sit down and make a V1 or
the first version of my thing and then
maybe iterate on it later what would I
should do a v0o and vzero is like let me
just do a very quick check of like
everything I need to do for example if I
once sit down and record a YouTube video
V1 would be make the first version of
the video and if it's crappy that's fine
V2 can be a better one V3 can be an even
better one I can iterate that way but
vzer is like well how about I just clean
my room turn some lights turn turn the
lights on make sure my cameras in the
right place uh do a camera check do a
mic check do a computer check like I'm
not gonna I'm not I'm not gonna I'm not
going to actually record the real video
which means I'm not going to fail it's
impossible for me to fail because I'm
not going to record the real video but
what I'm going to do is I'm going to sit
down and do all the like Steps uh
assuming that I'm going to record and
and turn it on without actually posting
it and there's zero fear associated with
that step and it kind of feeds into this
idea of first step is you want this
thing to be like low stake low
consequence because then once I sit down
and I clean my desk and then I I I clean
my environment and I do all these things
and I have my camera and I test my
microphone then again from a selft talk
perspective it's a lot easier for me to
say oh dude I mean okay now I have the
setup what
is it really that screw it let me just
record the video let's just see what
happens like if it fails it doesn't fail
like sometimes the problem is not so
much in the belief that the thing is
going to fail and that you're going to
be bad for having it fail but rather
that combined with the the the the the
overwhelm induced in in this case so if
you're someone who's like really really
sensing that the reason why you're
procrastinating is fear of failure and
you're like afraid to get started on
this task because it may not be good
enough to your standard tell yourself
okay I'm not going to ship this thing
I'm not going to deliver this thing I'm
not actually going to I'm just going to
sit down and do the V zero like the bare
minimum just to get some type of
functioning thing working just so I can
take make make some progress and then if
I feel like actually shipping it and and
and continuing and shipping the the
thing that is done I'll do it if not
that's that's that's fine too but what
I've what I'll have at least done is
I've at least made some progress which
is going to make me feel good about
myself is going to boost my selfesteem
Steam and the moment you you you like
let go of this need to deliver something
great on first try you're going to feel
this like weight lifted from your
shoulders and then you'll be able to get
started with a v0 and the v0 will turn
into a V1 and the V1 is usually very
often good enough to be shipped if not
you go ahead and re-record it a second
time again in the case of a YouTube
video so again this kind of a very uh um
simple way way to overcome it now if you
want to kind of amplify this on steroids
which is power also for continuing is
you can go and find some accountability
if you can find other people that
basically hey bug you and ask you hey
did you do the thing did you do the
thing or maybe they can help you better
diagnose why why why you're struggling
with it um or or why why you're not
doing the task um accountability is very
very important from a friend from a
family member from a certified coach
from a from someone who knows what
they're doing if you have like some no
one in your life that you think can hold
you accountable on a consistent basis
I'm going to go ahead and put a link
below to our community where you can
come hang out with me other like min
entrepreneurs who can hold you
accountable where I also go over some of
this stuff in detail as well but you
want to make sure that you have some
type of accountability involved in your
life because if you don't have extrinsic
accountability like at all uh even if
you're addressing the the the the fear
of failure the fear the like lack of
having values and interests and the
overwhelm issues you're still not going
to have that extrinsic pressure that
like good weight on your shoulders to
deliver and that expectation of other
people especially if you're someone who
has like people pleasing Tendencies and
you can use that to your advantage
because then you don't want to
disappoint other people well at least
you don't want to disappoint them in in
in showing them that you haven't done
your stuff which can be productive for
yourself but anyway that's a discussion
for another video um if you enjoy this
content stick around for my channel for
more videos and I'll see you the next
one Peace Love
Посмотреть больше похожих видео
How I Make Decisions as a NASA Engineer
After 27 years, I finally beat productivity! (Simplest ADHD System)
How to Break Your Procrastination Habit (For Good)
How I Overcame My Procrastination Addiction
Skillopedia - 08 effective ways to overcome procrastination - Time management skills
How To Prepare Cover Letter for PhD and PostDoc Applications in EU and USA #studyabroad
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)